Classification Division I Teams 6 | Season 1997–98 | |
Site Walkup Skydome
Flagstaff, AZ Champions Northern Arizona (1st title) Winning coach Ben Howland (1st title) | ||
The 1998 Big Sky Conference Men's Basketball Tournament was held March 5–7 at the Walkup Skydome at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Arizona.
Top-seeded hosts Northern Arizona easily defeated Montana State in the championship game, 77–50, to win their first Big Sky men's basketball tournament title.
The Lumberjacks, in turn, received an automatic bid to the 1998 NCAA Tournament, their first appearance in the Division I tournament. No other Big Sky members were invited.
Format
No new teams were added to the Big Sky prior to the 1997–98 season, leaving total membership at nine. As a transitioning Division I member, Portland State was not eligible for this year's Big Sky tournament.
No changes were made to the existing tournament format. Only the top six teams from the regular season conference standings were invited to the tournament (except ineligible PSU). The two top teams were given byes into the semifinals while the third- through sixth-seeded teams were placed and paired into the preliminary quarterfinal round. Following the quarterfinals, the two victorious teams were re-seeded for the semifinal round, with the lowest-seeded remaining team paired with the tournament's highest seed and vis-versa for the other.