CBB Review prepares you for every conference tournament leading up to Selection Sunday on Mar. 15. Up next: The Big West Tournament.
If you watched the Big West this year, you probably had a lot of fun doing so. UC Irvine won the conference, but lost five games, proving there was not a clear favorite. Hawaii was neck and neck with them, and teams like CSUN and UCSB were fighting for first at some points in the season.
The conference isn’t as good as last year, when two teams won 30 games, but there is still a ton of talent. Only the top 8 teams make the tournament, so we won’t see a miracle run from 2-18 Cal State Bakersfield. We also won’t see UC Riverside and Long Beach State. After winning the tournament in 2024, Long Beach State has now missed back to back tournaments.
This bracket has a ladder format, so UC Irvine and Hawaii get auto byes to the semifinals. As mentioned earlier, though, every single one of these eight teams has shown at some point this season that they can win this tournament, so if you can, try to watch as many games as possible because you don’t know what’s going to happen.
2026 Big West Conference Awards
Player of the Year: Jurian Dixon, UC Irvine
Freshman of the Year: Gavin Sykes, Long Beach State
Transfer of the Year: Larry Hughes II, CSUN
Coach of the Year: Dedrique Taylor, Cal State Fullerton
First Team:
- G: Jurian Dixon, UC Irvine (15.9 PPG, 3.6 RPG, 2.4 APG, 1.1 SPG)
- G: Josiah Davis, CSUN (15.7 PPG, 4.6 RPG, 7.4 APG, 1.1 SPG, 0.3 BPG)
- G: Larry Hughes II, CSUN (17.6 PPG, 2.9 RPG, 0.9 APG, 1.6 SPG, 0.3 BPG)
- G: Hamad Mousa, Cal Poly (20.4 PPG, 6.3 RPG, 1.9 APG, 1.0 SPG, 0.4 BPG)
- F: Kyle Evans, UC Irvine (12.0 PPG, 8.5 RPG, 1.0 APG, 0.4 SPG, 3.4 BPG)
Second Team:
- G: Joshua Ward, Cal State Fullerton (14.5 PPG, 4.4 RPG, 3.4 APG, 1.6 SPG, 0.5 BPG)
- G: Dre Bullock, Hawaii (13.7 PPG, 5.8 RPG, 1.9 APG, 1.6 SPG, 0.4 BPG)
- G: Joshua O’Garro, CSUN (14.4 PPG, 9.4 RPG, 2.7 APG, 1.1 SPG, 0.7 BPG)
- G: Aiden Mahaney, UCSB (15.1 PPG, 1.9 RPG, 2.7 PG, 0.7 SPG)
- G: Gavin Sykes, Long Beach State (19.4 PPG, 3.0 RPG, 1.5 APG, 0.3 SPG, 0.3 BPG)
2025 Big West Tournament Simulation
First Round – Wednesday, Mar. 11
5. UC San Diego (22-10, 12-8) vs. 8. Cal Poly (14-18, 10-10) – 6:00 p.m. PT on ESPN+
Cal Poly has shown they can beat anyone, beating UC Irvine, UCSB, and Hawaii in three games, but are also wildly inconsistent, as it showed in their 16-point loss to UC San Diego. Cal Poly plays fast, with the #1 ranked tempo in the country, but that has translated to giving up a lot of easy buckets. While Mousa can go off for a big game in this one, UC San Diego’s high-level defense should outweigh Cal Poly’s offensive threat.
Ariel’s Pick: 5. UC San Diego
6. UC Davis (18-13, 11-9) vs. 7. UC Santa Barbara (14-18, 8-12) – 8:30 p.m. PT on ESPN+
UC Santa Barbara is definitely the biggest disappointment in this conference after receiving three first-place votes in the preseason. They went 3-6 in February and March, which caused them to slip so far down the standings. The good news, though, is Miro Little returned in the regular season finale after missing over a month. He scored 10 points to go with 8 rebounds and 7 assists. With him healthy, they should have the boost to get past UC Davis and move on to round two.
Ariel’s Pick: 7. UC Santa Barbara
Quarterfinals – Thursday, Mar. 12
4. CSUN (19-13, 12-8) vs. 5. UC San Diego– 6 p.m. PT on ESPN+
Ever since CSUN beat UC San Diego by 17 in the final game of January, UC San Diego has looked like a completely different team. They went 7-2, with their only losses being by narrow margins on the road to Cal State Fullerton and Hawaii. CSUN has a monster trio who could just dominate this UC San Diego team, but you have to take the safer bet here, UC San Diego’s defense, which has been top 30 in the country since Feb 1.
Ariel’s Pick: 5. UC San Diego
3. Cal State Fullerton (17-15, 12-8) vs. 7. UC Santa Barbara – 8:30 p.m. PT on ESPN+
Arguably the hottest team vs. arguably the coldest team in the tournament. Fullerton is 7-2 in their last nine, while UC Santa Barbara is 3-6. Once again, getting Miro Little makes such a big impact. They were 8-4 before he went down, and the fact he was able to play 34 minutes in his last game proves that he’s good to go. The duo of him and Aiden Mahaney will be hard to stop, and as long as they don’t turn the ball over 20 times, then they should continue their Cinderella run.
Ariel’s Pick: 7. UC Santa Barbara
Semifinals – Friday, Mar. 13
1. UC Irvine (22-10, 15-5) vs. 5. UC San Diego– 6 p.m. PT on ESPN+
UC Irvine has been a top two seed in four of the past five tournaments. They have zero conference tournament titles. Furthermore, they’ve been the one seed in two of those. Both times, they lost in the semifinal. This one should be pretty low scoring. Both teams boast the best defenses in the country. Unfortunately for Russell Turner, his conference title curse continues, and UC San Diego wins in the rematch of last year’s title game.
Ariel’s Pick: 5. UC San Diego
2. Hawaii (22-8, 14-6) vs. 7. UCSB– 8:30 p.m. PT on ESPN2
East Coast fans, you’re going to want to stay up for this one. I hate to sound like a broken record, but a fully healthy UCSB team is so dangerous in this league. With Little, they beat Hawaii by 15. Without him, they lost by three in overtime. Even in the loss, UC Santa Barbara led for 52% of the game. If you had the 5 and 7 seed making the final, you’re probably rich, but as mentioned in the beginning of this article, every team in this conference has shown at some point that they can win this conference.
Ariel’s Pick: 7. UCSB
Finals – Saturday, Mar. 15
5. UC San Diego vs. 7. UCSB– 6:30 p.m. PT on ESPN2
The anti-conference tournament fans are yelling at the tv right now, seeing these two teams squaring off in the championship. Fans of madness are having the time of their lives. Last time a seed lower than a four won the conference tournament was when seven seed Cal Poly beat 5 seed, CSUN in. Coincidence?
These two teams played in the season finale and gave us a great game, with UC San Diego winning by one on a layup with two seconds left. Hopefully, we get a result just as exciting in this one. UC San Diego forced 17 turnovers, and if UCSB can’t take care of the ball, which has been a huge issue as of late, then UC San Diego will cut down the nets in back to back seasons.
Ariel’s Pick: 5. UC San Diego