The 2021 WAC men's basketball tournament was the postseason men's basketball tournament for the Western Athletic Conference during the 2020–21 season. All tournament games were played at the Orleans Arena in Paradise, Nevada, from March 11–13, 2021. The tournament champion received the WAC's automatic bid to the 2021 NCAA tournament.
| 2021 WAC men's basketball tournament | |
|---|---|
| Classification | Division I |
| Season | 2020–21 |
| Teams | 6 |
| Site | Orleans Arena Paradise, Nevada |
| Champions | Grand Canyon (1st title) |
| Winning coach | Bryce Drew (1st title) |
| MVP | Jovan Blacksher Jr. (Grand Canyon) |
| Television | ESPN+, ESPNU |
| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | W | L | PCT | W | L | PCT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Grand Canyon † | 9 | – | 3 | .750 | 17 | – | 7 | .708 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Utah Valley | 9 | – | 4 | .692 | 11 | – | 11 | .500 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| New Mexico State | 7 | – | 6 | .538 | 12 | – | 8 | .600 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| California Baptist* | 6 | – | 6 | .500 | 13 | – | 10 | .565 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Seattle | 4 | – | 5 | .444 | 12 | – | 11 | .522 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tarleton State* | 5 | – | 7 | .417 | 10 | – | 10 | .500 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Dixie State* | 4 | – | 10 | .286 | 8 | – | 13 | .381 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Texas–Rio Grande Valley | 2 | – | 5 | .286 | 9 | – | 10 | .474 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chicago State | 0 | – | 0 | – | 0 | – | 9 | .000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| * Ineligible for the 2021 NCAA tournament due to transition period Chicago State suspended their season on December 23, 2020 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| † 2021 WAC tournament winner | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Seeds edit
6 of the 9 teams in the WAC were eligible to compete in the conference tournament. Dixie State and Tarleton State were ineligible due to their transition from Division II to Division I. California Baptist is eligible for the WAC basketball tournament this year after a change in rules from the WAC Board of Directors, which changed the transition period from four years to two years to compete in the conference tournament.[1] CBU would still have to wait two more years to be able to compete in the NCAA Tournament. Chicago State cancelled their season after going 0–9, so they did not compete in the conference tournament.[2] Teams were seeded by record within the conference, with a tiebreaker system to seed teams with identical conference records.
| Seed | School | Conference | Tiebreaker | Tiebreaker 2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Grand Canyon | 9–3 | ||
| 2 | Utah Valley | 9–4 | ||
| 3 | New Mexico State | 7–6 | ||
| 4 | California Baptist | 6–6 | ||
| 5 | Seattle | 4–5 | ||
| 6 | UTRGV | 2–5 |
Schedule and results edit
| Game | Time | Matchup | Score | Television |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quarterfinals – Thursday, March 11 | ||||
| 1 | 4:30 pm | No. 4 California Baptist vs No. 5 Seattle | 66–83 | ESPN+ |
| 2 | 8:00 pm | No. 3 New Mexico State vs No. 6 UTRGV | 77–61 | |
| Semifinals – Friday, March 12 | ||||
| 3 | 5:00 pm | No. 1 Grand Canyon vs. No. 5 Seattle | 81–47 | ESPN+ |
| 4 | 8:00 pm | No. 2 Utah Valley vs. No. 3 New Mexico State | 62–78 | |
| Final – Saturday, March 13 | ||||
| 5 | 7:00 pm | No. 1 Grand Canyon vs. No. 3 New Mexico State | 74–56 | ESPNU |
| Game times in PST. Rankings denote tournament seed. | ||||
Bracket edit
| Quarterfinals Thursday, March 11 ESPN+ | Semifinals Friday, March 12 ESPN+ | Championship Saturday, March 13 ESPNU | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Grand Canyon | 81 | ||||||||||||
| 5 | Seattle | 47 | ||||||||||||
| 4 | Cal Baptist | 66 | ||||||||||||
| 5 | Seattle | 83 | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Grand Canyon | 74 | ||||||||||||
| 3 | New Mexico State | 56 | ||||||||||||
| 2 | Utah Valley | 62 | ||||||||||||
| 3 | New Mexico State | 78 | ||||||||||||
| 3 | New Mexico State | 77 | ||||||||||||
| 6 | UTRGV | 61 | ||||||||||||
References edit
- ^ "Lancers Eligible For 2021 WAC Basketball Tournament" (Press release). Cal Baptist Lancers. April 27, 2020. Retrieved December 31, 2020.
- ^ "Chicago State University Athletics Suspends Men's Basketball Competition-Related Activities" (Press release). Chicago State University. December 23, 2020. Retrieved December 31, 2020.