Big Sky Conference men's basketball tournament

Big Sky Conference men's basketball tournament
Conference basketball championship
SportBasketball
ConferenceBig Sky Conference
Number of teams10 (Since 2023)
 11 (2019-2022)
 12 (2016-2018)
  8 (2015)
  7 (2013–2014)
  6 (1989–2012)
  8 (1984–1988)
  4 (1976–1983)
FormatSingle-elimination tournament
Current stadiumIdaho Central Arena
Current locationBoise, Idaho
Played1976–present
Last contest2024
Current championMontana State
Most championshipsMontana (11)
Official websiteBigSkyConf.com Men's Basketball
Host stadiums
Campus sites (1976–2015)
Reno Events Center (2016–2018)
Idaho Central Arena (formerly CenturyLink Arena) (2019–present)
Host locations
Campus sites (1976–2015)
Reno, Nevada (2016–2018)
Boise, Idaho (2019–present)

The Big Sky Conference men's basketball tournament is the conference championship tournament in men's basketball for the Big Sky Conference. The event has been held annually since 1976,[1] the conference's thirteenth year.

The tournament winner earns a berth in the NCAA Division I tournament.

Format and host sites

For the Big Sky's first twelve seasons, it did not have a conference tournament. Starting with its fifth season of 1967–68, the regular season champion received a berth in the West regional of the NCAA tournament. In 1974,[2] an unscheduled tiebreaker playoff was held; the two had identical records (conference & overall) and each had won at home to split the season series; visiting Idaho State prevailed at Montana in the Tuesday night playoff.[3][4]

For the tournament's first eight editions (1976–1983), only the top four teams (of eight) in the conference standings participated. The tournament expanded to eight teams in 1984,[1] then scaled back to six in 1989. Before 2016, when the tournament moved to a predetermined neutral site, it was often hosted by the regular season champion, but not always. If two or more teams tied for the regular season title, all were declared co-champions, but hosting rights were determined by a tiebreaker procedure. The first tournament in which the regular season champion did not host was in 1985.

Since the 2016 tournament, all full conference members (currently 10) have participated (barring NCAA sanctions or self-imposed postseason bans, the latter of which kept Northern Colorado out of the 2017 tournament), and the tournament is held at a predetermined site. The first such site to host was the Reno Events Center in Reno, Nevada, which hosted from 2016 to 2018.

On September 18, 2017, the Big Sky announced that its men's and women's tournaments would relocate in 2019 to Boise, Idaho; the initial contract runs for three years at CenturyLink Arena, through 2021.

History of the tournament finals

Year Champions Score Runner-up MVP Venue
1976 Boise State 77–70OT Weber State Jimmie Watts, Weber State Wildcat Gym (Ogden, Utah)
1977 Idaho State 61–55 Weber State Ed Thompson, Idaho State ISU Minidome (Pocatello, Idaho)
1978 Weber State 62–55 Montana Bruce Collins, Weber State Adams Field House (Missoula, Montana)
1979 Weber State 92–70 Northern Arizona Bruce Collins, Weber State Dee Events Center (Ogden, Utah)
1980 Weber State 50–42 Montana Bruce Collins, Weber State
1981 Idaho 70–64 Montana Ken Owens, Idaho Kibbie Dome (Moscow, Idaho)
1982 Idaho 85–80 Nevada Ken Owens, Idaho
1983 Weber State 87–78 Nevada Ken Green, Nevada Centennial Coliseum (Reno, Nevada)
1984 Nevada 71–69 Montana Curtis High, Nevada Dee Events Center (Ogden, Utah)
1985 Nevada 79–63 Idaho State Dwayne Randall, Nevada BSU Pavilion (Boise, Idaho)
1986 Montana State 82–77 Montana Tony Hampton, Montana State Lawlor Events Center (Reno, Nevada)
1987 Idaho State 92–81 Nevada Jim Rhode, Idaho State Walkup Skydome (Flagstaff, Arizona)
1988 Boise State 63–61 Montana State Chris Childs, Boise State Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (Bozeman, Montana)
1989 Idaho 59–52 Boise State Riley Smith, Idaho BSU Pavilion (Boise, Idaho)
1990 Idaho 65–62 Eastern Washington Riley Smith, Idaho
1991 Montana 76–68 Idaho Kevin Kearney, Montana Dahlberg Arena (Missoula, Montana)
1992 Montana 73–68 Nevada Delvon Anderson, Montana
1993 Boise State 80–68 Idaho Tanoka Beard, Boise State Kibbie Dome (Moscow, Idaho)
1994 Boise State 85–81 Idaho State Shambric Williams, Boise State BSU Pavilion (Boise, Idaho)
1995 Weber State 84–62 Montana Ruben Nembhard, Weber State Dee Events Center (Ogden, Utah)
1996 Montana State 81–70 Weber State Danny Sprinkle, Montana State Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (Bozeman, Montana)
1997 Montana 82–79 Cal State Northridge Trenton Cross, Cal State Northridge Walkup Skydome (Flagstaff, Arizona)
1998 Northern Arizona 77–50 Montana State Dan McClintock, Northern Arizona
1999 Weber State 82–75 Northern Arizona Eddie Gill, Weber State Dee Events Center (Ogden, Utah)
2000 Northern Arizona 85–81OT Cal State Northridge Ross Land, Northern Arizona Dahlberg Arena (Missoula, Montana)
2001 Cal State Northridge 73–58 Eastern Washington Brian Heinle, Cal State Northridge Matadome (Northridge, California)
2002 Montana 70–66 Eastern Washington Dan Trammel, Montana Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (Bozeman, Montana)
2003 Weber State 60–57 Eastern Washington Jermaine Boyette, Weber State Dee Events Center (Ogden, Utah)
2004 Eastern Washington 71–59 Northern Arizona Brendon Merritt, Eastern Washington Reese Court (Cheney, Washington)
2005 Montana 63–61 Weber State Kamarr Davis, Montana Memorial Coliseum (Portland, Oregon)
2006 Montana 73–60 Northern Arizona Virgil Matthews, Montana Walkup Skydome (Flagstaff, Arizona)
2007 Weber State 88–80 Northern Arizona David Patten, Weber State Dee Events Center (Ogden, Utah)
2008 Portland State 67–51 Northern Arizona Deonte Huff, Portland State Rose Garden Arena (Portland, Oregon)
2009 Portland State 79–77 Montana State Jeremiah Dominguez, Portland State Dee Events Center (Ogden, Utah)
2010 Montana 66–65 Weber State Anthony Johnson, Montana
2011 Northern Colorado* (vacated)[5] 65–60 Montana Devon Beitzel, Northern Colorado Butler-Hancock Sports Pavilion (Greeley, Colorado)
2012 Montana 85–66 Weber State Kareem Jamar, Montana Dahlberg Arena (Missoula, Montana)
2013 Montana 67–64 Weber State Kareem Jamar, Montana
2014 Weber State 88–67 North Dakota Davion Berry, Weber State Dee Events Center (Ogden, Utah)
2015 Eastern Washington 69–65 Montana Tyler Harvey, Eastern Washington Dahlberg Arena (Missoula, Montana)
2016 Weber State 62–59 Montana Jeremy Senglin, Weber State Reno Events Center (Reno, Nevada)
2017 North Dakota 93–89OT Weber State Quinton Hooker, North Dakota
2018 Montana 82–65 Eastern Washington Michael Oguine, Montana
2019 Montana 68–62 Eastern Washington Ahmaad Rorie, Montana CenturyLink Arena (Boise, Idaho)
2020 Canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic
2021 Eastern Washington 65–55 Montana State Tanner Groves, Eastern Washington Idaho Central Arena (Boise, Idaho)
2022 Montana State 87–66 Northern Colorado Xavier Bishop, Montana State
2023 Montana State 87–66 Northern Arizona Raequan Battle, Montana State
2024 Montana State 85–70 Montana Robert Ford III, Montana State

Finals performance by school

School Championships Appearances Title Years
Montana 11 21 1991, 1992, 1997, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2018, 2019
Weber State 10 18 1978, 1979, 1980, 1983, 1995, 1999, 2003, 2007, 2014, 2016
Montana State 5 9 1986, 1996, 2022, 2023, 2024
Boise State 4 5 1976, 1988, 1993, 1994
Idaho 4 6 1981, 1982, 1989, 1990
Eastern Washington 3 9 2004, 2015, 2021
Nevada 2 6 1984, 1985
Idaho State 2 4 1977, 1987
Northern Arizona 2 9 1998, 2000
Portland State 2 2 2008, 2009
Cal State Northridge 1 3 2001
North Dakota 1 2 2017
Northern Colorado[5] 0 1
Sacramento State 0 0
Southern Utah 0 0
  • Current members of the Big Sky Conference are highlighted in yellow.
  • Boise State was a member for 26 years (1970–96), Nevada for 13 years (1979–92), Southern Utah for 10 years (2012-2022).
  • Charter member Idaho was out of the conference for 18 years (1996–2014).

Broadcasters

Television

Year Network Play-by-play Analyst
2024 ESPN2 Tony Parks Joe Cravens
2023
2022 ESPNU
2021 Rich Hollenberg Malcolm Huckaby
2020 Eric Rothman Richie Schueler
2019 Sam Farber Noah Savage
2018 Roxy Bernstein Adrian Branch
2017 Corey Williams
2016
2015
2014
2013 Kanoa Leahey
2012[6] ESPN2 Roxy Bernstein Miles Simon
2011[7]
2010[8] Dave Flemming Bob Valvano

Radio

Year Network Play-by-play Analyst
2024 Westwood One J.B. Long Nick Bahe
2023 Jason Benetti
2021 J.B. Long Dan Dickau
2019 Ted Emrich
2018
2017 Kevin Lee
2013 Dial Global Sports Wayne Larrivee Perry Clark
2012[9] Ted Robinson Steve Lappas
2011 Westwood One

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Big Sky expands basketball tourney". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. December 1, 1983. p. 19.
  2. ^ "College cage standings". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). March 4, 1974. p. 15.
  3. ^ "ISU holds off Grizzlies". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. March 6, 1974. p. 13.
  4. ^ "Growing rookie key for Bengals". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). Associated Press. March 6, 1974. p. 17.
  5. ^ a b "NCAA forces Northern Colorado to vacate 2011 Big Sky title, hits ex-coach hard". CBSSports.com. Retrieved 2018-01-04.
  6. ^ "Championship Week: Coverage of a Record 137 Men's Games Begins March 1 | ESPN MediaZone". Archived from the original on 2012-03-01. Retrieved 2012-02-29.
  7. ^ "Championship Week Presented by DICK'S Sporting Goods Schedule | ESPN MediaZone". Archived from the original on 2011-07-10.
  8. ^ "Championship Week Begins Thursday, March 4 | ESPN MediaZone". Archived from the original on 2010-04-12. Retrieved 2011-03-16.
  9. ^ "Big Sky Championship Highlights: Montana 85 – Weber State 66 | Westwood One SportsWestwood One Sports". Archived from the original on 2016-03-26. Retrieved 2019-08-15.