2026 WAC men's basketball tournament
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| 2026 WAC men's basketball tournament | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Classification | Division I |
| Season | 2025–26 |
| Teams | 7 |
| Site | Orleans Arena Paradise, Nevada |
| Champions | California Baptist (1st title) |
| Winning coach | Rick Croy (1st title) |
| Television | ESPN+, ESPN2 |
| Conf. | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Team | W | L | PCT | W | L | PCT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Utah Valley | 14 | – | 4 | .778 | 25 | – | 9 | .735 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| California Baptist † | 13 | – | 5 | .722 | 25 | – | 9 | .735 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Utah Tech | 11 | – | 7 | .611 | 19 | – | 15 | .559 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UT Arlington | 9 | – | 9 | .500 | 18 | – | 14 | .563 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Southern Utah | 6 | – | 12 | .333 | 10 | – | 22 | .313 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Abilene Christian | 5 | – | 13 | .278 | 14 | – | 19 | .424 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tarleton | 5 | – | 13 | .278 | 14 | – | 18 | .438 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| † 2026 WAC tournament winner | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The 2026 WAC men's basketball tournament was the postseason men's basketball tournament of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) for the 2025–26 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The tournament was played from March 11–14, 2026 with all rounds at the Orleans Arena in Paradise, Nevada near Las Vegas.[1] This was the 16th year that the tournament was held at the Orleans Arena.[2] The winner, California Baptist, received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.[3][4]
This was also the last men's tournament under the Western Athletic Conference name. On July 1, 2026, the WAC will rebrand as the United Athletic Conference, assuming the name previously used for a football-only alliance between the WAC and Atlantic Sun Conference. Three legacy WAC members (Abilene Christian, Tarleton State, and UT Arlington) are scheduled to maintain their conference memberships through the transition.[5]
Utah Valley initially was denied to play in the tournament due to their issues regarding an unpaid exit fee before the Fourth District Court in Utah granted the university's motion for a preliminary injunction that allowed them to play. On March 10, the WAC placed Utah Valley in an ultimatum, claiming that the University had to put the $1 million exit fee in an escrow account for the duration of the court proceedings by the end of the day or the brackets would be modified, claiming the court order forced them to do so while Utah Valley contended they were coordinating with the court over the process. Utah Valley placed the fee in the escrow account, which will either go to the WAC or be returned to Utah Valley depending on the outcome of the court case, allowing them to participate in the tournament.[6][7] With a victory by Utah Valley and California Baptist in the Semifinals, the tournament was guaranteed to have a first-time winner.
All seven members were invited to the tournament.[8] For the 2025 WAC tournament, seeding was determined by conference record with ties broken first by head-to-head competition, then by the WAC Résumé Seeding System points.[9] The highest two seeded teams will receive byes to the semifinals in this year's tournament.[10] Only Abilene Christian, UT Arlington, and Southern Utah have participated in the NCAA tournament in the past, the other four teams having never been invited.[11]
| Seed | School | Conference record | Tiebreak |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Utah Valley | 14–4 | |
| 2 | California Baptist | 13–5 | |
| 3 | Utah Tech | 11–7 | |
| 4 | UT Arlington | 9–9 | |
| 5 | Southern Utah | 6–12 | |
| 6 | Abilene Christian | 5–13 | 2–1 vs. Tarleton |
| 7 | Tarleton | 5–13 | 1–2 vs. Abilene Christian |
Schedule
| Session | Game | Time* | Matchup# | Score | Television | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First round – Wednesday, March 11 | ||||||
| 1 | 1 | 5:30 p.m. | No. 6 Abilene Christian vs. No. 7 Tarleton | 84–78 | ESPN+ | 760 |
| Quarterfinals – Thursday, March 12 | ||||||
| 2 | 2 | 6:00 p.m. | No. 4 UT Arlington vs. No. 5 Southern Utah | 69–63 | ESPN+ | 1,029 |
| 3 | 8:30 p.m. | No. 3 Utah Tech vs. No. 6 Abilene Christian | 80–74 | |||
| Semifinals – Friday, March 13 | ||||||
| 3 | 4 | 6:00 p.m. | No. 1 Utah Valley vs. No. 4 UT Arlington | 67–65 | ESPN+ | 1,474 |
| 5 | 8:30 p.m. | No. 2 California Baptist vs. No. 3 Utah Tech | 86–72 | |||
| Championship – Saturday, March 14 | ||||||
| 4 | 6 | 9:00 p.m. | No. 1 Utah Valley vs. No. 2 California Baptist | 61–63 | ESPN2 | 1,151 |
| * Game times in PDT for all rounds.
#Rankings denote tournament seeding. | ||||||
Bracket
| First Round Wednesday, March 11 ESPN+ | Quarterfinals Thursday March 12 ESPN+ | Semifinals Friday, March 13 ESPN+ | Championship Saturday, March 14 ESPN2 | |||||||||||||||
| 4 | UT Arlington | 69 | ||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Southern Utah | 63 | 1 | Utah Valley | 67 | |||||||||||||
| 4 | UT Arlington | 65 | ||||||||||||||||
| 6 | Abilene Christian | 84 | 1 | Utah Valley | 61 | |||||||||||||
| 7 | Tarleton | 78 | 3 | Utah Tech | 80 | 2 | California Baptist | 63 | ||||||||||
| 6 | Abilene Christian | 74 | 2 | California Baptist | 86 | |||||||||||||
| 3 | Utah Tech | 72 | ||||||||||||||||