1986 WAC men's basketball tournament


The 1986 Western Athletic Conference men's basketball tournament was held March 4–8 at the Arena-Auditorium at the University of Wyoming in Laramie, Wyoming.[2]

1986 WAC men's basketball tournament
ClassificationDivision I
Season1985–86
Teams9
SiteArena-Auditorium
Laramie, WY
ChampionsUTEP (2nd title)
Winning coachDon Haskins (2nd title)
MVPEric Leckner (Wyoming)
← 1985
1987 →
1985–86 WAC men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Wyoming 12 4   .750 24 12   .667
No. 20 UTEP 12 4   .750 27 6   .818
Utah 12 4   .750 20 10   .667
Brigham Young 11 5   .688 18 14   .563
New Mexico 8 8   .500 17 14   .548
San Diego State 7 9   .438 10 19   .345
Colorado State 6 10   .375 11 18   .379
Air Force 3 13   .188 10 19   .345
Hawaii 1 15   .063 4 24   .143
1986 WAC tournament winner
Rankings from AP Poll[1]

UTEP defeated top-seeded Wyoming in the championship game, 65–64, to clinch their second WAC men's tournament championship.

The Miners, in turn, received an automatic bid to the 1986 NCAA tournament. Third-seeded Utah, who lost in the quarterfinal round, also earned an at-large bid.

Format

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Even though the tournament field remained fixed at nine teams, there were some changes to the tournament structure. Teams were again seeded based on regular season conference records, although the previous double-bye structure for the top two seeds was eliminated. Instead, all teams were entered into the quarterfinal round with the exception of the two lowest-seeded teams, who played in the preliminary first round to determine who would then play against the tournament's top seed.

Bracket

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First round
Tuesday, March 4
Quarterfinals
Thursday, March 6
Semifinals
Friday, March 7
Championship
Saturday, March 8
1 Wyoming 67
9 Hawaii 58 8 Air Force 65
8 Air Force 64 1 Wyoming 56
5 New Mexico 54
5 New Mexico 79
4 BYU 68
1 Wyoming 64
2 UTEP 65
3 Utah 71
6 San Diego State 73
6 San Diego State 76
2 UTEP 78
7 Colorado State 50
2 UTEP 58

References

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  1. ^ sports-reference.com 1984-85 Western Athletic Conference Season Summary
  2. ^ "1985-86 Western Athletic Conference Season Summary". sports-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. 2016. Retrieved March 20, 2016.