United Athletic Conference men's basketball tournament
Men's basketball championship
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The United Athletic Conference men's basketball tournament is the conference championship tournament in men's basketball for the United Athletic Conference (UAC). The conference used to be known as the Western Athletic Conference (WC), which was founded in 1962, but the annual tournament has only been held since 1984.
| United Athletic Conference men's basketball tournament | |
|---|---|
| Conference basketball championship | |
| Sport | College basketball |
| Conference | United Athletic Conference |
| Number of teams | 9 |
| Format | Single-elimination tournament |
| Current stadium | Orleans Arena |
| Current location | Paradise, Nevada |
| Played | 1984–present |
| Last contest | 2026 |
| Current champion | California Baptist |
| Most championships | New Mexico State Aggies (10 titles) |
| Official website | uacsports.com/mbball |
The winner of the tournament is guaranteed a spot in the NCAA basketball tournament every year
Format and host
The event has alternated between being hosted at campus sites and neutral sites throughout its history. From the inaugural event in 1984 until 1992 the regular season champion hosted the tournament, but in 1993 and 1994 the event was held at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City which, although located less than five miles from then-conference member Utah's campus, was considered a neutral site. From 1995 through 2009 the event returned to on-campus sites, although the location was awarded through a predetermined bidding process rather than being given to the regular-season champion. Since 2010 the tournament has again been held at a neutral site, namely Orleans Arena in Paradise, Nevada.
Starting with the 2023 tournament, the WAC adopted a new seeding system based on advanced team metrics, developed in large part by statistical guru Ken Pomeroy. Tournament entry will still be based on conference record.[1]
Tournament results
Performance by school
| School | Championships | Championship Years |
|---|---|---|
| New Mexico State | 10 | 2007, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022 |
| UTEP | 5 | 1984, 1986, 1989, 1990, 2005 |
| Grand Canyon | 4 | 2021, 2023, 2024, 2025 |
| Hawaii | 3 | 1994, 2001, 2002 |
| Utah | 3 | 1995, 1997, 1999 |
| BYU | 2 | 1991, 1992 |
| Nevada | 2 | 2004, 2006 |
| New Mexico | 2 | 1993, 1996 |
| Utah State | 2 | 2009, 2011 |
| Wyoming | 2 | 1987, 1988 |
| Boise State | 1 | 2008 |
| Cal State Bakersfield | 1 | 2016 |
| Fresno State | 1 | 2000 |
| San Diego State | 1 | 1985 |
| Tulsa | 1 | 2003 |
| UNLV | 1 | 1998 |
| California Baptist | 1 | 2026 |
| UT Arlington | 0 | |
| Abilene Christian | 0 | |
| Colorado State | 0 | |
| Idaho | 0 | |
| Louisiana Tech | 0 | |
| Seattle | 0 | |
| Southern Utah | 0 | |
| Tarleton State | 0 | |
| TCU | 0 | |
| Utah Tech | 0 | |
| Utah Valley | 0 | |
| Air Force | 0 | |
| Rice | 0 | |
| Stephen F. Austin | 0 |
- Schools highlighted in yellow are current members of the UAC.
Broadcasters
Television
| Year | Network | Play-by-play | Analyst |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1984[2] | NBC | Charlie Jones | Dan Belluomini |
| 1985 | Lorimar Sports Network | Larry Zimmer | Irv Brown |
| 1990 | TSI Sports | Carl Arky | Irv Brown |
| 1992 | ESPN | Craig Bolerjack | Terry Holland |
| 2007[3] | ESPN2 | Terry Gannon | Stephen Bardo |
| 2008[4] | Dave Pasch | Michael Holton | |
| 2009[5] | Terry Gannon | Stephen Bardo | |
| 2010[6] | |||
| 2011 [7] | Dave Flemming | Sean Farnham | |
| 2012 [8] | |||
| 2013 [9] | ESPNU | Trey Bender | Stephen Howard |
| 2014 [10] | Steve Quis | Jon Crispin | |
| 2015 | Sean Harrington | ||
| 2016 | Dave Flemming | Malcolm Huckaby | |
| 2017 | Eric Rothman | Paul Biancardi | |
| 2018 | Kanoa Leahey | Corey Williams | |
| 2019 | Adrian Branch | ||
| 2020 | Dave Feldman | Corey Williams | |
| 2021 | Roxy Bernstein | Adrian Branch | |
| 2022 | Dave Flemming | Mike O'Donnell | |
| 2023 | ESPN2 | Dave Feldman | |
| 2024 | |||
| 2025 | Jerod Haase | ||
| 2026 | Lowell Galindo | Tim Welsh |
Radio
| Year | Network | Play-by-play | Analyst |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010[11] | Westwood One | Dave Sims | Kyle Macy |
| 2011 | |||
| 2012 [12] | Dial Global Sports | Kevin Calabro | Tom Brennan |
