After a long regular season full of close overtime games and blowouts, the Big Sky basketball postseason has arrived. Each women’s team played at least 28 games while each men’s team played at least 29. The tournament starts in Boise at 11 a.m. on March 4 and runs through 8:30 p.m. on March 8. All games can be watched on ESPN+.
The Idaho men will play the first game of their bracket at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday against Northern Arizona. The Vandals and Lumberjacks split the season series with Idaho winning 88-83 and NAU winning 72-50. Each team won on the other team’s home court, so a neutral site could provide an interesting game. It will also be interim head coach Tim Marrion’s first game in that position.
If they beat NAU, they’ll take on Eastern Washington. The Eagles were undefeated in conference before losing 71-63 to Idaho State and 79-74 to Montana State. Eastern took both games, winning 95-74 at home and 73-66 in Moscow. If the Vandals beat NAU and EWU, they’ll take on the winner of the University of Montana and Idaho State in the semi-final game.
The Idaho women have a shorter path to the championship. Their tournament starts at 1:30 on March 6 against Sacramento State. The Hornets took both matchups, winning 71-56 the first time and 77-70 the second.
If the third time is the charm, the Vandals will play the winner of the quarterfinal matchup between Montana State and either Portland State or Idaho State. The Vikings and Bengals play at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday for the right to play the Bobcats.
If the women get past both of their opponents, they will play in the championship at 2 p.m. on March 8. The men have to get through a three-game gauntlet for a chance to compete at 8:30 p.m. on March 8.
Idaho women’s basketball has had much success under head coach Jon Newlee, winning the championship in 2016 and 2019. They also made it to the semi-final last season, losing by six points to MSU.
On the other hand, the men haven’t gotten past the first round since the 2016-2017 season when they lost 69-64 to North Dakota. After a tough 10-21 season, which was capped off with the release of head coach Zac Claus, the Vandals will be looking to prove themselves in Boise.
James Taurman-Aldrich can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @jamesaldrich25