1977 Big Eight Conference men's basketball tournament

The 1977 Big Eight Conference men's basketball tournament was held March 1–4 at Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Missouri.[2] This was the inaugural edition of the tournament.

1977 Big Eight Conference men's basketball tournament
ClassificationDivision I
Season1976–77
Teams8
First round siteCampus Sites
Campus Arenas
Finals siteKemper Arena
Kansas City, MO
ChampionsKansas State (1st title)
Winning coachJack Hartman (1st title)
MVPMike Evans (Kansas State)
1978 →
1976–77 Big Eight Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 16 Kansas State 11 3   .786 23 8   .742
Missouri 9 5   .643 21 8   .724
Oklahoma 9 5   .643 18 10   .643
Kansas 8 6   .571 18 10   .643
Nebraska 7 7   .500 15 14   .517
Colorado 5 9   .357 11 16   .407
Oklahoma State 4 10   .286 10 17   .370
Iowa State 3 11   .214 7 20   .259
1977 Big Eight tournament winner
Rankings from AP Poll[1]

Kansas State defeated Missouri in the championship game, 72–67 (in overtime), to take home their first Big 8 men's basketball tournament.

The Wildcats, in turn, received a bid to the 1977 NCAA tournament. Kansas State was the only Big 8 team to qualify for the tournament.

Format

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All eight of the conference's members participated in the tournament field. They were seeded based on regular season conference records, with all teams beginning play in the initial quarterfinal round.

All first round games were played on the home court of the higher-seeded team. The semifinals and championship game, in turn, were played at a neutral site at Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Missouri.

Bracket

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Quarterfinals
Tuesday, March 1
Semifinals
Thursday, March 3
Championship
Friday, March 4
         
1 Kansas State 97
8 Iowa State 62
1 Kansas State 80
4 Kansas 67
5 Nebraska 58
4 Kansas 61
1 Kansas State 72*
2 Missouri 67
3 Oklahoma 68
6 Colorado 56
3 Oklahoma 72
2 Missouri 90
7 Oklahoma State 74
2 Missouri 92

References

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  1. ^ sports-reference.com 1976-77 Big Eight Conference Season Summary
  2. ^ "1976-77 Big 8 Conference Season Summary". sports-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. 2016. Retrieved April 28, 2016.