Classification Division I Teams 4 Champions Idaho (1st title) | Season 1980–81 Site Kibbie Dome
Moscow, ID Winning coach Don Monson (1st title) | |
Template:1980–81 Big Sky men's basketball standings
The 1981 Big Sky Conference Men's Basketball Tournament was held March 7–8 at the Kibbie Dome at the University of Idaho in Moscow, Idaho.
Top-seeded Idaho defeated Montana in the championship game, 70–64, to clinch their first Big Sky men's basketball tournament.
The Vandals, in turn, received an automatic bid to the 1981 NCAA Tournament, their first Division I tournament appearance. Idaho, however, ultimately lost to Pittsburgh in the First Round.
Format
Even though the Big Sky's membership was fixed at eight, only the top four teams from the standings took part in the tournament field, with teams were seeded based on regular-season records. Additionally, the tournament was again held at the home court of the conference's regular season champion.
No new teams qualified for the Big Sky tournament this year.