The U Sports Men's Basketball Championship, branded as the Men's Basketball Final 8, is a Canadian university basketball tournament conducted by U Sports, and determines the men's national champion. The tournament involves the champions from each of Canada's four regional sports conferences. The W. P. McGee trophy is awarded to the winners.
Twenty different schools have won the tournament. Carleton University have the most tournament wins with 18 championships. The University of Victoria has nine championships, Saint Mary's University, Brandon University, and the University of Windsor have four championships, the University of Alberta, St. Francis Xavier University, and Acadia University have three championships, Brock University, and the University of British Columbia have two championships. Eleven programs are tied with one national championship.
History
Assumption University has the distinction of originating the national championship trophy. In 1963, the University of Windsor Alumni Association donated the award featuring a silver basketball, and named in memory of W.P. McGee for his outstanding contribution as both teacher and coach during the 1920s and 1930s. Assumption won the first McGee trophy, the only time it took the national title under the Assumption name. The University of Windsor would win it four times in that same decade (1960s). For more than 60 years, the McGee trophy has been awarded annually to the U Sports men's basketball champion.
The tournament first consisted of only conference champions (four or five teams) and held that format from 1963 until 1971. In 1972 and 1973, only four teams qualified, regardless of conferences. In 1974, the championship expanded to include eight teams, similar to the format seen today. That was again changed in 1983 where regional championships took place with up to 16 teams participating in up to five different cities with the national championship featuring four teams in the main host city.
In 1984, Dalhousie University hosted the championship in what would be the first of 24 straight years that Halifax, Nova Scotia would host. The format reverted to an eight team national championship in 1987, which would be the consistent format until 2004 when the tournament expanded to ten teams. The Final 10 format would last only three years, until it was again reverted to a Final 8 tournament in 2007. In 2008, the finals moved to Scotiabank Place in Ottawa for three years. After two years back in Halifax, the next two tournaments were held in the now renamed Canadian Tire Centre (formerly Scotiabank Place). The 2015 championship was hosted by Ryerson University, while the 2016 tournament was hosted by the University of British Columbia.
The 2021 championship tournament was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Format
The championship consists of an eight-team single-elimination tournament. Four teams automatically qualify for the tournament as one of the winners of the four conferences, two qualify as the runners-up of both the OUA and Canada West conference, one qualifies as the host, and one is given an at-large berth.
The tournament is played over four days. The quarterfinals are played on the Thursday, the consolation semi-finals on Friday, the consolation final and championship semi-finals on Saturday, and the bronze and gold medal games on Sunday. This format has been in use since 2015.
Results
thumb|W. P. McGee trophy, awarded to the champion team
{|class="wikitable"
|-
! Year
! Winner
! Runner-up
! Score
! Venue
|-
|1963 || Assumption College || Acadia Axemen || 55–50 || University of Windsor
|-
|1964 || Windsor Lancers || UBC Thunderbirds || 94–70 || University of Windsor
|-
|1965 || Acadia Axemen || Windsor Lancers || 91–87 (OT)|| Saint Mary's University
|-
|1966 || Windsor Lancers (2) || Calgary Dinos || 95–83 || University of Calgary
|-
|1967 || Windsor Lancers (3) || UBC Thunderbirds (2)|| 87–82 || University of Calgary
|-
|1968 || Waterloo Lutheran Golden Hawks || Saint Mary's Huskies || 66–61 || St. Francis Xavier University
|-
|1969 || Windsor Lancers (4) || Waterloo Lutheran Golden Hawks || 76–63 || University of Waterloo
|-
|1970 || UBC Thunderbirds || McMaster Marauders || 96–75 || McMaster University
|-
|1971 || Acadia Axemen (2) || Manitoba Bisons || 72–48 || Acadia University
|-
|1972 || UBC Thunderbirds (2) || Acadia Axemen (2)|| 87–80 || University of British Columbia
|-
|1973 || Saint Mary's Huskies || Lakehead Thunderwolves || 79–67 || University of Waterloo
|-
|1974 || Guelph Gryphons || Saint Mary's Huskies (2)|| 74–72 || University of Waterloo
|-
|1975 || Waterloo Warriors || Manitoba Bisons (2) || 80–79 || University of Waterloo
|-
|1976 || Manitoba Bisons || Saint Mary's Huskies (3)|| 82–69 || Saint Mary's University
|-
|1977 || Acadia Axemen (3) || Lakehead Thunderwolves (2)|| 72–63 || Saint Mary's University
|-
|1978 || Saint Mary's Huskies (2) || Acadia Axemen (3)|| 99–91 || Saint Mary's University
|-
|1979 || Saint Mary's Huskies (3) || Victoria Vikes || 90–83 || University of Calgary
|-
|1980 || Victoria Vikes || Brandon Bobcats || 73–65 || University of Calgary
|-
|1981 || Victoria Vikes (2) || Acadia Axemen (4)|| 81–70 || University of Waterloo
|-
|1982 || Victoria Vikes (3) || Saint Mary's Huskies (4)|| 74–60 || University of Victoria
|-
|1983 || Victoria Vikes (4) || Waterloo Warriors || 63–52 || University of Waterloo
|-
|1984 || Victoria Vikes (5) || Brandon Bobcats (2)|| 70–62 || Dalhousie University
|-
|1985 || Victoria Vikes (6) || Waterloo Warriors (2)|| 93–79 || Dalhousie University
|-
|1986 || Victoria Vikes (7) || Waterloo Warriors (3)|| 70–61 || Dalhousie University
|-
|1987 || Brandon Bobcats || UBC Thunderbirds (3)|| 74–66 || Dalhousie University
|-
|1988 || Brandon Bobcats (2) || Acadia Axemen (5)|| 81–68 || Halifax Metro Centre
|-
|1989 || Brandon Bobcats (3) || Victoria Vikes (2)|| 74–73 || Halifax Metro Centre
|-
|1990 || Concordia Stingers || Guelph Gryphons || 80–62 || Halifax Metro Centre
|-
|1991 || Western Ontario Mustangs || Guelph Gryphons (2)|| 78–69 || Halifax Metro Centre
|-
|1992 || Brock Badgers || Saint Mary's Huskies (5)|| 77–71 || Halifax Metro Centre
|-
|1993 || St. Francis Xavier X-Men || McMaster Marauders (2)|| 72–64 || Halifax Metro Centre
|-
|1994 || Alberta Golden Bears || McMaster Marauders (3)|| 73–66 || Halifax Metro Centre
|-
|1995 || Alberta Golden Bears (2) || Concordia Stingers || 84–66 || Halifax Metro Centre
|-
|1996 || Brandon Bobcats (4) || Alberta Golden Bears || 79–72 || Halifax Metro Centre
|-
|1997 || Victoria Vikes (8) || McMaster Marauders (4)|| 84–73 || Halifax Metro Centre
|-
|1998 || Bishop's Gaiters || McMaster Marauders (5)|| 74–71 || Halifax Metro Centre
|-
|1999 || Saint Mary's Huskies (4) || Alberta Golden Bears (2)|| 73–69 (OT)|| Halifax Metro Centre
|-
|2000 || St. Francis Xavier X-Men (2) || Brandon Bobcats (3)|| 61–60 || Halifax Metro Centre
|-
|2001 || St. Francis Xavier X-Men (3) || Brandon Bobcats (4)|| 83–76 (OT)|| Halifax Metro Centre
|-
|2002 || Alberta Golden Bears (3) || Western Ontario Mustangs || 76–71 || Halifax Metro Centre
|-
|2003 || Carleton Ravens || Guelph Gryphons (3)|| 57–54 || Halifax Metro Centre
|-
|2004 || Carleton Ravens (2) || St. Francis Xavier X-Men || 63–59 || Halifax Metro Centre
|-
|2005 || Carleton Ravens (3) || Concordia Stingers || 68–48 || Halifax Metro Centre
|-
|2006 || Carleton Ravens (4) || Victoria Vikes (3)|| 73–67 || Halifax Metro Centre
|-
|2007 || Carleton Ravens (5) || Brandon Bobcats (5)|| 52–49 || Halifax Metro Centre
|-
|2008 || Brock Badgers (2) || Acadia Axemen (6)|| 64–61 || Scotiabank Place
|-
|2009 || Carleton Ravens (6) || UBC Thunderbirds (4)|| 87–77 || Scotiabank Place
|-
|2010 || Saskatchewan Huskies || UBC Thunderbirds (5)|| 91–81 || Scotiabank Place
|-
|2011 || Carleton Ravens (7) || Trinity Western Spartans || 82–59 || Halifax Metro Centre
|-
|2012 || Carleton Ravens (8) || Alberta Golden Bears (3)|| 86–67 || Halifax Metro Centre
|-
|2013 || Carleton Ravens (9) || Lakehead Thunderwolves (3)|| 92–42 || Scotiabank Place
|-
|2014 || Carleton Ravens (10) || Ottawa Gee-Gees || 79–67 || Canadian Tire Centre
|-
|2015 || Carleton Ravens (11) || Ottawa Gee-Gees (2)|| 93–46 || Ryerson University
|-
|2016 || Carleton Ravens (12) || Calgary Dinos (2)|| 101–79 || University of British Columbia
|-
|2017 || Carleton Ravens (13) || Ryerson Rams || 78–69 || Scotiabank Centre
|-
|2018 || Calgary Dinos || Ryerson Rams (2)|| 79–77 || Scotiabank Centre
|-
|2019 || Carleton Ravens (14) || Calgary Dinos (3)|| 84–49 || Scotiabank Centre
|-
|2020 || Carleton Ravens (15) || Dalhousie Tigers || 74–65 || TD Place Arena
|-
|2021
|colspan=3 align="center" |Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic