With one weekend remaining in the Big Sky Conference basketball regular season, the Northern Colorado men have a path to winning their first conference title in more than 20 years.
The Bears need help from Montana to share the title with the Grizzlies or to win it outright, according to the conference.
UNC won its only regular-season and conference tournament championship in 2010-11 when it hosted the tournament. The championships were later vacated because of NCAA violations on UNC’s use of an ineligible player.
Montana won consecutive regular-season and tournament championships in 2012-13 and 2018-19. The Grizzlies also won the regular-season title in 2015. Eastern Washington won the conference tournament title that year and the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
This year, Montana and UNC are locked into first and second place in the regular season — which would then give the teams the top two seeds for the Big Sky Conference Tournament early next month.
The Big Sky tournament — men and women — is scheduled for March 8-12 at Idaho Central Arena in Boise.
University of Northern Colorado men’s basketball player Langston Reynolds leaps for the basket during a Big Sky Conference game Saturday, Feb. 22, 2025 against the University of Idaho at Bank of Colorado Arena in Greeley.(Jim Rydbom/Staff Photographer)The men’s and women’s top two seeds start their tournament schedule with second-round games on Sunday, March 9.
The Big Sky Conference Tournament women’s and men’s championship games are Wednesday, March 12. The women’s championship is at 3 p.m. and will air on ESPNU and ESPN+. The men’s tournament final begins at 8 p.m. and will air on ESPN2 and ESPN+.
UNC (13-3 in the Big Sky, 21-8 overall) has two regular-season games remaining, both on the road. The Bears play Saturday (March 1) at Northern Arizona and Monday (March 3) at Weber State.
University of Northern Colorado senior forward Isaiah Hawthorne, bottom, is surrounded by Idaho defenders during a Big Sky Conference game Saturday, Feb. 22, 2025 at the Bank of Colorado Arena in Greeley.(Jim Rydbom/Staff Photographer)Montana is 13-2 in the Big Sky and 20-8. The Grizzlies have three regular season games remaining: at Sacramento State and Portland State on Thursday and Saturday, respectively. Montana ends the regular season against Eastern Washington at home (Monday) March 3.
UNC and Montana split their regular season games with each team winning on the road. Montana also lost to Idaho State. UNC’s other Big Sky losses were to Idaho and Portland State.
Montana wins the conference regular-season title outright if it wins its final three games. UNC’s record in its final two games then is not impactful. The Grizzlies also are champs all alone if they finish their final three games with a 2-1 record and UNC is 1-1.
UNC wins the regular-season title outright if:
• Montana finishes the regular season 1-2 and UNC wins both of its final games.
• Montana is 0-3 and UNC finishes 1-1.
The teams are co-Big Sky regular season champs if:
• Montana finishes 2-1 in its final three games and UNC wins both of its games.
• Montana finishes with a 1-2 record in its final three games and UNC is 1-1.
• Montana loses all three of its final games and UNC loses both of its games.
In all three of these scenarios, the No. 1 seed at the conference tournament would be decided by the order of finish behind Montana and UNC. Six different teams can finish third.
UNC was the No. 2 seed for the conference tournament last year, finishing behind Eastern Washington in the regular-season standings. EWU and UNC both lost their first games at the Big Sky tournament in 2024.
The men’s No. 1 seed will play its second-round game at 5:30 p.m. Sunday, March 9 in Boise. The top seed will play either the No. 9 or 10 seed.
University of Northern Colorado senior guard Quinn Denker, right, shoots a 3-point shot against Montana’s Malik Moore during a Big Sky Conference game Feb. 6, 2025 at Bank of Colorado Arena in Greeley. With one week in the regular season, Montana and UNC are in the hunt for conference title and the top seed at the Big Sky tournament. (Jim Rydbom/Staff Photographer)The 2-seed plays its second-round game at 8 p.m. against either the No. 7 or 8 seed.
Bears coach Steve Smiley said last week the team wants to show it won a regular-season title this year.
“We want that for our school,” Smiley said. “We want that for our community. We want a banner. There’s no doubt about it. We want a banner.”
Smiley right away added the final regular-season standings are irrelevant at the conference tournament.
The winners of those second-round games Sunday, March 9 have a day off Monday before playing in the semifinals Tuesday, March 11.
Smiley said the day off is great for the top two seeds if they win those second-round games on March 9. This is not easy to do because their lower-seeded opponents won the day before and had a chance to adjust to the tournament environment, Smiley said.
Teams have 25 minutes on the court on the day of the game, meaning the schools who played before meeting the top two seeds have a little more experience with “a different arena and a different place to shoot,” the coach added.
“All the nerves are gone because they won the night before and they’re feeling real good about life,” he said. “There’s all these nerves and anxiety and stuff, and at the end of the day, if you’re the 1-seed you should be able to handle, right? But it’s not that easy, because this league is so close. The rest is crucial. So it’s still an advantage. Yeah, but you got to survive.”
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