1988 Big Sky Conference men's basketball tournament
College basketball tournament
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The 1988 Big Sky Conference men's basketball tournament was the thirteenth edition, held March 9–12 at Brick Breeden Fieldhouse at Montana State University in Bozeman, Montana.[1]
| 1988 Big Sky Conference men's basketball tournament | |
|---|---|
| Classification | Division I |
| Season | 1987–88 |
| Teams | 8 |
| Site | Brick Breeden Fieldhouse Bozeman, Montana |
| Champions | Boise State (2nd title) |
| Winning coach | Bobby Dye (1st title) |
| MVP | Chris Childs (Boise State) |
| Conf. | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | W | L | PCT | W | L | PCT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Boise State † | 13 | – | 3 | .813 | 24 | – | 6 | .800 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Idaho | 11 | – | 5 | .688 | 19 | – | 11 | .633 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Montana State | 10 | – | 6 | .625 | 18 | – | 11 | .621 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Idaho State | 8 | – | 8 | .500 | 15 | – | 13 | .536 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nevada | 8 | – | 8 | .500 | 15 | – | 13 | .536 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Montana | 7 | – | 9 | .438 | 18 | – | 11 | .621 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Northern Arizona | 6 | – | 9 | .400 | 9 | – | 18 | .333 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weber State | 6 | – | 9 | .400 | 9 | – | 20 | .310 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Eastern Washington | 2 | – | 14 | .125 | 6 | – | 21 | .222 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| † Conference tournament winner | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Regular season champion Boise State defeated defending tournament champion and host Montana State in the championship game, 63–61, [2] to clinch their second Big Sky tournament. BSU had won the first conference tournament twelve years earlier.
Format
The Big Sky added Eastern Washington in the summer of 1987 to bring total conference membership to nine, but the last-place Eagles were ineligible for the postseason due to recruiting violations.[3]
In the two previous conference tournaments, teams from the lower half of the standings won the title and were seeded sixteenth (last) in the West regional of the NCAA tournament. Montana State won in 1986 after tying for sixth in the standings. The next year, the top three seeds were upset in the first round (quarterfinals),[4] and seventh-seed Idaho State won the title. The Bengals (15–15) met top-ranked UNLV (33–1) in the first round in Salt Lake City and were routed.[5]
The Big Sky implemented a few changes to the bracket structure to reward regular season play. The top two teams in the league standings were given byes into the semifinal round, while the next two began play in the quarterfinals on Thursday. The remaining four teams (seeds 5–8) played an additional game on Wednesday; four victories in as many days were now required for a lower-half team to win the title.[3][6]
The top four seeds advanced to the semifinals, and the tournament was won by the top-seed.
Bracket
| First round Wednesday, March 9 | Quarterfinals Thursday, March 10 | Semifinals Friday, March 11 | Championship Saturday, March 12 | ||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Boise State | 87 | |||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Nevada | 93 | 4 | Idaho State | 56 | ||||||||||||||
| 8 | Weber State | 96 | 8 | Weber State | 57 | ||||||||||||||
| 4 | Idaho State | 58 | |||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Boise State | 63 | |||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Montana State | 61 | |||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Montana State | 60 | |||||||||||||||||
| 7 | Northern Arizona | 72 | 6 | Montana | 54 | ||||||||||||||
| 6 | Montana | 77 | 3 | Montana State | 58 | ||||||||||||||
| 2 | Idaho | 46 | |||||||||||||||||
NCAA tournament
Boise State (24–5) received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, and no other Big Sky members were invited to the tournament or the NIT. The Broncos were the fourteenth seed in the West region and gave third-seeded Michigan a scare in Salt Lake City, as the Wolverines' large lead eroded in the second half; Michigan prevailed by five points.[11]