1985 WAC men's basketball tournament

The 1985 Western Athletic Conference men's basketball tournament was held March 4–7 at the Special Events Center in El Paso, Texas.[2]

1985 WAC men's basketball tournament
ClassificationDivision I
Season1984–85
Teams9
SiteSpecial Events Center
El Paso, TX
ChampionsSan Diego State (1st title)
Winning coachSmokey Gaines (1st title)
MVPLuster Goodwin (UTEP)
TelevisionLorimar Sports Network
← 1984
1986 →
1984–85 WAC men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
UTEP 12 4   .750 22 10   .688
San Diego State 11 5   .688 23 8   .742
New Mexico 9 7   .563 19 13   .594
Colorado State 9 7   .563 18 12   .600
BYU 9 7   .563 15 14   .517
Utah 8 8   .500 15 16   .484
Wyoming 7 9   .438 15 14   .517
Hawaii 5 11   .313 10 18   .357
Air Force 2 14   .125 8 20   .286
1985 WAC tournament winner
Rankings from AP Poll[1]

In their first season in the WAC, San Diego State defeated defending champions UTEP in the championship game, 87–81, to clinch their first WAC men's tournament championship.

The Aztecs, in turn, received an automatic bid to the 1985 NCAA tournament while top-seeded UTEP additionally received an at-large bid.

Format

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The tournament expanded by one team with the addition of San Diego State from the PCAA.

The top two teams from the regular season standings continued to receive a double-bye while the third-seeded team got a single-bye. The remaining six teams, in turn, competed in the first round. Seeding was based on regular season conference records.

Bracket

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First round
Monday, March 4
Quarterfinals
Tuesday, March 5
Semifinals
Wednesday, March 6
Championship
Thursday, March 7
1 UTEP 82
4 BYU 79 6 Utah 73
9 Air Force 82 9 Air Force 64
6 Utah 61 6 Utah 66
7 Wyoming 60 1 UTEP 81
2 San Diego State 87
2 San Diego State 98
3 New Mexico 84
3 New Mexico 62
5 Colorado State 73 5 Colorado State 56
8 Hawaii 68

References

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  1. ^ sports-reference.com 1984-85 Western Athletic Conference Season Summary
  2. ^ "1984-85 Western Athletic Conference Season Summary". sports-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. 2016. Retrieved March 19, 2016.