1976 Big Sky Conference men's basketball tournament

The 1976 Big Sky Conference men's basketball tournament was held March 5–6 at the Wildcat Gym at Weber State College in Ogden, Utah.^[1][2][3] This was the first edition of the tournament.

1976 Big Sky Conference men's basketball tournament
Classification	Division I
Season	1975–76
Teams	4
Site	Wildcat Gym Ogden, Utah
Champions	Boise State (1st title)
Winning coach	Bus Connor (1st title)
MVP	Jimmie Watts (Weber State)
Big Sky Conference men's basketball tournaments 1977 →

1975–76 Big Sky men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Weber State	9	–	5		.643			21	–	11		.656
Boise State †	9	–	5		.643			18	–	11		.621
Idaho State	9	–	5		.643			16	–	11		.593
Northern Arizona	8	–	6		.571			15	–	12		.556
Montana	7	–	7		.500			13	–	12		.520
Montana State	6	–	8		.429			9	–	16		.360
Gonzaga	5	–	9		.357			13	–	13		.500
Idaho	3	–	11		.214			7	–	19		.269
† Big Sky Conference tournament winner

The top three teams had the same 9–5 conference record and the fourth was a game back; the top two seeds won their semifinals.^[4] Boise State defeated Weber State in the championship game, 77–70 in overtime.^[5] and received an automatic bid to the 32-team NCAA tournament, their first appearance, but fell to UNLV in Eugene, Oregon.^[6]

Format

The Big Sky had eight members for the 1975–76 season, but only the top four teams from the standings qualified for the tournament, and the regular season champion was the host. This format was in place for the first eight editions, through 1983.

This was the thirteenth year of the conference and the ninth season in which the Big Sky champion had an automatic berth in the NCAA tournament, all in the West regional. Two years earlier, a one-game tiebreaker playoff was required to determine the champion,^[7] also won by the visiting team.^[8]

The seeding of the three co-champions for the four-team bracket was done by a random draw in late February, conducted via a Saturday night conference telephone call by commissioner John Roning from Moscow, Idaho.^[9][10][11] Weber was drawn as the top seed, which included the right to host at Wildcat Gym in Ogden, Utah. At this time, both Weber and Boise still played in small gymnasiums, while ISU's Minidome had about triple the seating capacity of the others.

Bracket

	Semifinals Friday, March 5					Championship Saturday, March 6
	1	Weber State	63
	4	Northern Arizona	58
						1	Weber State	70
						2	Boise State	77*
	3	Idaho State	81
	2	Boise State	93

References

1. Ferguson, George (March 5, 1976). "Beehive hoop blitz tonight". Deseret News. (Salt Lake City, Utah). p. 5D. Archived from the original on August 28, 2022. Retrieved January 30, 2018.
2. Blodgett, Gary R. (March 6, 1976). "Big Sky feud: Weber-Boise State". Deseret News. (Salt Lake City, Utah). p. 6A. Archived from the original on April 17, 2021. Retrieved January 30, 2018.
3. "1975-76 Big Sky Conference Season Summary". sports-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. 2016. Archived from the original on March 7, 2016. Retrieved March 8, 2016.
4. "Weber, Boise advance in Big Sky". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. March 6, 1976. p. 2B. Archived from the original on April 17, 2021. Retrieved January 25, 2019.
5. "Boise rules Big Sky after overtime win". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. March 7, 1976. p. 1B. Archived from the original on April 17, 2021. Retrieved January 30, 2018.
6. Withers, Bud (March 14, 1976). "Rebels running to Los Angeles". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). p. 5B. Archived from the original on August 28, 2022. Retrieved January 30, 2018.
7. "ISU holds off Grizzlies". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. March 6, 1974. p. 13. Archived from the original on August 28, 2022. Retrieved January 25, 2019.
8. "Growing rookie key for Bengals". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). Associated Press. March 6, 1974. p. 17. Archived from the original on August 28, 2022. Retrieved January 25, 2019.
9. "Top four head for tourney". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. March 1, 1976. p. 2B. Archived from the original on April 17, 2021. Retrieved March 19, 2019.
10. "Weber hosts Sky playoffs". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). March 1, 1976. p. 16. Archived from the original on April 17, 2021. Retrieved March 19, 2019.
11. "Wildcats win tourney 'draw'". Deseret News. (Salt Lake City, Utah). March 1, 1976. p. B7. Archived from the original on April 17, 2021. Retrieved March 19, 2019.