The United Athletic Conference men's basketball tournament is the conference championship tournament in men's basketball for the United Athletic Conference (UAC). The conference used to be known as the Western Athletic Conference (WAC), which was founded in 1962, but the annual tournament has only been held since 1984.

The winner of the tournament is guaranteed a spot in the NCAA basketball tournament every year

Format and host The event has alternated between being hosted at campus sites and neutral sites throughout its history. From the inaugural event in 1984 until 1992 the regular season champion hosted the tournament, but in 1993 and 1994 the event was held at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City which, although located less than five miles from then-conference member Utah's campus, was considered a neutral site. From 1995 through 2009 the event returned to on-campus sites, although the location was awarded through a predetermined bidding process rather than being given to the regular-season champion. Since 2010 the tournament has again been held at a neutral site, namely Orleans Arena in Paradise, Nevada. After the conference rebranded to the UAC in 2026, the site was moved to Allen, Texas at the Credit Union of Texas Event Center.

Starting with the 2023 tournament, the WAC adopted a new seeding system based on advanced team metrics, developed in large part by statistical guru Ken Pomeroy. Tournament entry will still be based on conference record.

Tournament results Year Champion Score Runner-up Tournament MVP Location1984UTEP62–55New MexicoJuden Smith, UTEPSpecial Events Center (El Paso, Texas)1985San Diego State87–81UTEPLuster Goodwin, UTEP1986UTEP65–64WyomingEric Leckner, WyomingArena-Auditorium (Laramie, Wyoming)1987Wyoming64–62New MexicoThe Pit (Albuquerque, New Mexico)1988Wyoming79–75UTEP Marriott Center (Provo, Utah)1989UTEP73–60Colorado StateTim Hardaway, UTEPJon M. Huntsman Center (Salt Lake City, Utah)1990UTEP75–58Hawaii Greg Foster, UTEPSpecial Events Center (El Paso, Texas)1991BYU51–49Utah Shawn Bradley, BYUArena-Auditorium (Laramie, Wyoming)1992BYU73–71UTEPEddie Rivera, UTEPMoby Arena (Fort Collins, Colorado)1993New Mexico76–65UTEPIke Williams, New MexicoDelta Center (Salt Lake City)1994Hawaii73–66BYUTrevor Ruffin, Hawaii1995Utah67–54Hawaii Keith Van Horn, UtahThe Pit (Albuquerque, New Mexico)1996New Mexico64–60Utah Kenny Thomas, New Mexico1997Utah89–68TCUKeith Van Horn, UtahThomas & Mack Center (Paradise, Nevada)1998UNLV56–51New Mexico Kenny Thomas, New Mexico1999Utah60–45New MexicoAlex Jensen, Utah2000Fresno State75–72Tulsa Courtney Alexander, Fresno StateSelland Arena (Fresno, California)2001Hawaii78–72Carl English, HawaiiReynolds Center, Tulsa, Oklahoma2002Hawaii73–59TulsaPredrag Savović, Hawaii2003Tulsa75–64Nevada Kevin Johnson, Tulsa2004Nevada66–60UTEPKirk Snyder, NevadaSave Mart Center (Fresno, California)2005UTEP91–78Boise State Filiberto Rivera, UTEPLawlor Events Center (Reno, Nevada)2006Nevada70–63Utah StateNick Fazekas, Nevada2007New Mexico State72–70Utah StateJustin Hawkins, New Mexico StatePan American Center (Las Cruces, New Mexico)2008Boise State107–102 3OTNew Mexico StateReggie Larry, Boise State2009Utah State72–62Nevada Gary Wilkinson, Utah StateLawlor Events Center (Reno, Nevada)2010New Mexico State69–63Utah StateJahmar Young, New Mexico State2011Utah State77–69Boise StateBrockeith Pane, Utah StateOrleans Arena (Paradise, Nevada)2012New Mexico State82–57Louisiana TechWendell McKines, New Mexico State2013New Mexico State64–55Texas–ArlingtonSim Bhullar, New Mexico State2014New Mexico State77–55Idaho2015New Mexico State80–61SeattleTshilidzi Nephawe, New Mexico State2016Cal State Bakersfield57–54New Mexico StateDedrick Basile, Cal State Bakersfield2017New Mexico State70–60Cal State BakersfieldIan Baker, New Mexico State2018New Mexico State72–58Grand CanyonJemerrio Jones, New Mexico State2019New Mexico State89–57Grand CanyonTrevelin Queen, New Mexico State2020Cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic2021Grand Canyon74–56New Mexico StateJovan Blacksher, Grand CanyonOrleans Arena (Paradise, Nevada)2022New Mexico State66–52Abilene ChristianTeddy Allen, New Mexico State2023Grand Canyon84–66Southern UtahRayshon Harrison, Grand Canyon2024Grand Canyon89–74UT ArlingtonTyon Grant-Foster, Grand Canyon2025Grand Canyon89–82Utah ValleyJaKobe Coles, Grand Canyon2026California Baptist63–61Utah ValleyDominique Daniels Jr., California Baptist

Tournament Championships by School

Current members Current members as of July 1, 2026 School Championships Championship Years Abilene Christian0 Austin Peay0 Central Arkansas0 Eastern Kentucky0 Little Rock0 North Alabama0 Tarleton State0 UT Arlington0 West Georgia0

Former members Former members that have won the tournament as of July 1, 2026. School Championships Championship Years New Mexico State10 2007, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022 UTEP5 1984, 1986, 1989, 1990, 2005 Grand Canyon4 2021, 2023, 2024, 2025Hawaii3 1994, 2001, 2002 Utah3 1995, 1997, 1999 BYU2 1991, 1992 Nevada2 2004, 2006 New Mexico2 1993, 1996 Utah State2 2009, 2011 Wyoming2 1987, 1988 Boise State1 2008 Cal State Bakersfield1 2016 Fresno State1 2000 San Diego State1 1985 Tulsa1 2003 UNLV1 1998 California Baptist1 2026

Broadcasters

Television Year Network Play-by-play Analyst 1984http://the506.com/yabb/YaBB.pl?num=1228172635 NBC Charlie JonesDan Belluomini1985Lorimar Sports NetworkLarry Zimmer Irv Brown 1990TSI SportsCarl ArkyIrv Brown1992ESPNCraig BolerjackTerry Holland 2007ESPN2 Terry Gannon Stephen Bardo 2008 Dave Pasch Michael Holton 2009Terry GannonStephen Bardo 2010 2011 http://www.espnmediazone3.com/us/2011/04/championship-week-begins-march-7/Dave FlemmingSean Farnham 2012 2013 ESPNU Trey Bender Stephen Howard 2014 Steve Quis Jon Crispin 2015 Sean Harrington 2016 Dave Flemming Malcolm Huckaby 2017 Eric Rothman Paul Biancardi 2018Kanoa Leahey Corey Williams 2019 Adrian Branch 2020 Dave Feldman Corey Williams 2021 Roxy Bernstein Adrian Branch 2022 Dave FlemmingMike O'Donnell 2023ESPN2Dave Feldman 2024 2025 Jerod Haase 2026 Lowell Galindo Tim Welsh

Radio Year Network Play-by-play Analyst 2010http://the506.com/yabb/YaBB.pl?num=1267859867;start=allWestwood One Dave Sims Kyle Macy 2011 2012 Dial Global Sports Kevin Calabro Tom Brennan

See also United Athletic Conference women's basketball tournament

References

External links