After an up-and-down roller coaster ride of a regular season, the Abilene Christian Wildcats (13-18) are set to hit the road to compete in the 2025-26 Western Athletic Conference Men’s Basketball Tournament later this week with an NCAA Tournament berth up for grabs.
The 2025-26 WAC Men’s Basketball Tournament will be hosted at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, tipping off Wednesday, March 11, and ending with the WAC men’s basketball conference championship game on Saturday, March 14.
The Wildcats earned the conference’s No. 6 overall seed heading into the WAC Men’s Basketball Tournament after finishing the regular season with a 5-13 mark in conference.
ACU is set to open up WAC Men’s Basketball Tournament action in the quarterfinals at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 11, against seventh-seeded Tarleton State (14-17).
The Wildcats are 2-1 in three games against the Texans so far this season. Abilene Christian beat Tarleton 84-80 on the road in early January and then won again in a 73-59 victory at Moody Coliseum in mid-February.
Tarleton State won the last matchup between the Wildcats and Texans in a 65-62 loss for ACU in Stephenville.
The Wildcats could play as many as four and as few as one game based upon the format of the WAC Men’s Basketball Tournament bracket, which awards the top two of seven seeds with byes to the conference tournament semifinals.
Abilene Christian hopes to end a strong season on a high note after scoring significant nonconference wins against New Mexico State, UTSA, Texas Southern, Nebraska-Omaha and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi during the regular season.
ACU will be looking for its first win at the WAC Men’s Basketball Tournament since the 2021-22 season, when the Wildcats reached the conference tournament championship game before being eliminated by New Mexico State.
The Wildcats will also be searching for their first men’s basketball conference tournament championship and first NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament berth since 2020-21, when ACU won the WAC title and then upset the Texas Longhorns in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Here’s how to watch the ACU Wildcats during the 2025-26 WAC Men’s Basketball Tournament, starting with their first-round matchup against the Tarleton State Texans:
How to watch Abilene Christian vs Tarleton State in WAC Men’s Basketball Tournament First Round
When: 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 11
Where: Orleans Arena in Las Vegas
TV: ESPN+
Listen: Abilene Christian All-Access
Tickets: Click here
This article originally appeared on Abilene Reporter-News: How to Watch Abilene Christian in 2026 WAC Men’s Basketball Tournament
Reporting by Andrew McCulloch, Abilene Reporter-News / Abilene Reporter-News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
