1997 Big West Conference men's basketball tournament

The 1997 Big West Conference men's basketball tournament was held March 7–9 at Lawlor Events Center in Reno, Nevada.

1997 Big West Conference men's basketball tournament
Classification	Division I
Season	1996–97
Teams	8
Site	Lawlor Events Center Reno, NV
Champions	Pacific (2nd title)
Winning coach	Bob Thomason (1st title)
MVP	Corey Anders (Pacific), Faron Hand (Nevada)
Big West Conference men's basketball tournaments

1996–97 Big West men's basketball standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
East Division
Utah State	12	–	4		.750			20	–	9		.690
New Mexico State	12	–	4		.750			19	–	9		.679
Nevada	12	–	4		.750			21	–	10		.677
Boise State	9	–	7		.563			14	–	13		.519
Idaho	5	–	11		.313			13	–	17		.433
North Texas	5	–	11		.313			10	–	16		.385
West Division
Pacific †	12	–	4		.750			24	–	6		.800
Long Beach State	9	–	7		.563			13	–	14		.481
UC Santa Barbara	7	–	9		.438			12	–	15		.444
Cal State Fullerton	6	–	10		.375			13	–	14		.481
Cal Poly	6	–	10		.375			14	–	16		.467
UC Irvine	1	–	15		.063			1	–	25		.038
† 1997 Big West tournament winner As of April 1, 1997 Rankings from AP poll

Pacific defeated Nevada in the championship game, 63–55, to obtain the first Big West Conference men's basketball tournament championship in school history.

The Tigers participated in the 1997 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament after earning the conference's automatic bid.

Format

Eight of the 12 teams in the conference participated, with Cal Poly, Idaho, North Texas, and UC Irvine not qualifying. The top eight teams were seeded based on regular season conference records.

Bracket

Quarterfinals Friday, March 7

Semifinals Saturday, March 8

Championship Sunday, March 9

E1

Nevada

80

W4

Cal State Fullerton

55

E1

Nevada

80

E3

New Mexico State

63

E3

New Mexico State

77

W2

Long Beach State

57

E1

Nevada

55

W1

Pacific

63

W1

Pacific

65

E4

Boise State

52

W1

Pacific

71

E2

Utah State

54

W3

UC Santa Barbara

66

E2

Utah State

81