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2025 WAC men's basketball tournament

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Not to be confused with 2025 West Coast Conference men's basketball tournament.
2025 WAC men's basketball tournament
ClassificationDivision I
Season2024–25
Teams9
SiteOrleans Arena
Paradise, Nevada
ChampionsGrand Canyon
Winning coachBryce Drew (4th title)
MVPJaKobe Coles (Grand Canyon)
Attendance3,780 (Championship game)
TelevisionESPN+, ESPN2
← 2024
2026 →
2024–25 WAC men's basketball standings
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Utah Valley 15 – 1   .938 25 – 9   .735
Grand Canyon † 13 – 3   .813 26 – 8   .765
California Baptist 9 – 7   .563 17 – 15   .531
Abilene Christian 8 – 8   .500 16 – 16   .500
Seattle 8 – 8   .500 14 – 18   .438
Tarleton 7 – 9   .438 12 – 20   .375
UT Arlington 6 – 10   .375 13 – 18   .419
Southern Utah 4 – 12   .250 12 – 19   .387
Utah Tech 2 – 14   .125 7 – 26   .212
† 2025 WAC tournament winner

The 2025 WAC men's basketball tournament was the postseason men's basketball tournament of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) for the 2024–25 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The tournament was played from March 11–15, 2025 with the opening round at Burns Arena in St. George, Utah and the remaining rounds at the Orleans Arena in Paradise, Nevada near Las Vegas.[1] Burns Arena was the home court for WAC member Utah Tech.[2] The last time that a WAC tournament game was held at a conference member's campus site was in 2010.[3] This was the 15th year that the tournament was held at the Orleans Arena.[4] Grand Canyon, who won the conference tournament, received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament for a third straight season.[5]

Seeds

[edit]

All nine members were invited to the tournament.[6] The field for the WAC tournament has varied from six to twelve qualifiers.[7] All teams were eligible for the NCAA tournament including Tarleton and Utah Tech which completed their transition to Division I in 2024.[8] For the prior two seasons, the WAC tournament was seeded using the WAC Résumé Seeding System.[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]

Seed School Conference record Tiebreak 1 Tiebreak 2 / WAC Seeding points
1 Utah Valley 15–1
2 Grand Canyon 13–3
3 California Baptist 9–7
4 Abilene Christian 8–8 1–1 vs. Seattle WACpts -2.839[a]
5 Seattle 8–8 1–1 vs. Abilene Christian WACpts -4.057[a]
6 Tarleton 7–9
7 UT Arlington 6–10
8 Southern Utah 4–12
9 Utah Tech 2–14
  1. ^ a b Estimated based on information in the March 7, 2025 WAC Résumé Seeding System update. The WAC did not release the final regular-season point totals.

Schedule

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Session Game Time* Matchup# Score Television Attendance
First round – Tuesday, March 11, 2025 – Burns Arena, St. George, Utah†
1 1 2:30 p.m. No. 8 Southern Utah at No. 9 Utah Tech 65–72 ESPN+ 1,022
Quarterfinals – Wednesday, March 12, 2025 – Orleans Arena, Paradise, Nevada
2 2 6:00 p.m. No. 1 Utah Valley vs. No. 9 Utah Tech 74–57 ESPN+ N/A
3 8:30 p.m. No. 2 Grand Canyon vs. No. 7 UT Arlington 98–75 1,645
Quarterfinals – Thursday, March 13, 2025 – Orleans Arena, Paradise, Nevada
3 4 6:00 p.m. No. 4 Abilene Christian vs. No. 5 Seattle 63–69 ESPN+ N/A
5 8:30 p.m. No. 3 California Baptist vs. No. 6 Tarleton 55–51 927
Semifinals – Friday, March 14, 2025 – Orleans Arena, Paradise, Nevada
4 6 6:00 p.m. No. 1 Utah Valley vs. No. 5 Seattle 68–55 ESPN+ N/A
7 8:30 p.m. No. 2 Grand Canyon vs. No. 3 California Baptist 75–66 3,867
Championship – Saturday, March 15, 2025 – Orleans Arena, Paradise, Nevada
5 8 8:40 p.m. No. 1 Utah Valley vs. No. 2 Grand Canyon 82–89 ESPN2 3,780
* Game times in MDT for the first round and PDT from the quarterfinals onward.
Rankings denote tournament seeding.
† St. George, Utah is located in the Mountain Time Zone.
Utah Tech's home court was selected as the predetermined site for the first-round game, which resulted in the Trailblazers playing a tournament game at home.

Bracket

[edit]
First round
Tuesday, March 11
Burns Arena, St. George, Utah
ESPN+ 		Quarterfinals
Wednesday and Thursday,
March 12–13
Orleans Arena, Paradise, Nevada
ESPN+ 		Semifinals
Friday, March 14
Orleans Arena, Paradise, Nevada
ESPN+ 		Championship
Saturday, March 15
Orleans Arena, Paradise, Nevada
ESPN2
            
1 Utah Valley 74
9 Utah Tech 57
8 Southern Utah 65
9 Utah Tech 72
1 Utah Valley 68
5 Seattle 55
4 Abilene Christian 63
5 Seattle 69
1 Utah Valley 82
2 Grand Canyon 89
2 Grand Canyon 98
7 UT Arlington 75
2 Grand Canyon 75
3 California Baptist 66
3 California Baptist 55
6 Tarleton 51

Awards

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Award Player Team
Most Outstanding Player JaKobe Coles Grand Canyon
All-Tournament Team Tanner Toolson Utah Valley
Carter Welling Utah Valley
Tyon Grant-Foster Grand Canyon
Ray Harrison Grand Canyon

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Hercules Tires WAC Basketball Tournament". orleans.boydgaming.com. Retrieved January 16, 2025.
  2. ^ "Burns Arena". Greater Zion. Retrieved January 16, 2025.
  3. ^ "WAC Tournament Dates, Format and Bracket Revealed". University of Texas Arlington Athletics. August 15, 2024. Retrieved January 16, 2025.
  4. ^ "WAC Hercules Tire Basketball Tournament details finalized". Tarleton State University Athletics. August 15, 2024. Retrieved January 16, 2025.
  5. ^ "What is an at-large bid in March Madness? | NCAA.com". www.ncaa.com. Retrieved January 16, 2025.
  6. ^ "Championship Format And Dates For 2025 Hercules Tires WAC Basketball Tournament Set". wacsports.com. January 15, 2025. Retrieved January 16, 2025.
  7. ^ "WAC Tournament format, dates set". Grand Canyon University Athletics. November 9, 2023. Retrieved November 17, 2023.
  8. ^ "IT'S OFFICIAL! Utah Tech University Completes NCAA Division I Transition". Utah Tech University Athletics. January 7, 2025. Retrieved January 16, 2025.
  9. ^ "First WAC Résumé Seeding System Rankings Of 2023-24 Posted". wacsports.com. January 15, 2025. Retrieved January 16, 2025.
  10. ^ "2024 25 WAC MBB Resume Seeding As of March 7 (PDF) - Western Athletic Conference" (PDF). wacsports.com. Retrieved March 9, 2025.
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