1988 Big Sky Conference men's basketball tournament

The 1988 Big Sky Conference men's basketball tournament was the thirteenth edition, held March 9–12 at Brick Breeden Fieldhouse at Montana State University in Bozeman, Montana.^[1]

1988 Big Sky Conference men's basketball tournament
Classification	Division I
Season	1987–88
Teams	8
Site	Brick Breeden Fieldhouse Bozeman, Montana
Champions	Boise State (2nd title)
Winning coach	Bobby Dye (1st title)
MVP	Chris Childs (Boise State)
Big Sky Conference men's basketball tournaments ← 1987 1989 →

1987–88 Big Sky men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Boise State †	13	–	3		.813			24	–	6		.800
Idaho	11	–	5		.688			19	–	11		.633
Montana State	10	–	6		.625			18	–	11		.621
Idaho State	8	–	8		.500			15	–	13		.536
Nevada	8	–	8		.500			15	–	13		.536
Montana	7	–	9		.438			18	–	11		.621
Northern Arizona	6	–	9		.400			9	–	18		.333
Weber State	6	–	9		.400			9	–	20		.310
Eastern Washington	2	–	14		.125			6	–	21		.222
† Conference tournament winner

Regular season champion Boise State defeated defending tournament champion and host Montana State in the championship game, 63–61, ^[2] to clinch their second Big Sky tournament. BSU had won the first conference tournament twelve years earlier.

Format

The Big Sky added Eastern Washington in the summer of 1987 to bring total conference membership to nine, but the last-place Eagles were ineligible for the postseason due to recruiting violations.^[3]

In the two previous conference tournaments, teams from the lower half of the standings won the title and were seeded sixteenth (last) in the West regional of the NCAA tournament. Montana State won in 1986 after tying for sixth in the standings. The next year, the top three seeds were upset in the first round (quarterfinals),^[4] and seventh-seed Idaho State won the title. The Bengals (15–15) met top-ranked UNLV (33–1) in the first round in Salt Lake City and were routed.^[5]

The Big Sky implemented a few changes to the bracket structure to reward regular season play. The top two teams in the league standings were given byes into the semifinal round, while the next two began play in the quarterfinals on Thursday. The remaining four teams (seeds 5–8) played an additional game on Wednesday; four victories in as many days were now required for a lower-half team to win the title.^[3][6]

The top four seeds advanced to the semifinals, and the tournament was won by the top-seed.

Bracket

	First round Wednesday, March 9					Quarterfinals Thursday, March 10					Semifinals Friday, March 11					Championship Saturday, March 12
											1	Boise State	87
	5	Nevada	93								4	Idaho State	56
	8	Weber State	96			8	Weber State	57
						4	Idaho State	58
																1	Boise State	63
																3	Montana State	61
						3	Montana State	60
	7	Northern Arizona	72			6	Montana	54
	6	Montana	77								3	Montana State	58
											2	Idaho	46

Source:^{[7][8][9][10]}

NCAA tournament

Boise State (24–5) received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, and no other Big Sky members were invited to the tournament or the NIT. The Broncos were the fourteenth seed in the West region and gave third-seeded Michigan a scare in Salt Lake City, as the Wolverines' large lead eroded in the second half; Michigan prevailed by five points.^[11]

References

1. "1987-88 Big Sky Conference Season Summary". sports-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. 2016. Retrieved May 2, 2016.
2. Grummert, Dale (March 13, 1988). "No wacky ending here, Boise State wins Big Sky". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). p. 1C.
3. "New format may favor top seeds". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. March 9, 1988. p. 1D.
4. Boling, Dave (March 6, 1987). "Idaho cures free-throw blues, upsets Griz". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). p. 25.
5. Robinson, Doug (March 13, 1987). "UNLV runs, guns, plays defense in routing Idaho St". Deseret News. (Salt Lake City, Utah). p. D1.
6. Jacobson, Bryan (March 8, 1988). "Will Big Sky send another loser to NCAA tourney?". Idahonian. (Moscow). p. 8A.
7. "Gibbs helps Weber St. score first-round upset". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. March 10, 1988. p. 3D.
8. Grummert, Dale (March 11, 1988). "Idaho gets rematch against MSU". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). p. 1B.
9. "Idaho St. stops Weber St". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. March 11, 1988. p. 5B.
10. "Boise St. smothers Idaho St. in Big Sky". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. March 12, 1988. p. 8B.
11. "Michigan stops Boise State rally". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. March 18, 1988. p. 1B.