The 1980 Big Sky Conference men's basketball tournament was the fifth edition of the

tournament A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concen ...

, held February 29 and March 1 at the

Dee Events Center Dee Events Center is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the Western United States, western United States, located on the campus of Weber State University in Ogden, Utah, Ogden, Utah. The circular, 11,592-seat domed arena, similar in design to many of ...

Weber State College Weber State University (pronounced ) is a public university in Ogden, Utah, United States. It was founded in 1889 as Weber Stake Academy and earned its current name in 1991. As of fall 2023, the student population reached 30,536 students, cons ...

Ogden, Utah Ogden ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Weber County, Utah, Weber County, Utah, United States, approximately east of the Great Salt Lake and north of Salt Lake City. The population was 87,321 in 2020, according to the United States Census ...

. Top-seeded Weber State defeated in the championship game, 50–42, to clinch their third consecutive Big Sky tournament title. The Wildcats had played in all five finals, dropping the first two.

Format

Introduced in

1976 Events January * January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 18 – Full diplomatic ...

, the Big Sky tournament had the same format for its first eight editions. The regular season champion hosted and only the top four teams from the standings took part, with seeding based on regular season conference records. Second-seeded

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington (state), ...

made its inaugural appearance in the conference tournament, having been in last place in the previous five seasons. Membership in the Big Sky remained at eight:

Gonzaga Gonzaga may refer to: Places *Gonzaga, Lombardy, commune in the province of Mantua, Italy *Gonzaga, Cagayan, municipality in the Philippines *Gonzaga, Minas Gerais, town in Brazil *Forte Gonzaga, fort in Messina, Sicily Surname *House of Gonza ...

left in the summer of 1979 for the WCAC and was replaced by Nevada–Reno.

Bracket

NCAA tournament

Weber State received the automatic bid to the expanded 48-team NCAA tournament, and were seeded seventh in the West region. In the first round at their home venue in Ogden, the Wildcats lost by a point to Lamar.

References

{{1980 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament navbox Big Sky Conference men's basketball tournament

Tournament A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concen ...

Big Sky Conference men's basketball tournament The Big Sky Conference men's basketball tournament is the conference championship tournament in men's basketball for the Big Sky Conference. The event has been held annually since 1976, the conference's thirteenth year. The tournament winner ear ...

Basketball competitions in Ogden, Utah College sports tournaments in Utah