Basketball Champions
In 2010, the Great West Conference sponsored men's and women's basketball championship tournaments for the first time. Both events were held in Orem, Utah, at the UCCU Center, home of Utah Valley University. The top-seeded men from the South Dakota reaffirmed their regular season success with a 91-86 title game victory over runner-up Houston Baptist. On the women's side, Utah Valley took advantage of the crowd's support, as the number six seeds upset their way to the crown by wrapping up the stunning run with a 70-62 triumph over regular season winners North Dakota.
The Great West tournaments returned to the UCCU Center for an encore in 2011, and third-seeded North Dakota claimed the men's championship after a 77-76 double overtime thriller against South Dakota, which was seeded fourth. Regular season winners Chicago State remained true to form in the women's bracket, outlasting third seeds North Dakota by a score of 74-66.
In 2012, the Great West tournaments shifted to the Emil and Patricia Jones Convocation Center at Chicago State University. North Dakota became the league's first back-to-back champs, as the second seeds enjoyed a 75-50 victory over fourth-seeded NJIT in the men's final. The weekend would end with a clean sweep for North Dakota, as the program's top-seeded women knocked off regular season runners-up Utah Valley 69-56 to claim their maiden league title.
The Great West Conference does not have an automatic bid to the NCAA Men or Women's College Tournament as of 2012, but the men's champions do receive automatic selection to the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament, while their female counterparts head to the Women's Basketball Invitational.
| Season | Men's Regular Season Winners | Men's Tournament Champions | Season | Women's Regular Season Winners | Women's Tournament Champions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009-10 | South Dakota | South Dakota | 2009-10 | North Dakota | Utah Valley |
| 2010-11 | Utah Valley | North Dakota | 2010-11 | Chicago State | Chicago State |
| 2011-12 | Utah Valley | North Dakota | 2011-12 | North Dakota | North Dakota |
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Famous quotes containing the words basketball and/or champions:
“Perhaps basketball and poetry have just a few things in common, but the most important is the possibility of transcendence. The opposite is labor. In writing, every writer knows when he or she is laboring to achieve an effect. You want to get from here to there, but find yourself willing it, forcing it. The equivalent in basketball is aiming your shot, a kind of strained and usually ineffective purposefulness. What you want is to be in some kind of flow, each next moment a discovery.”
—Stephen Dunn (b. 1939)
“Did all the lets and bars appear
To every just or larger end,
Whence should come the trust and cheer?
Youth must its ignorant impulse lend—
Age finds place in the rear.
All wars are boyish, and are fought by boys,
The champions and enthusiasts of the state:”
—Herman Melville (1819–1891)