What’s at stake for Utah teams in the final week of the college basketball season

Southern Utah’s Dre Marin and the T-Birds have a chance to win the Big Sky Conference regular-season championship this weekend when they play two games at Portland State. | SUU athletics

Southern Utah, Weber State and Utah Valley could win their way to a regular-season conference championship, while Utah and Utah State wrap up the regular season

Heading into the final weekend of the regular season, there is still plenty at stake in conference races and league tournament seedings for college basketball teams in the state of Utah.

That’s particularly true for Southern Utah, Weber State and Utah Valley, who all could win their way to a regular-season conference championship.

Here’s a look at what each school is playing for this weekend:

Southern Utah/Weber State

Both the T-Birds (17-3, 10-2 Big Sky) and Wildcats (16-5, 11-3) got a big boost from Wednesday night’s Big Sky upset when Idaho State beat Eastern Washington, knocking the Eagles into a three-way tie with both SUU and Weber State in the conference standings.

The T-Birds and Wildcats, though, both have two games remaining, while Eastern Washington now has just one, again at Idaho State on Friday.

SUU plays twice at Portland State (Thursday at 8 p.m. MST and Saturday at 1 p.m., both on Pluto TV) while Weber State hosts Northern Colorado twice (Thursday at 7 p.m., Saturday at noon, both on Pluto TV).

Now, here’s what it gets tricky. The regular-season championship will be awarded solely on winning percentage, according to SUU. The T-Birds currently have the edge — their 10-2 league mark before play this weekend equates to a .833 winning percentage, edging out Weber State and Eastern Washington’s .786.

If the T-Birds sweep Portland State, they win the regular-season title and the No. 1 overall seed in the Big Sky tournament next week in Boise, Idaho.

If SUU falters, that opens the door for either Weber State or Eastern Washington to win the regular-season title. The Wildcats, by virtue of having two games remaining to the Eagles’ one, though, would have the chance to win the regular-season title and No. 1 seed in this scenario by sweeping Northern Colorado.

Got all that?

UVU athletics

Utah Valley’s Trey Woodbury (4) and the Wolverines have the opportunity to win the Western Athletic Conference regular-season championship when they play two games at Grand Canyon this weekend.

UVU

The Wolverines (10-9, 8-3 Western Athletic Conference) could earn the WAC’s top seed in the tournament and the regular-season league title. That’s because UVU sits a half-game back of conference-leading Grand Canyon (14-5, 8-2 WAC) and will play the ’Lopes in Phoenix on Friday and Saturday (7 p.m. both nights, ESPN+).

No matter how the series turns out, UVU has secured a top two seed in next week’s WAC tournament, giving it a bye into semifinals. The Wolverines would earn the league’s regular-season title and No. 1 tournament seed with a sweep and would be regular-season co-champs with a split. If they split, the No. 1 and No. 2 tournament seeds would be determined by who finishes third, in a year where the pandemic has caused a disproportionate number of games.

“The standings and seeding for this year’s tournament is based on a formula that takes into account both winning percentage and the percentage of games played,” UVU said on its website.

Utah

Following the Utes’ 75-70 loss to Oregon State on Wednesday night, Utah (10-12, 7-11 Pac-12) sits ninth in the conference standings with one game to play. The Utes wrap up the regular season with a home game against Arizona State on Saturday (noon, FS1).

Utah is set to face Washington State in the 8-9 matchup during the first round of the Pac-12 tournament next Wednesday at 2 p.m. The Utes beat the Cougars 71-56 in their only matchup this season.

Utah State

The Aggies (16-7, 13-4 Mountain West) have two games left in the regular season — Thursday at home vs. Wyoming (7:30 p.m., FS1) and Saturday at Fresno State (9 p.m., FS1).

San Diego State has already locked up the MWC regular-season title and No. 1 seed in the league tournament with its win over UNLV on Wednesday night. Colorado State (at Nevada on Friday), Utah State and Boise State (regular season over) all sit within a game and a half of each other in the standings heading into the final weekend of regular-season play.

BYU

The Cougars (19-5, 10-3 West Coast Conference) have already wrapped up their regular season and will be the No. 2 seed in the WCC tournament. BYU will face either Pepperdine, Pacific, Santa Clara or Portland in the semifinals next Monday (10 p.m., ESPN2).

Dixie State

The Trailblazers (8-11, 4-8 WAC), in their first year as a Division I member, will finish up their season with a two-game home series against three-time defending WAC regular-season champion New Mexico State (Friday and Saturday, 7 p.m. both nights on WAC Digital Network). Dixie State, as a provisional D-I member, won’t play in the postseason.

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