Eagles only team not to have won since 1965
In the final game of the regular season, the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse men’s basketball team ended a 51-year drought.
With a 55-53 win over UW-Stevens Point at Mitchell Hall, the Eagles won the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference regular-season title for the first time since 1965.
It’s the 12th WIAC title for the Eagles (16-9, 10-4) – fifth of all the teams ever in the WIAC – but first since 1965. And, thanks to a UW-Oshkosh 65-62 win over UW-River Falls, UW-L earned the WIAC title outright.
The honor also earns the Eagles the No. 1 seed in the WIAC tournament, where they will host either UW-Whitewater or UW-River Falls at 7 p.m. Friday.
Since 1965, every team currently in the WIAC had won a title except the UW-L, which has taken the crown in 1915, 1919, 1922, 1924, 1925, 1931, 1932, 1937, 1951, 1964, 1965 and, of course, 2016.
Stevens Point, which won Division III national titles in 2010 and 2015, has the most WIAC titles (stats below).
WIAC TITLES all time
Eau Claire (18) 1938 (c), 1939 (t), 1955, 1956 (c), 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973 (c), 1974 (c), 1976, 1977, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982 (c), 1987 (c), 1989 (c), 1991
La Crosse (12) 1915, 1919, 1922, 1924, 1925 (c), 1931, 1932, 1937 (c), 1951, 1964, 1965, 2016
Oshkosh (12) 1914, 1921, 1925 (c), 1938 (c), 1939 (t), 1947 (c), 1948 (quin), 1963, 1967, 1968, 1978, 2002 (t)
Platteville (19) 1927 (c), 1928, 1943 (q), 1948 (quin), 1953, 1954, 1956 (c), 1958, 1959, 1975 (c), 1988, 1990, 1993 (c), 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2005 (c)
River Falls (13) 1916, 1917, 1920, 1923, 1927 (c), 1929, 1930, 1936 (c), 1947 (c), 1948 (quin), 1949, 1950, 2004
Stevens Point (29) 1918, 1933, 1935 (c), 1936 (c), 1937 (c), 1942 (c), 1948 (quin), 1957, 1961, 1969 (c), 1982 (c), 1983, 1984 (c), 1985, 1986, 1987 (c), 1992, 1993 (c), 2000, 2001 (c), 2002 (t), 2003, 2005 (c), 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015 (c)
Stout (6) 1926, 1942 (c), 1943 (q), 1966, 1969 (c), 1975 (c)
Superior (4) 1934 (c), 1935 (c), 1939 (t), 1941 (c)
Whitewater (15) 1943 (q), 1952, 1962, 1973 (c), 1974 (c), 1984 (c), 1989 (c), 1994, 2001 (c), 2002 (t), 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2015 (c)
Milwaukee (7) 1913, 1934 (c), 1940, 1941 (c), 1943 (q), 1948 (quin), 1960
c: Co-Champion t: Tri-Champion q: Quad-Champion quin: Quintet-Champion
2016 WIAC STANDINGS
| SCHOOL | WIAC | OVERALL | HOME | AWAY | STREAK |
| UW-La Crosse * | 10-4 | 16-9 | 9-2 | 7-7 | W1 |
| UW-Eau Claire | 9-5 | 16-9 | 10-3 | 5-6 | W2 |
| UW-Oshkosh | 9-5 | 16-9 | 8-3 | 6-5 | W1 |
| UW-River Falls | 9-5 | 15-10 | 6-5 | 7-4 | L1 |
| UW-Whitewater | 7-7 | 16-9 | 7-6 | 7-3 | L1 |
| UW-Stevens Point | 7-7 | 14-11 | 7-5 | 5-6 | L1 |
| UW-Platteville | 5-9 | 11-14 | 6-6 | 4-8 | W1 |
| UW-Stout | 0-14 | 4-20 | 1-10 | 1-8 | L14 |