1997 WAC Men's Basketball Tournament

The 1997 Western Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Tournament was held March 4–8 at the Thomas & Mack Center at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in Paradise, Nevada.[2]

1997 WAC Men's Basketball Tournament
ClassificationDivision I
Season1996–97
Teams12
SiteThomas & Mack Center
Paradise, NV
ChampionsUtah (2nd title)
Winning coachRick Majerus (2nd title)
MVPKeith Van Horn (Utah)
1996–97 WAC men's basketball standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L PCT  W L PCT
Mountain
No. 2 Utah †15–1 .938  29–4  .879
Tulsa12–4 .750  24–10  .706
No. 11 New Mexico11–5 .688  25–8  .758
TCU7–9 .438  22–13  .629
SMU7–9 .438  16–12  .571
Rice6–10 .375  12–15  .444
UTEP6–10 .375  13–13  .500
BYU0–16 .000  1–25  .038
Pacific
Fresno State12–4 .750  20–12  .625
Hawaii12–4 .750  21–8  .724
UNLV11–5 .688  22–10  .688
Colorado State10–6 .625  20–9  .690
Wyoming8–8 .500  12–16  .429
San Jose State5–11 .313  13–14  .481
San Diego State4–12 .250  12–15  .444
Air Force2–14 .125  7–19  .269
† 1997 WAC Tournament winner
Rankings from AP Poll[1]

Top-seeded Utah easily defeated tenth-seeded TCU in the championship game, 89–68, to clinch their second WAC men's tournament championship.

The Utes, in turn, received an automatic bid to the 1997 NCAA Division I Tournament. Utah would ultimately defeat Navy, UNC Charlotte, and Stanford on their way to the Elite Eight, where they lost Kentucky. They were joined in the tournament by Tulsa and New Mexico, who earned at-large bids.

Format

Prior to the 1997 season, the WAC added six new members: Rice, SMU, San Jose State, TCU, Tulsa, and UNLV. With the additions, total conference membership increased to sixteen teams. The regular season schedule was re-arranged so that teams were placed into one of two eight-team divisions, the Mountain and Pacific Divisions, generally determined by geography.

The tournament field was subsequently expanded from ten to twelve teams, with the top six teams from each of the two divisions qualifying for the tournament. Teams' seeds were determined based on their finish in the standings, and were seeded one to six within their division. The teams who finished in the top two in either of the divisions received byes to the second round while the remaining eight teams were placed in the first round. Each team was initially matched up with a team from the other division (3rd versus 6th and 4th versus 5th).

Bracket
  First Round
Tuesday, March 4		 Quarterfinals
Thursday, March 6		 Semifinals
Friday, March 7		 Championship
Saturday, March 8
                                     
       
  M1 #3 Utah 59  
    M5 SMU 58  
M5 SMU 93
P4 Colorado State 89  
  M1 #3 Utah 72  
  M3 #14 New Mexico 70  
M3 #14 New Mexico 103  
P6 San Jose State 70  
  M3 #14 New Mexico 65
    P2 Hawaii 57  
     
       
  M1 #3 Utah 89
  M4 TCU 68
       
       
  M2 Tulsa 68
    P3 UNLV 65  
M6 Rice 61
P3 UNLV 71  
  M2 Tulsa 59
  M4 TCU 64  
P5 Wyoming 61  
M4 TCU 72  
  M4 TCU 106
    P1 Fresno State 81  
     

References
  1. sports-reference.com 1996-97 Western Athletic Conference Season Summary
  2. "1996-97 Western Athletic Conference Season Summary". sports-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. 2016. Retrieved April 16, 2016.
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