NEWSLETTER
More Vegas, Less Gonzaga. The WAC Tournament kicks off this week with a quartet of first round games live from Sin City.
When is the WAC Tournament?
Begins Tuesday, March 7th and runs through Saturday March 11th, 2023.
Where is the WAC Tournament Played?
The whole thing will be in Las Vegas, but will move around. The first round will be at Michelob Ultra Arena (Mandalay Bay) with the rest at the Orleans Arena after the WCC is finished with it.
How to watch the WAC Tournament
ESPN+ for the first three rounds with Saturday night’s final being televised on ESPN2
Who won the regular season title?
This is where it gets weird. Utah Valley had the best record and was awarded the regular season title. However, they will NOT be the top overall seed as the conference is using some metrics from KenPom to try to determine how the teams should be ranked by taking in their entire season. Sam Houston State edged them out in the ranking and will be the top overall seed in Vegas.
Defending Champ
New Mexico State won last year’s tournament as the top seed, taking down ACU in the finals.
Who will participate
Everyone who didn’t cancel their season after ‘reviewing a police report that cited three players for false imprisonment, harassment and counts of criminal sexual contact against a teammate.” (New Mexico State). So, 12 teams, even the two who aren’t eligible yet for the NCAA Tournament.
How Many teams will the WAC send to the tournament?
Just the one this year.
WAC Tournament Bracket
Single byes to the top four teams with everyone else playing a first round game on Tuesday. Winners head down to the road to the Orleans.
WAC Tournament Odds
Clear upper class with Southern Utah trying to crash the party at DraftKings.
WAC Tournament Preview
Well, one thing is for sure: there won’t be a title defense by the Aggies this year.
Seattle and Southern Utah are worth a look in a bracket that gives them equal advantage it affords the top two seeds. First round bye plus playing on a neutral helps even out things a bit.
The Thunderbirds did split both season series with SHSU and UVU, have a offense that ranks with the best in the league and have some nice size up front.
Seattle had less success in the regular season vs the top teams (1-2), and has a nice defense but the scoring has been really inconsistent, including a loss to Sam Houston in late January where only had 16 at the half.
Sam Houston is the best team here, but I find it difficult to back them as a favorite considering some of their losses this year as well as the lack of advantages given by this tourney set up. They finished strong but had a few spots this year where the offense bogged down and they lost to inferior teams.
WAC Tournament Prediction
This is just a bit of a mispricing I think, but currently FanDuel has a +200 for Utah Valley. That implies a lower chance of winning this thing than my projections (as well as some other smarter folks’) have them. So give me the value with the Wolverines. I now regret talking about this on a live stream before finishing the article, it WAS +240. Congrats to anyone who nabbed that.
My Bet: Utah Valley +200
