2023-26 Big Sky Basketball Brackets
BOISE, Idaho (March 10, 2022) – The Big Sky Conference has revealed its updated tournament format for its 2023-26 Basketball Championships, as the league transitions to 10 full-time members moving into the 2022-23 campaign.
“Our coaches, administrators, and staff took the time and effort to reimagine what our Basketball Championships can look like moving forward, and we are absolutely thrilled with the result on so many fronts,” Commissioner Tom Wistrcill said. “Enhancing the student-athlete experience, increasing our exposure to unprecedented levels, rewarding teams for competitive success during the regular season, and shifting days to provide our teams with more rest and our fans with more weekend contests are among the many positive outcomes from a thorough strategic process dedicated to continually elevating the Big Sky in Boise.
“We are grateful to all of our many outstanding partners – including, but hardly limited to, Idaho Central Arena; the Grove Hotel; our other dedicated hotel partners; the Boise Convention & Visitors Bureau; and, of course, ESPN – for working closely with us throughout this mutually beneficial process that will take effect in March 2023 for what will be our fifth consecutive year in Boise.”
In the new format, the championship will run from Saturday to Wednesday for both the men and women, a change that will boost the league’s member institutions with unprecedented visibility on the ESPN family of networks.
As a result, starting with the 2023 tournament, the Big Sky Women’s Basketball Championship will have its title game air on ESPNU, marking the first time in league history that game will be broadcast nationally on linear television.
Additionally, beginning in 2023 the men’s title game will air on ESPN2 following years of it being shown on ESPNU. The Conference is working with ESPN for additional linear opportunities for future tournament games.
The first four days of competition each will feature four total games, with two women’s and two men’s contests happening within the same 24-hour window. In total, the league will play 18 games over the course of five days, with the finale featuring a championship day comprised of both title contests. The women’s and men’s brackets will play the same seed matchups on the same days throughout their tournaments.
The top two seeds in each bracket will receive a bye on the first day of the championship, with the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds playing on Sunday against the winners of Saturday’s No. 9 vs. No. 10 contest and the No. 7 vs. No. 8 game, respectively. The winner of those Sunday games then will receive a day off while awaiting their opponent for the semifinals on Tuesday, as No. 3 plays No. 6 and No. 4 faces No. 5 in the quarterfinals on Monday.
Also worth noting, there no longer will be morning games nor more than four scheduled contests per day. Moving forward, the earliest tipoff is expected to occur at 12 p.m. MT.
The dates for the 2023 Basketball Championships will be March 4-8. Full conference schedules for the 2022-23 season and beyond are in the process of being finalized and will be announced in the near future.
While the league is planning for the future, the 2022 Big Sky Men's and Women's Basketball Championships are currently taking place at Idaho Central Arena in Boise, Idaho. The women’s tournament started Monday and its championship game, featuring No. 2 Montana State vs. No. 4 Northern Arizona, will be held on Friday, March 11 at 1 p.m. MT on ESPN Plus. The men’s championship tipped off Wednesday and will conclude with its title game on Saturday, March 12 at 6 p.m. MT live on ESPNU. In all, 20 games will be played over six days. The tournament champions will receive automatic berths to their respective NCAA Division I Basketball Championships.
The league also will continue to implement its new venture, ‘Big Sky Courtside’, into these future tournament schedules with opportunities to cover both women’s and men’s basketball on the same day all week long.
Tickets are available to purchase online at IdahoCentralArena.com. For more information on the tournament, visit BigSkyInBoise.com.
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