1979–80 Weber State Wildcats men's basketball team

The 1979–80 Weber State Wildcats men's basketball team represented Weber State College during the 1979–80 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. Members of the Big Sky Conference, the Wildcats were led by fifth-year head coach Neil McCarthy and played their home games on campus at Dee Events Center in Ogden, Utah.

1979–80 Weber State Wildcats men's basketball
Big Sky champions
Conference	Big Sky Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 17
AP	No. 17 [1]
Record	26–3 (13–1 Big Sky)
Head coach	Neil McCarthy (5th season)
Home arena	Dee Events Center
Seasons ← 1978–79 1980–81 →

1979–80 Big Sky men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 17 Weber State †	13	–	1		.929			26	–	3		.897
Idaho	9	–	5		.643			17	–	10		.630
Montana	8	–	6		.571			17	–	11		.607
Montana State	7	–	7		.500			14	–	12		.538
Nevada	5	–	9		.357			10	–	19		.345
Idaho State	5	–	9		.357			9	–	17		.346
Northern Arizona	5	–	9		.357			14	–	12		.538
Boise State	4	–	10		.286			10	–	16		.385
† Conference tournament winner Rankings from AP poll

They were 24–2 overall in the regular season and 13–1 in conference play,^[2][3] won the regular season title (by four games), and the conference tournament.^[4][5] The sole conference loss was at Idaho, the league runner-up,^[6][7] which broke an 18-game winning streak and dropped Weber's poll ranking (AP, UPI) from 15 to 17.^[8][9]

The Wildcats appeared in the first five finals of the conference tournament and this was the third consecutive title.

Ranked seventeenth in both major polls,^[1] Weber State earned the Big Sky's berth in the expanded 48-team NCAA tournament. They were seeded seventh in the West region and hosted the subregional in Ogden, but were upset by a point by Lamar.^[10][11]

All-conference

Senior guard Bruce Collins was a unanimous selection to the all-conference team, becoming the seventh player to be named in three consecutive years. Joining him for a second straight year was senior forward David Johnson. On the second team was senior center Richard Smith and senior guard Mark Mattos; forward Gerald Mattinson and sophomore reserve guard Todd Harper were honorable mention.^{[12][13][14][15]}

A four-year starter, Collins scored over two thousand points for the Wildcats, including 32 in his final game, the NCAA loss to Lamar.^[10] He was edged out for player of the year honors by guard Don Newman of Idaho,^[16] which had finished last in each of the previous five seasons.

Postseason results

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Big Sky tournament
Fri, Feb 29 7:00 pm	(1) No. 16	(4) Montana State Semifinal	W 93–70	25–2	Dee Events Center (8,089) Ogden, Utah
Sat, March 1 8:00 pm	(1) No. 16	(3) Montana Final	W 50–42	26–2	Dee Events Center (8,247) Ogden, Utah
NCAA tournament
Thu, March 6* 9:37 pm	(7W) No. 17	(10W) Lamar First round	L 86–87	26–3	Dee Events Center (11,505) Ogden, Utah
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Mountain time.