Western Kentucky Hilltoppers
2025–26 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers basketball team
University	Western Kentucky University
First season	1914; 112 years ago (1914)
Head coach	Hank Plona (2nd season)
Location	Bowling Green, Kentucky
Arena	E. A. Diddle Arena (capacity: 7326)
Conference	Conference USA
Nickname	Hilltoppers
Colors	Red and white[1]
NCAA Division I tournament Final Four
1971
Other NCAA Division I tournament results Elite Eight 1940, 1971 Sweet Sixteen 1940, 1960, 1962, 1966, 1971, 1978, 1993, 2008 Appearances 1940, 1960, 1962, 1966, 1967, 1970, 1971, 1976, 1978, 1980, 1981, 1986, 1987, 1993, 1994, 1995, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2024
Conference tournament champions
1932, 1933, 1934, 1935, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1940, 1941, 1942, 1943, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1965, 1966, 1976, 1978, 1980, 1981, 1993, 1995, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2024
Conference regular-season champions
1949, 1950, 1952, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1966, 1967, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1976, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1987, 1994, 1995, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2008, 2009
Conference division champions
Sun Belt East: 2001, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2008, 2009, C-USA East: 2021
Uniforms
Home Away
* - vacated by NCAA

The Western Kentucky Hilltoppers men's basketball team is the men's basketball team that represents Western Kentucky University (WKU) in Bowling Green, Kentucky. The Hilltoppers currently compete in Conference USA. The team's most recent appearance in the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament was in 2024. Hank Plona was announced as the team's current head coach on April 2, 2024.^[2]

The men's basketball program has the 16th most victories in the history of the NCAA^[3] and has attained the eighth best winning percentage in NCAA history.^[3] The school made an NCAA Final Four appearance in 1971, which was later vacated, and has made four NIT Final Four appearances, including three in the early days of the NIT when it was on par with the NCAA tournament. The program has won numerous Ohio Valley Conference championships and was very competitive in its previous conference, the Sun Belt Conference, regularly finishing near the top of the conference and competing for the conference championship. In 2014, the Hilltoppers joined Conference USA following conference realignment.

Street & Smith's publication "100 Greatest Programs", ranked WKU #31. WKU has had 30 All Americans and 56 Hilltoppers have played professionally following their collegiate careers.^[4]