The 2023 WAC men's basketball tournament is the postseason men's basketball tournament of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) for the 2022–23 season. The conference tournament is scheduled to be played from March 7–11, 2023, at Michelob ULTRA Arena and the Orleans Arena in Paradise, Nevada near Las Vegas. The first round will be played on March 7 at Michelob ULTRA Arena with the remaining rounds March 9–11 at the Orleans Arena. The winner of the conference tournament, Grand Canyon, received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
Seeds Twelve of the thirteen members were invited to the tournament. While Tarleton and Utah Tech were ineligible for the NCAA tournament, they were eligible for the WAC tournament. New Mexico State canceled the remainder of its season on February 11, 2023 due to an ongoing investigation of hazing incidents within the program. Teams were seeded using the WAC Resume Seeding rankings. The WAC Resume Seeding rankings are an advanced analytic developed by Ken Pomeroy that incorporates the performance of teams in both conference and non-conference games. Rankings were initially released on December 5. While seedings were determined using the WAC Resume Seeding System, the top 12 teams that qualified for the tournament were determined based on conference league records. Since New Mexico State suspended its season, the remaining 12 teams participated in the tournament (as reflected in the seedings released starting with the February 13 rankings shown in the table below). Regardless of which team received the top seed from the WAC Resume Seeding rankings, the regular season conference champion was determined based on conference win percentage.
If a team that was not eligible for the NCAA Tournament won the WAC Tournament, the conference's automatic bid would have gone to the highest seeded tournament-eligible team.
SeedSchoolConferenceWAC PointsKenPom Ranking (Mar. 4)1Sam Houston14–46.977662Utah Valley15–36.964793Southern Utah13–63.1471024Seattle U11–73.1021445Grand Canyon11–72.7711206Stephen F. Austin11–71.1311297Tarleton10–8–0.0691618California Baptist8–10–1.9801589Abilene Christian7–11–2.53818710UTRGV6–12–3.16325011Utah Tech5–13–3.51915712UT Arlington6–12–5.067245
SeedDec. 5Dec. 13Dec. 20Dec. 27Jan. 3Jan. 10Jan. 17Jan. 24Jan. 30Feb. 7Feb. 13Feb. 21Feb. 28Mar. 41SHSUSHSUSHSUSHSUSHSUUVUUVUUVUSHSUUVUUVUUVUUVUSHSU2SUSUSUUVUUVUSHSUSUSUUVUSHSUSHSUSHSUSHSUUVU3GCUGCUGCUSU(T) SUSUSHSUSHSUSUSUUSUSUUSUUSUU4TARUVUUVUGCU(T) GCUGCUSUUGCUSUUSUSUUSUSUSU5UTNMSUNMSUNMSUSUUSUUGCUSUUGCUGCUGCUGCUSFAGCU6NMSU(T) CBUUTUTUTSFASFASFASFASFASFASFAGCUSFA7UTRGV(T) UTCBUSUUSFAUTTARCBUTARTARTARTARTARTAR8UVUSUUSUUTARNMSUTARCBUTARCBUACUACUCBUCBUCBU9CBUTARUTRGVUTRGVTARCBUUTUTUTCBUCBUACUACUACU10SUUUTRGVTARCBUUTRGVNMSUUTRGVUTRGVUTRGVUTUTUTRGVUTRGVUTRGV11SFASFASFASFAACUACUACUACUACUUTRGVUTRGVUTUTUT12UTAACUACUACUCBUUTRGVNMSUNMSUNMSUNMSUUTAUTAUTAUTA13ACUUTAUTAUTAUTAUTAUTAUTAUTAUTA --- --- --- ---
Schedule SessionGameTime*Matchup#ScoreTelevisionAttendanceFirst round – Tuesday, March 7, 2023 – Michelob ULTRA Arena1112:00pmNo. 8 California Baptist vs. No. 9 Abilene Christian69−62 ESPN+22:00pmNo. 5 Grand Canyon vs. No. 12 UT Arlington82−7736:00pmNo. 7 Tarleton vs. No. 10 UT Rio Grande Valley74−7048:00pmNo. 6 Stephen F. Austin vs. No. 11 Utah Tech76−80OTQuarterfinals – Thursday, March 9, 2023 – Orleans Arena2512:00pmNo. 1 Sam Houston vs. No. 8 California Baptist64–51ESPN+62:00pmNo. 4 Seattle vs. No. 5 Grand Canyon79–8476:00pmNo. 2 Utah Valley vs. No. 7 Tarleton72–5888:00pmNo. 3 Southern Utah vs. No. 11 Utah Tech76–75Semifinals – Friday, March 10, 2023 – Orleans Arena396:00pmNo. 1 Sam Houston vs. No. 5 Grand Canyon75–78ESPN+108:00pmNo. 2 Utah Valley vs. No. 3 Southern Utah88–89Championship – Saturday, March 11, 2023 – Orleans Arena4118:30 p.m.No. 5 Grand Canyon vs. No. 3 Southern Utah84–66ESPN2*Game times in PT. #-Rankings denote tournament seeding.
Bracket * denotes overtime period
Awards +AwardPlayerTeamMost Outstanding PlayerRay HarrisonGrand CanyonAll-Tournament TeamRay HarrisonGrand CanyonAll-tournament teamGabe McGlothanGrand CanyonAll-tournament teamHarrison ButlerSouthern UtahAll-tournament teamTevian JonesSouthern UtahAll-tournament teamTrey WoodburyUtah Valley
See also 2023 WAC women's basketball tournament
References