Utah Valley has been named the top seed for the 2026 Air Force Reserve Western Athletic Conference (WAC) Men’s Basketball Tournament after winning its second consecutive outright WAC regular-season championship. The team secured this achievement with a 104-101 double overtime victory against Utah Tech, marking the first time in program history that Utah Valley has won back-to-back regular-season titles.
As the No. 1 seed, Utah Valley will advance directly to the tournament semifinals, scheduled for Friday, March 13 at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas. The Wolverines will play against the winner of the quarterfinal game between No. 4 seed UT Arlington and No. 5 seed Southern Utah.
The tournament opens on Wednesday, March 11 with an opening-round matchup between No. 6 Abilene Christian and No. 7 Tarleton State. The victor from this game will move on to face No. 3 Utah Tech in Thursday’s quarterfinals.
Another quarterfinal pairing features UT Arlington versus Southern Utah, with that winner set to meet Utah Valley in Friday’s semifinal round.
On the other side of the bracket, California Baptist holds the No. 2 seed and also receives a bye into the semifinals. They will compete against either Utah Tech or whoever prevails from the Abilene Christian–Tarleton State contest.
Both semifinal games are set for Friday, March 13 at Orleans Arena, while the championship match is slated for Saturday, March 14 at 9 p.m. Pacific Time.
The champion of this tournament will receive an automatic berth to participate in the NCAA Tournament. All games except for the final will be available on ESPN+, with the championship broadcast on ESPN2.
