The brackets for the 2026 Big Sky Championships have been finalized, with the tournament set to take place at Idaho Central Arena in Boise. This marks the eighth consecutive year that Boise will host the event, which is often referred to as “Starch Madness.”
On the men’s side, Weber State University secured the No. 6 seed and is scheduled to face No. 3 Eastern Washington in the quarterfinals on Monday, March 9, at 8 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ with Tony Parks and Joe Cravens providing commentary, and it will also air locally in Utah on Utah 16.
Weber State ended its conference regular season with a record of 10-8, tying for fourth place alongside Montana and Northern Colorado but ultimately being placed as the sixth seed due to tiebreakers. Eastern Washington finished just ahead at 11-7 and recently had an eight-game winning streak snapped by Idaho in their final regular season match.
During their two meetings this season, Weber State and Eastern Washington each claimed a victory: Weber State won 91-80 at home in Ogden on January 15, while Eastern Washington prevailed 84-66 in Cheney on February 14.
Junior Tijan Saine Jr. has been a key player for Weber State this season, leading all scorers in Big Sky conference games with an average of 20.8 points per game. He led his team in scoring during 14 out of 18 conference matches and scored at least 20 points in eleven games.
For the women’s tournament, Weber State’s team earned the No. 9 seed after winning two of their last three regular-season games and finishing with a league record of 4-14. They concluded their schedule with an emphatic win over Portland State (81-52) at home and are set to face Portland State again in the first round of Starch Madness on Saturday, March 7, at noon.
Senior Antoinette Emma-Nnopu leads both her team and much of the conference statistically; she holds first place in field goal percentage among Big Sky players (52 percent) and ranks second in rebounding (10 per game). She also tops her team’s scoring chart with an average of 14 points per game, followed by Lanae Billy with an average of nearly twelve points.
Saturday’s women’s opening-round game will be available via streaming on ESPN+ and through the ESPN app.
