Big Sky Preview: The Reclaim Conference

College Basketball

Big Sky Preview: The Reclaim Conference

The Big Sky hasn’t had a men’s program reach the Sweet 16 since 1982, which was ironically the first tournament under the auspices of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Dating all the way back to 1969, the Big Sky has seen four schools reach the Sweet 16 and one school reach the Elite Eight. All this occurred between 1969 and 1982 however, as this is a conference looking to reclaim the glory tasted decades ago.

For the women, their goal to reclaim the conference’s glory seems more likely in recent years. The Big Sky’s representative in last year’s NCAA Women’s Tournament, Northern Colorado (26-6), was the highest ranked Big Sky women’s team in the NCAA tourney since 1997. They were, however, beaten by Michigan in the first round.

Who Will Reclaim the Big Sky?

Weber State, Montana, Idaho, and Idaho State are the only men programs to reach the Sweet 16 or better. Again, that occurred decades ago, but a few of those programs have found recent success. It was only It was only a year ago that Montana reached the NCAA Tournament for 11th time in program history. Montana has reached at least the second round in four of those 11 tournaments.

Idaho State’s NCAA Tournament appearance number is 11 as well, their last coming in 1987. Of those 11 years though, the Idaho State Bengals have reached the Sweet 16 five times, including a Sweet 16 win over California-Los Angeles (UCLA) in 1977. The Bengals in-state rival, the Idaho Vandals, hasn’t had the same success as Idaho State despite reaching a Sweet 16 in 1982.

Weber State probably holds the most prestigious history in the men’s division, reaching the NCAA Men’s Tournament 16 times. In those 16 tournaments, the Wildcats surpassed the first round six times with a Sweet 16 appearance in 1969 and 1972. They are also responsible for showcasing former player Damian Lillard to the world, despite the team not making an NCAA Tournament while he was there.

It’s very possible any of these men’s programs can reclaim the conference glory they once felt decades ago. The women’s glory to reclaim is Montana’s, as they have won the women’s conference a record 17 times which includes winning 10 of the first 12. Montana’s last conference championship came in 2015, as the women’s program has never gone more than three years without winning the conference.

Big Sky Schedules

The Big Sky Tournaments will take place at CenturyLink Arena in Boise, giving Idaho and Idaho State some home-court advantage when March rolls around. This will mark the first time since 2016 in which the Big Sky Tournament will not take place in Reno, Nevada. This will mark the first time the Big Sky Tournament is in Idaho since 1994 when Boise State hosted. Both the men’s and women’s tournaments will begin on Mar. 11.

 

Follow us on YouTube and Twitter

Follow the author here

Photo Credit: Weber State Men’s Basketball via Twitter