2021 WAC men's basketball tournament

2021 WAC men's basketball tournament
Classification	Division I
Season	2020–21
Teams	6
Site	Orleans Arena Paradise, Nevada
Champions	Grand Canyon (1st title)
Winning coach	Bryce Drew (1st title)
MVP	Jovan Blacksher Jr. (Grand Canyon)
Television	ESPN+, ESPNU
WAC men's basketball tournaments

2020–21 WAC men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Grand Canyon †	9	–	3		.750			17	–	7		.708
Utah Valley	9	–	4		.692			11	–	11		.500
New Mexico State	7	–	6		.538			12	–	8		.600
California Baptist*	6	–	6		.500			13	–	10		.565
Seattle	4	–	5		.444			12	–	11		.522
Tarleton State*	5	–	7		.417			10	–	10		.500
Dixie State*	4	–	10		.286			8	–	13		.381
Texas–Rio Grande Valley	2	–	5		.286			9	–	10		.474
Chicago State	0	–	0		–			0	–	9		.000
* Ineligible for the 2021 NCAA tournament due to transition period Chicago State suspended their season on December 23, 2020
† 2021 WAC tournament winner

The 2021 WAC men's basketball tournament was the postseason men's basketball tournament for the Western Athletic Conference during the 2020–21 season. All tournament games were played at the Orleans Arena in Paradise, Nevada, from March 11–13, 2021. The tournament champion received the WAC's automatic bid to the 2021 NCAA tournament.

Seeds

6 of the 9 teams in the WAC were eligible to compete in the conference tournament. Dixie State and Tarleton State were ineligible due to their transition from Division II to Division I. California Baptist is eligible for the WAC basketball tournament this year after a change in rules from the WAC Board of Directors, which changed the transition period from four years to two years to compete in the conference tournament.[1] CBU would still have to wait two more years to be able to compete in the NCAA Tournament. Chicago State cancelled their season after going 0–9, so they did not compete in the conference tournament.[2] Teams were seeded by record within the conference, with a tiebreaker system to seed teams with identical conference records.

Seed	School	Conference	Tiebreaker	Tiebreaker 2
1	Grand Canyon	9–3
2	Utah Valley	9–4
3	New Mexico State	7–6
4	California Baptist	6–6
5	Seattle	4–5
6	UTRGV	2–5

Schedule and results

Game	Time	Matchup	Score	Television
Quarterfinals – Thursday, March 11
1	4:30 pm	No. 4 California Baptist vs No. 5 Seattle	66–83	ESPN+
2	8:00 pm	No. 3 New Mexico State vs No. 6 UTRGV	77–61
Semifinals – Friday, March 12
3	5:00 pm	No. 1 Grand Canyon vs. No. 5 Seattle	81–47	ESPN+
4	8:00 pm	No. 2 Utah Valley vs. No. 3 New Mexico State	62–78
Final – Saturday, March 13
5	7:00 pm	No. 1 Grand Canyon vs. No. 3 New Mexico State	74–56	ESPNU
Game times in PST. Rankings denote tournament seed.

Bracket

	Quarterfinals Thursday, March 11 ESPN+					Semifinals Friday, March 12 ESPN+					Championship Saturday, March 13 ESPNU
						1	Grand Canyon	81
						5	Seattle	47
	4	Cal Baptist	66
	5	Seattle	83
											1	Grand Canyon	74
											3	New Mexico State	56
						2	Utah Valley	62
						3	New Mexico State	78
	3	New Mexico State	77
	6	UTRGV	61

References

1. "Lancers Eligible For 2021 WAC Basketball Tournament" (Press release). Cal Baptist Lancers. April 27, 2020. Retrieved December 31, 2020.
2. "Chicago State University Athletics Suspends Men's Basketball Competition-Related Activities" (Press release). Chicago State University. December 23, 2020. Retrieved December 31, 2020.