Get ready for Starch Madness.
Big Sky Tournament 2025: Bracket, schedule, scores, teams, and more for Starch Madness
Can Montana State punch a ticket to the NCAA tournament for the fourth season in a row?
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Mark Schofield is a former college quarterback and attorney covering the NFL and F1.
The 2025 Big Sky tournament kicks off Saturday at Idaho Central Arena in Boise. All ten conference teams are in action, hoping to book their ticket to the NCAA tournament with a run to a conference title.
Northern Colorado and Montana shared the regular season title, with matching 15-3 records. The teams split the season series, meaning the No. 1 seed came down to tiebreakers between the two teams. The two schools also split their season series against No. 3 Portland State, meaning Northern Colorado’s season sweep of No. 4 Idaho State proved decisive.
The team that advances to the NCAA tournament out of the Big Sky will be looking to notch the conference’s first win in the tournament since 2006, when Montana knocked off Boston College as a 12 seed.
Last season Montana State became the first team seeded outside the top two in the Big Sky conference tournament to win the title, advancing to the NCAA tournament after winning the Big Sky title game as a No. 5 seed.
The Big Sky tournament also uses a split quarterfinals format with the top two seeds — Northern Colorado and Montana — playing in the second round on Sunday against the winners of the first round games. The quarterfinals continue on Monday, with the semifinals slated for Tuesday. This format gives the winners of the second round games (likely the top two seeds) a day of rest before the semifinals.
Here is the full bracket along with the schedule of games for Starch Madness.
2025 men’s Big Sky tournament bracket
2025 men’s Big Sky tournament schedule
March 8 First Round
Game 1: No. 9 Weber State 83, No. 10 Sacramento State 70
Game 2: No. 7 Northern Arizona 66, No. 8 Eastern Washington 53
March 9 Quarterfinals
Game 3: No. 1 Northern Colorado 76, No. 9 Weber State 52
Game 4: No. 2 Montana 74, No. 7 Northern Arizona 65
March 10 Quarterfinals
Game 5: No. 5 Montana State 80, No. 4 Idaho State 60
Game 6: No. 6 Idaho 80, No. 3 Portland State 70
March 11 Semifinals
Game 7: No. 1 Northern Colorado 72, No. 5 Montana State 45
Game 8: No. 2 Montana 78, No. 6 Idaho 55
March 12 Championship
Game 9: No. 2 Montana 91, No. 1 Northern Colorado 83
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