2004 Big Sky Conference men's basketball tournament

2004 Big Sky Conference men's basketball tournament
Classification	Division I
Season	2003–04
Teams	6
Site	Reese Court Cheney, WA
Champions	Eastern Washington (1st title)
Winning coach	Ray Giacoletti (1st title)
MVP	Brendon Merritt (Eastern Washington)
Big Sky Conference men's basketball tournaments

2003–04 Big Sky men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Eastern Washington †	11	–	3		.786			17	–	13		.567
Northern Arizona	7	–	7		.500			15	–	14		.517
Weber State	7	–	7		.500			15	–	14		.517
Sacramento State	7	–	7		.500			13	–	15		.464
Idaho State	7	–	7		.500			13	–	18		.419
Montana State	6	–	8		.429			14	–	13		.519
Montana	6	–	8		.429			10	–	18		.357
Portland State	5	–	9		.357			11	–	16		.407
† 2004 Big Sky tournament winner

The 2004 Big Sky Conference men's basketball tournament was held March 6–10 at Reese Court at the University of Eastern Washington in Cheney, Washington.[1]

Top-seeded Eastern Washington defeated Northern Arizona in the championship game, 71–59, to win their first Big Sky men's basketball tournament title. EWU had lost the three previous conference championship games.

The Eagles, in turn, received an automatic bid to the 2004 NCAA tournament, their first appearance in the Division I tournament. No other Big Sky members were invited this year.

Format

No new teams were added to the Big Sky prior to the 2003–04 season, leaving total membership at eight.

No changes were made to the existing tournament format. Only the top six teams from the regular season conference standings were invited to the tournament. The two top teams were given byes into the semifinals while the third- through sixth-seeded teams were placed and paired into the preliminary quarterfinal round. Following the quarterfinals, the two victorious teams were re-seeded in the semifinal round, with the lowest-seeded remaining team paired with the tournament's highest seed and vis-versa for the other.

Bracket

	Quarterfinals Saturday, March 6					Semifinals Tuesday, March 9					Championship Wednesday, March 10
						1	Eastern Washington	72
	4	Weber State	68			4	Weber State	53
	5	Sacramento State	62								1	Eastern Washington	71
											2	Northern Arizona	59
						2	Northern Arizona	91
	3	Idaho State	74			3	Idaho State	72
	6	Montana	73

See also

• Big Sky Conference women's basketball tournament

References

1. "2003-04 Big Sky Conference Season Summary". sports-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. 2016. Retrieved May 12, 2016.