The 1986 Big Sky Conference men's basketball tournament was held March 6–8 at the Lawlor Events Center in Reno, Nevada.
[4] On probation, third-place Idaho State did not participate in this year's tournament, reducing the field to seven teams.
[1][5] Regular season champion Northern Arizona received a bye into the semifinals to play the lowest remaining seed, and the other six teams were paired up in the quarterfinals on Thursday.
[1] Source:[3][4] Montana State received the automatic bid to the 64-team NCAA tournament; no other Big Sky members were invited.
The Bobcats were the sixteenth seed in the West regional, and lost by nine to St. John's in the first round at Long Beach, California.