1980 Big Sky Conference men's basketball tournament


The 1980 Big Sky Conference men's basketball tournament was the fifth edition of the tournament, held February 29 and March 1 at the Dee Events Center at Weber State College in Ogden, Utah. [1][2]

1980 Big Sky Conference men's basketball tournament
ClassificationDivision I
Season1979–80
Teams4
SiteDee Events Center
Ogden, Utah
ChampionsWeber State (3rd title)
Winning coachNeil McCarthy (3rd title)
MVPBruce Collins (Weber State)
← 1979
1981 →
1979–80 Big Sky men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 17 Weber State 13 1   .929 26 3   .897
Idaho 9 5   .643 17 10   .630
Montana 8 6   .571 17 11   .607
Montana State 7 7   .500 14 12   .538
Nevada 5 9   .357 10 19   .345
Idaho State 5 9   .357 9 17   .346
Northern Arizona 5 9   .357 14 12   .538
Boise State 4 10   .286 10 16   .385
Conference tournament winner
Rankings from AP poll

Top-seeded Weber State defeated Montana in the championship game, 50–42, to clinch their third consecutive Big Sky tournament title.[1] The Wildcats had played in all five finals, dropping the first two.

Format

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Introduced in 1976, the Big Sky tournament had the same format for its first eight editions. The regular season champion hosted and only the top four teams from the standings took part, with seeding based on regular season conference records.

Second-seeded Idaho made its inaugural appearance in the conference tournament, having been in last place in the previous five seasons. Membership in the Big Sky remained at eight: Gonzaga left in the summer of 1979 for the WCAC and was replaced by Nevada–Reno.

Bracket

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Semifinals
Friday, February 29
Championship
Saturday, March 1
      
1 #16 Weber State 93
4 Montana State 70
1 #16 Weber State 50
3 Montana 42
3 Montana 63
2 Idaho 53

NCAA tournament

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Weber State received the automatic bid to the expanded 48-team NCAA tournament, and were seeded seventh in the West region. In the first round at their home venue in Ogden, the Wildcats lost by a point to Lamar.[3][4]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Weber rallies for tournament title". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. March 2, 1980. p. 3D.
  2. ^ "1979-80 Big Sky Conference Season Summary". sports-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. 2016. Retrieved April 10, 2016.
  3. ^ Rock, Brad (March 7, 1980). "Comeback 'Cats fall a point short". Deseret News. (Salt Lake City, Utah). p. 4B.
  4. ^ "Lamar surprises struggling Weber State". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. March 7, 1980. p. 4C.