OGDEN,UTAH-The 2013 Big Sky Conference Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships will begin in just over a week.
The tournaments will be played at the site of the regular-season champions. Entering the final weekend of the regular season, those sites have yet to be determined.
The University of Montana is in position in host both the men’s and women’s tournaments next weeks at Dahlberg Arena in Missoula.
The Montana men hold a one-game lead over Weber State. Montana and Weber State both have two home games remaining. The Montana women hold a one-game lead over Northern Colorado. UM has two road games remaining, while Northern Colorado plays a road game on Thursday to end its regular season.
In the event Montana hosts both tournaments, the women will begin play on Wednesday, March 13 with three first-round games. At 3 p.m. Mountain, the No. 2 seed will play the No. 7 seed, followed by the No. 3 seed vs. the No. 6 seed at 5:30 p.m. Mountain. At 8 p.m. Mountain, the No. 4 seed will play the No. 5 seed.
The men’s tournament will start on Thursday with the women taking the day off. The schedule of games for the first day of the men’s tournament will be 3 p.m., 5:30 p.m., and 8 p.m. in the same order as the women’s tournament.
All four semifinals would be played on Friday, March 15, at Dahlberg Arena, beginning with the first women’s semifinal at 11 a.m., followed by the second at 1 p.m. The first men’s semifinal would begin at 5:30 p.m., followed by the second at 8 p.m.
The women’s championship game would be played Saturday, March 16 at 2 p.m., followed by the men’s at 7 p.m. The men’s championship will be televised live on ESPN.
All of the games from the women’s championship, and all the games but the championship in the men’s tournament will be available for free on the Internet on Big Sky TV. Fans can enjoy the action on Android and Apple devices, as well as personal computers.
In the event Weber State plays host to the men’s championship at the Dee Events Center, the tournament would be played March 14-16. The same things could happen on the women’s side with Northern Colorado. The Bears would play host at the Butler-Hancock Sports Pavilion. Game times at each site would be identical: 2 p.m., 4:30 p.m., and 7 p.m. on Thursday.
If Montana plays host to just one tournament, it will begin on Thursday, March 14. Game times would be 3 p.m., 5:30 p.m. and 8 p.m.
Tickets will go on sale through the respective host Web sites once the locations are determined.
For the latest tournament information, go to www.bigskyconf.com. The Big Sky has created tournament central pages for the men’s and women’s tournaments.