2026 WAC women's basketball tournament
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| 2026 WAC women's basketball tournament | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Classification | Division I |
| Season | 2025–26 |
| Teams | 7 |
| Site | Orleans Arena Paradise, Nevada |
| Champions | California Baptist (2nd title) |
| Winning coach | Jarrod Olson (2nd title) |
| Television | ESPNU, ESPN2 |
| Conf. | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | W | L | PCT | W | L | PCT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| California Baptist † | 15 | – | 3 | .833 | 23 | – | 11 | .676 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Abilene Christian | 13 | – | 5 | .722 | 24 | – | 11 | .686 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Southern Utah | 11 | – | 7 | .611 | 19 | – | 13 | .594 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Utah Valley | 9 | – | 9 | .500 | 16 | – | 15 | .516 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tarleton | 7 | – | 11 | .389 | 14 | – | 17 | .452 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UT Arlington | 4 | – | 14 | .222 | 12 | – | 21 | .364 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Utah Tech | 4 | – | 14 | .222 | 9 | – | 20 | .310 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| † 2026 WAC tournament winner | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The 2026 WAC women's basketball tournament was a postseason women's basketball tournament for the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) in the 2025–26 NCAA Division I women'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 in which the tournament was held at Orleans Arena.[2] The winner, California Baptist, received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.[3][4]
This was the last women's tournament under the Western Athletic Conference name. On July 1, 2026, the WAC will officially rebrand as the United Athletic Conference, assuming the name previously used for the current football-only alliance between the WAC and Atlantic Sun Conference. Three of the legacy WAC members (Abilene Christian, Tarleton State, and UT Arlington) are planned to maintain their conference memberships through the transition.[5][6]
All seven members were invited to the tournament.[7] The field for the WAC tournament has varied from six to twelve qualifiers.[8] All teams are eligible for the NCAA tournament including Tarleton and Utah Tech which completed their transition to Division I in 2024.[9] 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.[10] The highest two seeded teams will receive byes to the semifinals in this year's tournament.[11]
| Seed | School | Conference record | Tiebreak |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | California Baptist | 15–3 | |
| 2 | Abilene Christian | 13–5 | |
| 3 | Southern Utah | 11–7 | |
| 4 | Utah Valley | 9–9 | |
| 5 | Tarleton | 7–11 | |
| 6 | UT Arlington | 4–14 | 2–1 vs. Utah Tech |
| 7 | Utah Tech | 4–14 | 1–2 vs. UT Arlington |
Schedule
| Session | Game | Time* | Matchup# | Score | Television | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First round – Wednesday, March 11, 2026 – Orleans Arena, Paradise, Nevada | ||||||
| 1 | 1 | 3:00 p.m. | No. 6 UT Arlington vs No. 7 Utah Tech | 77–73 | ESPN+ | 760 |
| Quarterfinals – Thursday, March 12, 2026 – Orleans Arena, Paradise, Nevada | ||||||
| 3 | 2 | 12:00 p.m. | No. 4 Utah Valley vs. No. 5 Tarleton | 57–60 | ESPN+ | 786 |
| 3 | 2:30 p.m. | No. 3 Southern Utah vs. No. 6 UT Arlington | 65–70 | |||
| Semifinals – Friday, March 13, 2026 – Orleans Arena, Paradise, Nevada | ||||||
| 4 | 4 | 12:00 p.m. | No. 1 California Baptist vs. No. 5 Tarleton | 77–60 | ESPN+ | 786 |
| 5 | 2:30 p.m. | No. 2 Abilene Christian vs. No. 6 UT Arlington | 70–50 | |||
| Championship – Saturday, March 14, 2026 – Orleans Arena, Paradise, Nevada | ||||||
| 5 | 6 | 12:30 p.m. | No. 1 California Baptist vs. No. 2 Abilene Christian | 74–58 | ESPNU | 576 |
| * 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 ESPNU | |||||||||||||||
| 4 | Utah Valley | 57 | ||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Tarleton | 60 | 1 | California Baptist | 77 | |||||||||||||
| 5 | Tarleton | 60 | ||||||||||||||||
| 6 | UT Arlington | 77 | 1 | California Baptist | 74 | |||||||||||||
| 7 | Utah Tech | 73 | 3 | Southern Utah | 65 | 2 | Abilene Christian | 58 | ||||||||||
| 6 | UT Arlington | 70 | 2 | Abilene Christian | 70 | |||||||||||||
| 6 | UT Arlington | 50 | ||||||||||||||||