2021 WAC men's basketball tournament

2021 WAC men's basketball tournament
ClassificationDivision I
Season2020–21
Teams6
SiteOrleans Arena
Paradise, Nevada
ChampionsGrand Canyon (1st title)
Winning coachBryce Drew (1st title)
MVPJovan Blacksher Jr. (Grand Canyon)
TelevisionESPN+, ESPNU
← 2020
2022 →
2020–21 WAC men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Grand Canyon † 9 – 3   .750 17 – 7   .708
Utah Valley 9 – 4   .692 11 – 11   .500
New Mexico State 7 – 6   .538 12 – 8   .600
California Baptist* 6 – 6   .500 13 – 10   .565
Seattle 4 – 5   .444 12 – 11   .522
Tarleton State* 5 – 7   .417 10 – 10   .500
Dixie State* 4 – 10   .286 8 – 13   .381
Texas–Rio Grande Valley 2 – 5   .286 9 – 10   .474
Chicago State 0 – 0   – 0 – 9   .000
* Ineligible for the 2021 NCAA tournament due to transition period
Chicago State suspended their season on December 23, 2020
† 2021 WAC tournament winner

The 2021 WAC men's basketball tournament was the postseason men's basketball tournament for the Western Athletic Conference during the 2020–21 season. All tournament games were played at the Orleans Arena in Paradise, Nevada, from March 11–13, 2021. The tournament champion received the WAC's automatic bid to the 2021 NCAA tournament.

Seeds

6 of the 9 teams in the WAC were eligible to compete in the conference tournament. Dixie State and Tarleton State were ineligible due to their transition from Division II to Division I. California Baptist is eligible for the WAC basketball tournament this year after a change in rules from the WAC Board of Directors, which changed the transition period from four years to two years to compete in the conference tournament.[1] CBU would still have to wait two more years to be able to compete in the NCAA Tournament. Chicago State cancelled their season after going 0–9, so they did not compete in the conference tournament.[2] Teams were seeded by record within the conference, with a tiebreaker system to seed teams with identical conference records.

Seed School Conference Tiebreaker Tiebreaker 2
1 Grand Canyon 9–3
2 Utah Valley 9–4
3 New Mexico State 7–6
4 California Baptist 6–6
5 Seattle 4–5
6 UTRGV 2–5

Schedule and results

Game Time Matchup Score Television
Quarterfinals – Thursday, March 11
1 4:30 pm No. 4 California Baptist vs No. 5 Seattle 66–83 ESPN+
2 8:00 pm No. 3 New Mexico State vs No. 6 UTRGV 77–61
Semifinals – Friday, March 12
3 5:00 pm No. 1 Grand Canyon vs. No. 5 Seattle 81–47 ESPN+
4 8:00 pm No. 2 Utah Valley vs. No. 3 New Mexico State 62–78
Final – Saturday, March 13
5 7:00 pm No. 1 Grand Canyon vs. No. 3 New Mexico State 74–56 ESPNU
Game times in PST. Rankings denote tournament seed.

Bracket

Quarterfinals
Thursday, March 11
ESPN+ 		Semifinals
Friday, March 12
ESPN+ 		Championship
Saturday, March 13
ESPNU
         
1 Grand Canyon 81
5 Seattle 47
4 Cal Baptist 66
5 Seattle 83
1 Grand Canyon 74
3 New Mexico State 56
2 Utah Valley 62
3 New Mexico State 78
3 New Mexico State 77
6 UTRGV 61

References

  1. ^ "Lancers Eligible For 2021 WAC Basketball Tournament" (Press release). Cal Baptist Lancers. April 27, 2020. Retrieved December 31, 2020.
  2. ^ "Chicago State University Athletics Suspends Men's Basketball Competition-Related Activities" (Press release). Chicago State University. December 23, 2020. Retrieved December 31, 2020.