2025 WAC Conference Basketball Tournament

The WAC Conference Tournament is a familiar sight at the Orleans Arena in Paradise, NV, which is basically Las Vegas and just a little bit west of the famed Strip. This conference tournament has been at The Orleans Casino since 2011. The conference has undergone a lot of changes due to realignment, but the venue for this tourney remains a constant.

One bid to the NCAA Tournament is available here and it will not go to New Mexico State, who won this event eight times in 12 years, as they are now a member of Conference USA. Grand Canyon has won three of the last four, including last year after New Mexico State’s move.

 

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How to Watch the WAC Conference Tournament

When: March 12-15

Where: First-round game in St. George, UT; rest of tournament at Orleans Arena in Paradise, NV

Format: Top seven seeds get byes to Quarterfinals; staggered Quarterfinals schedule with No. 1 and No. 2 seeds on Wednesday, Semifinals on Friday

Watch: ESPN+, ESPNU, ESPN2; Championship Game on ESPN2 on Mar. 15 at 11:40 p.m. ET

College Basketball Odds | College Basketball Betting Splits | Greg Peterson’s Daily Lines | Steve Makinen’s Power Ratings

WAC Conference Tournament Seeds, Teams and Odds

1. Utah Valley (+240)

2. Grand Canyon (+130)

3. Cal Baptist (+600)

4. Abilene Christian (+1900)

5. Seattle (+500)

6. Tarleton (+8000)

7. UT Arlington (+3000)

8. Southern Utah (+30000)

9. Utah Tech (+18000)

(odds from DraftKings Sportsbook accurate at time of publish)

WAC Conference Tournament Bracket

Favorite To Win the WAC Conference Tournament

The No. 2 seed is the favorite here, as the Grand Canyon Antelopes look for their third straight conference tournament title. Even though Utah Valley won the regular season title with a strong record of 15-1. Grand Canyon is the highest-rated WAC member across the board, finishing the regular season in the top 100 for both Bart Torvik and KenPom. The Wolverines suffered their only conference loss at the hands of Grand Canyon in an 18-point loss on Feb. 1.

Utah Valley was slightly higher in the adjusted offensive efficiency department, due in large part to a much lower TO%, but Grand Canyon was the No. 1 team by adjusted defensive efficiency, ranking first in 2P% defense and third in 3P% defense. The Lopes were first in eFG% offense and defense during the conference portion of the season, while Utah Valley was second in both stats.

WAC Conference Tournament Darkhorse

To be honest, any other team in the championship game would be a surprise. It should be GCU and UVU in Vegas for the title. But, if there was to be a team outside of those two to make it, I would look at Seattle because of their defensive prowess. The Redhawks were second in adjusted defensive efficiency and had the biggest TO% gap on the positive side of any team.

For me, though, I think the top two seeds are just way ahead of everybody else and the tournament format favors them.

Players to Watch in the WAC Conference Tournament

Cal Baptist guard Dominique Daniels Jr. led the way with 19.9 PPG, a full 3.7 PPG ahead of the next closest player, Jamir Simpson from Southern Utah. There were some big-time stat sheet fillers in this conference, including Seattle’s Matthew-Alexander Moncrieffe with 15.1 PPG and 9.6 RPG and UT Arlington’s Lance Ware with 13.7 PPG and 9.8 RPG.

Grand Canyon wound up with four scorers in the top 20, led by Tyon Grant-Foster (14.6 PPG, 6.2 RPG) and JaKobe Coles (14.3 PPG, 5.9 RPG). Antelopes forward Duke Brennan nearly averaged a double-double with 10.7 PPG and 9.5 RPG. Utah Valley had three in the top 15, paced by Dominick Nelson (15.5 PPG, 5.5 RPG). Another is Carter Welling (12.7 PPG, 6.0 RPG, 1.9 BPG), who was second in blocks behind Southern Utah’s Brock Felder.

Grand Canyon actually had four players in the top 10 in blocks per game and Utah Valley has four in the top 13.

Betting Pick to Win the WAC Conference Tournament

With all of that in mind, Grand Canyon and Utah Valley are likely to meet in the finals. They have the best players and are both very well-coached teams. I think GCU actually has a better path because the Abilene Christian/Seattle winner is a tougher game in my mind than the Cal Baptist/Tarleton winner.

Grand Canyon was -9.5 in the rematch game on Feb. 1 and a road favorite on Jan. 9 of 3.5 points. They’re going to be a sizable favorite in Vegas for the title game, so I think there’s some value on +130. If you like Utah Valley, and this line is around -5.5 or -6 or so as it looks like it will be, you’re not giving up a ton of price value to make sure the Wolverines make the final, so I think you can wait to bet them.

Pick: Grand Canyon +130

Makinen Power Ratings for the WAC

  • WAC teams coming off an earlier round bye and have been favored have gone 14-1 SU and 11-4 ATS (73.3%).
  • Only three WAC tournament underdogs of 3 points or more have won outright in the last 11 years, going 3-49 SU and 20-32 ATS (38.5%).
  • WAC championship favorites are on an 11-2 SU & ATS (84.6%) surge, with the only two losses coming in 2021 and 2023 with 1-point dogs winning.
  • Totals of higher than 147 are on a 12-5 Under (70.6%) run in the WAC tourney. There were no such games a year ago.

More Steve Makinen Conference Tournament Betting Trends.

Check out the other previews in our 2025 College Basketball Conference Tournament Betting Guide.

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