Plains & Mountain Basketball Tournaments

Denver. Colorado state finals for both boys and girls, classes 1A through 6A. Great 8 round opens the week, all six championship games run on the final Saturday at Denver Coliseum. Every game streams on NFHS Network.

Denver. Prep Hoops-run spring event scheduled May 1-3, 2026. Falls on the high school side of the spring calendar (not AAU travel) and brings in Prep Hoops scouts plus visiting college coaches.

Topeka. Three-school city tournament (Topeka High, Topeka West, Highland Park) plus invited regional opponents like Wichita Northwest and Lansing. Played at Highland Park in mid-January as a midseason marquee for Shawnee County.

Kansas spreads its state finals across seven venues in five cities. 4A and 3A play at Hutchinson Sports Arena, 1A Division I in Dodge City. Quarterfinals March 10-11, semis and finals March 12-14. Total field of 112 teams across all classes.

MHSA runs four classification championships (AA, A, B, C) on the same March weekend across Bozeman, Billings, Missoula, and Butte. AA is the largest-school bracket, typically rotating between Worthington Arena (Bozeman) and Brick Breeden Fieldhouse. Smaller classifications get their own host cities — Class C draws huge crowds because small-town Montana basketball travels.

Founded by the late Bobby Small at Rocky Boy. Recent fields have grown to 14 teams from across Montana — south, east, north central, and west. Played both at Rocky Boy and at C.M. Russell HS in Great Falls. Cultural event as much as a basketball event — brings Native communities together during the winter season.

Lincoln. Nebraska boys state finals, all classes A through D-2, run four days at Pinnacle Bank Arena (the Husker home floor). One venue, every class — rare for a state this size.

Omaha. Metro Conference's holiday tournament dates to the 1962-63 season. Five days, boys and girls, played across Bellevue West and Creighton Prep with the finals doubleheader on January 2. Routinely the strongest holiday field in Nebraska.

Albuquerque. New Mexico state finals, classes 1A-5A boys and girls, with the bulk of championship games at UNM's Pit on the final Friday and Saturday. Earlier rounds use the Pit and surrounding venues. Title sponsor is Nusenda Credit Union.

Hobbs. Three-day mid-season tournament inside Tasker Arena that pulls programs from New Mexico, West Texas, and Arizona. The 63rd edition was held recently — one of the longest-running holiday tournaments in the Southwest. Hobbs is consistently a top-five girls program and a state finalist on the boys side.

Bismarck. North Dakota's largest-class boys state tournament, eight teams over three days at the Bismarck Event Center. Class A and B finals run a week later in Fargo and Minot. The AA format is the cleanest of the three to attend.

Mandan. Class B holiday tournament for small-school North Dakota programs, played the last three days of December at Mandan HS. Field draws from across the western half of the state — Flasher, Bottineau, New Salem-Almont, Linton-HMB, Glen Ullin-Hebron and similar.

Oklahoma's state finals across classes B through 6A. Larger classes (3A-6A) play at OG&E Coliseum in Oklahoma City and Lloyd Noble Center in Norman; smaller classes at Carl Albert HS in Midwest City. Class B-II tips off the first weekend, larger classes follow.

Tulsa Public Schools' 60+ year holiday tournament played in an NBA-grade arena (BOK Center). Eight boys and eight girls teams, three-day format Dec 29-31. Alumni list runs through Wayman Tisdale, Lee Mayberry, Kevin Pritchard, Shea Seals.

Rapid City. South Dakota's largest-class boys state finals moved to The Monument complex in 2026, ending Sioux Falls's 65-year hosting run for that one year. Returns to Sioux Falls in 2027. Class A also at The Monument (Summit Arena), Class B in Aberdeen.

South Dakota's play-in round between region champs and the state tournament. 16 teams per class play single-elimination games hosted by the higher seed; eight survive to the state tournament. Plays out the Tuesday before state weekend.

Texas private/parochial state finals, classifications 1A through 6A boys and girls. Played at multiple host sites the last weekend of February. The TAPPS counterpart to UIL for accredited Texas private schools.

San Antonio. The UIL public-school state tournament for boys and girls, all classifications 1A through 6A, played at the Alamodome in March. Earn your way through district and regional brackets to get here.

Houston-area Pasadena ISD hosts what's been billed as Texas's largest pre-Thanksgiving high school tournament. Played the Thursday-Friday-Saturday before Thanksgiving across multiple Pasadena ISD gyms, with a free YouTube stream.

Lubbock. About 96 teams across nine gyms in four ISDs over three days at year-end. Run by Lubbock Caprock AMBUCS, with proceeds funding adaptive AmTrykes for people with disabilities. Every team gets at least four games, no entry fee.

Allen, north Dallas suburb. Roughly 96 games over three days at end of December. Field skews heavy on Texas 6A programs with national invitees mixed in. The host gym (Eagle Fieldhouse) seats more than most college venues, so attendance is real.

Fort Worth / DFW Metroplex, late December. 65 editions running. Played across multiple Mansfield/Fort Worth high schools (Whataburger sponsors but is HQ'd in San Antonio — the tournament moved to DFW years ago). Operated by Championship Basketball Inc. Two divisions: Orange (top tier) and Blue.

Casper hosts both classification weekends — 1A/2A on the first weekend in March, 3A/4A the next. Ford Wyoming Center is the title floor; Casper College and Natrona County HS handle prelims. Laramie won 4A in 2025; Campbell County won 3A. Wyoming has a small basketball state but the title game atmosphere at the Ford is real.

First running was December 2025. 11 Wyoming high schools brought 53 total teams to Casper for a season-opening event split between WYO Sports Ranch (multiple courts) and the Ford Wyoming Center's championship floor. Cody, Jackson Hole, Sheridan, Kelly Walsh, Natrona County, Lovell were in the inaugural field.