CEDAR CITY, Utah. In its inaugural season in the Western Athletics Conference, the Southern Utah men's basketball team has earned the third seed for next week's 2023 Hercules Tires Western Athletic Conference (WAC) Basketball Tournament that will take place on March 7-11 in Las Vegas.
With a top-four seed placement, Southern Utah earned a first-round bye. This, after having been picked to finish ninth in the preseason. Southern Utah will face off against the winner of the Stephen F. Austin and Utah Tech game as the nightcap on Thursday at 8 p.m. PT.
Full Bracket
Press release courtesy of Western Athletic Conference:
Sam Houston, who finished with a regular season record of 24-6 (14-4 WAC), registered 6.977 points in the first season of the WAC Resume Seeding System to claim the tournament's number one seed ahead of No. 2 seed and WAC regular-season champion Utah Valley (24-7, 15-3 WAC, 6.964 points).
Also earning byes to the March 9 quarterfinal round of the 2023 Hercules Tires WAC Basketball Tournament at The Orleans Arena were No. 3 seed Southern Utah (20-11, 12-6 WAC, 3.148 points) and No. 4 seed Seattle U (20-11, 11-7 WAC, 3.102 points).
The men's tournament will begin with four games in first-round action at the Michelob ULTRA Arena on March 7. No. 8 seed California Baptist (16-15, 8-10 WAC, -1.980 points) faces off with No. 9 seed Abilene Christian (13-16, 7-11 WAC, -2.538 points) at noon PT, followed by No. 5 seed Grand Canyon (20-11, 11-7 WAC, 2.771 points) against No. 12 seed UT Arlington (11-19, 6-12 WAC, -5.067 points) at 2 p.m. PT to end the first session. Session two will see No. 7 seed Tarleton (16-15, 9-9 WAC, -0.069 points) taking on No. 10 seed UTRGV (15-16, 6-12 WAC, -3.163 points) at 6 p.m. PT and No. 6 seed Stephen F. Austin (19-12, 11-7 WAC, 1.131 points) versus No. 11 seed Utah Tech (13-18, 5-13 WAC, -3.519 points) at 8 p.m. PT.
All preliminary round games of the 2023 Hercules Tires Basketball Tournament will air live on ESPN+, with the men's championship game on March 11 airing live at 8:30 p.m. PT on ESPN2.
2023 Hercules Tires WAC Basketball Tournament – Men's Seeds And Schedule
TUESDAY, MARCH 7, MICHELOB ULTRA ARENA, LAS VEGAS – MEN'S FIRST ROUND
No. 8 California Baptist vs. No. 9 Abilene Christian – noon PT (ESPN+)
No. 5 Grand Canyon vs. No. 12 UT Arlington – 2 p.m. PT (ESPN+)
No. 7 Tarleton vs. No. 10 UTRGV – 6 p.m. PT (ESPN+)
No. 6 Stephen F. Austin vs. No. 11 Utah Tech – 8 p.m. PT (ESPN+)
THURSDAY, MARCH 9, ORLEANS ARENA, LAS VEGAS – MEN'S QUARTERFINALS
No. 1 Sam Houston vs. Game 1 Winner – noon PT (ESPN+)
No. 4 Seattle U vs. Game 2 Winner – 2 p.m. PT (ESPN+)
No. 2 Utah Valley vs. Game 3 Winner – 6 p.m. PT (ESPN+)
No. 3 Southern Utah vs. Game 4 Winner – 8 p.m. PT (ESPN+)
FRIDAY, MARCH 10, ORLEANS ARENA, LAS VEGAS – MEN'S SEMIFINALS
Game 5 Winner vs. Game 6 Winner – 6 p.m. PT (ESPN+)
Game 7 Winner vs. Game 8 Winner – 8 p.m. PT (ESPN+)
SATURDAY, MARCH 11, ORLEANS ARENA, LAS VEGAS – MEN'S CHAMPIONSHIP
Game 9 Winner vs. Game 10 Winner – 8:30 p.m. PT (ESPN2)
