The 2026 WAC men's basketball tournament was the postseason men's basketball tournament of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) for the 2025–26 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The tournament was played from March 11–14, 2026 with all rounds at the Orleans Arena in Paradise, Nevada near Las Vegas. This was the 16th year that the tournament was held at the Orleans Arena. The winner, California Baptist, received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
This was also the last men's tournament under the Western Athletic Conference name. On July 1, 2026, the WAC will rebrand as the United Athletic Conference, assuming the name previously used for a football-only alliance between the WAC and Atlantic Sun Conference. Three legacy WAC members (Abilene Christian, Tarleton State, and UT Arlington) are scheduled to maintain their conference memberships through the transition.
Utah Valley initially was denied to play in the tournament due to their issues regarding an unpaid exit fee before the Fourth District Court in Utah granted the university's motion for a preliminary injunction that allowed them to play. On March 10, the WAC placed Utah Valley in an ultimatum, claiming that the University had to put the $1 million exit fee in an escrow account for the duration of the court proceedings by the end of the day or the brackets would be modified, claiming the court order forced them to do so while Utah Valley contended they were coordinating with the court over the process. Utah Valley placed the fee in the escrow account, which will either go to the WAC or be returned to Utah Valley depending on the outcome of the court case, allowing them to participate in the tournament.https://www.ksl.com/article/51458536/wac-champion-utah-valley-receives-another-injunction-to-play-in-conference-tournamenthttps://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/news/utah-valley-wac-tournament-ultimatum-1-million/ With a victory by Utah Valley and California Baptist in the Semifinals, the tournament was guaranteed to have a first-time winner.
Seeds All seven members were invited to the tournament. For the 2025 WAC tournament, seeding was determined by conference record with ties broken first by head-to-head competition, then by the WAC Résumé Seeding System points. The highest two seeded teams will receive byes to the semifinals in this year's tournament. Only Abilene Christian, UT Arlington, and Southern Utah have participated in the NCAA tournament in the past, the other four teams having never been invited. SeedSchoolConference recordTiebreak1Utah Valley14–42California Baptist13–53Utah Tech11–74UT Arlington9–95Southern Utah6–126Abilene Christian5–132–1 vs. Tarleton7Tarleton5–131–2 vs. Abilene Christian
Schedule SessionGameTime*Matchup#ScoreTelevisionAttendanceFirst round – Wednesday, March 11115:30 p.m.No. 6 Abilene Christian vs. No. 7 Tarleton84–78ESPN+760Quarterfinals – Thursday, March 12226:00 p.m.No. 4 UT Arlington vs. No. 5 Southern Utah69–63ESPN+1,029 38:30 p.m.No. 3 Utah Tech vs. No. 6 Abilene Christian80–74Semifinals – Friday, March 13346:00 p.m.No. 1 Utah Valley vs. No. 4 UT Arlington67–65ESPN+1,47458:30 p.m.No. 2 California Baptist vs. No. 3 Utah Tech86–72Championship – Saturday, March 14469:00 p.m.No. 1 Utah Valley vs. No. 2 California Baptist61–63ESPN21,151* Game times in PDT for all rounds. #Rankings denote tournament seeding.
Bracket
Awards +AwardPlayerTeamMost Outstanding PlayerDominique Daniels Jr.Cal BaptistAll-Tournament TeamJayden JacksonCal BaptistTrevan LeonhardtUtah ValleyJackson HolcombeUtah ValleyEthan PotterUtah Tech References: https://wacsports.com/news/2026/3/15/no-2-cbu-downs-no-1-utah-valley-63-61-to-win-the-2026-wac-mens-basketball-tournament.aspx
See also
2026 WAC women's basketball tournament Western Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year
References