Classification Division I Winning coach Bobby Dye (1st title) | Teams 8 | |
Site Brick Breeden Fieldhouse
Bozeman, MT Champions Boise State (2nd title) MVP Chris Childs (Boise State) | ||
The 1988 Big Sky Conference Men's Basketball Tournament was held March 7–10 at Brick Breeden Fieldhouse at Montana State University in Bozeman, Montana.
Top-seeded Boise State defeated defending champions Montana State in the championship game, 63–61, to clinch their second Big Sky men's basketball tournament.
The Broncos, in turn, received an automatic bid to the 1988 NCAA Tournament. No other Big Sky members were invited to the tournament.
Format
The Big Sky added Eastern Washington prior to the 1987–88 season, bringing total membership to nine. However, EWU did not participate in this year's tournament, leaving the bracket field at eight.
Even without a change in the number of teams participating in the tournament, the Big Sky implemented a few changes to the bracket structure. The top two teams from the regular season standings were given double-byes into the semifinal round. The third- and fourth-seeded teams, in turn, were given single-byes into the quarterfinals. The remaining four teams, excluding EWU, were placed and paired into the preliminary first round on the first day of the tournament.