2026 Big West Conference men's basketball tournament
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| 2026 Big West Conference men's basketball tournament | |
|---|---|
| Classification | Division I |
| Season | 2025–26 |
| Teams | 8 |
| Site | Lee's Family Forum Henderson, Nevada |
| Champions | Hawaii (2nd title) |
| Winning coach | Eran Ganot (2nd title) |
| MVP | Isaac Johnson (Hawaii) |
| Television | ESPN+, ESPNU, ESPN2 |
| Conf. | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Team | W | L | PCT | W | L | PCT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UC Irvine | 15 | – | 5 | .750 | 23 | – | 12 | .657 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hawai'i † | 14 | – | 6 | .700 | 24 | – | 9 | .727 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cal State Fullerton | 12 | – | 8 | .600 | 18 | – | 16 | .529 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cal State Northridge | 12 | – | 8 | .600 | 20 | – | 14 | .588 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UC San Diego | 12 | – | 8 | .600 | 23 | – | 11 | .676 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UC Davis | 11 | – | 9 | .550 | 19 | – | 14 | .576 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UC Santa Barbara | 11 | – | 9 | .550 | 18 | – | 14 | .563 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cal Poly | 10 | – | 10 | .500 | 14 | – | 19 | .424 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Long Beach State | 6 | – | 14 | .300 | 10 | – | 22 | .313 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UC Riverside | 5 | – | 15 | .250 | 10 | – | 22 | .313 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cal State Bakersfield | 2 | – | 18 | .100 | 8 | – | 24 | .250 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| † 2026 Big West tournament winner | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The 2026 Big West Conference men's basketball tournament was the postseason men's basketball tournament for the Big West Conference of the 2025–26 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. It was held March 11–14, 2026, at the Lee's Family Forum in Henderson, Nevada.[1] The winner, Hawaii, received the conference's automatic bid to the 2026 NCAA tournament. This was the last year UC Davis and Hawaii competed in the Big West tournament, as they will move to the Mountain West following this year.
The top eight teams in the conference standings will qualify for the tournament. Teams are seeded by record within the conference, with a tiebreaker system to seed teams with identical conference records. The top two seeds will receive double byes to the semifinals, the third and fourth seeds will receive single byes to the quarterfinals, and the remaining four seeds will play each other in the first round.[2]
| Seed | School | Record | Tiebreaker #1 | Tiebreaker #2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | UC Irvine | 15–5 | ||
| 2 | Hawai'i | 14–6 | ||
| 3 | Cal State Fullerton | 12–8 | 4–0 vs. CSU Northridge/UC San Diego | |
| 4 | Cal State Northridge | 12–8 | 2–2 vs. CSU Fullerton/UC San Diego | 2-0 vs. UC San Diego |
| 5 | UC San Diego | 12–8 | 0–4 vs. CSU Fullerton/CSU Northridge | 0-2 vs. CSU Northridge |
| 6 | UC Davis | 11–9 | 2–0 vs. UC Santa Barbara | |
| 7 | UC Santa Barbara | 11–9 | 0–2 vs. UC Davis | |
| 8 | Cal Poly | 10–10 | ||
| DNQ | Long Beach State | 6–14 | ||
| DNQ | UC Riverside | 5–15 | ||
| DNQ | Cal State Bakersfield | 2–18 | ||
Schedule and results
| Game | Time[3] | Matchup | Score | Television | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First round – Wednesday, March 11 | |||||
| 1 | 6:00 pm | No. 5 UC San Diego vs. No 8. Cal Poly | 72–69 | ESPN+ | 1,035 |
| 2 | 8:30 pm | No. 6 UC Davis vs. No. 7 UC Santa Barbara | 79–73 | ||
| Quarterfinals – Thursday, March 12 | |||||
| 3 | 6:00 pm | No. 4 Cal State Northridge vs. No. 5 UC San Diego | 80–70 | ESPN+ | 1,030 |
| 4 | 8:30 pm | No. 3 Cal State Fullerton vs. No. 6 UC Davis | 82–70 | ||
| Semifinals – Friday, March 13 | |||||
| 5 | 6:00 pm | No. 1 UC Irvine vs. No. 4 Cal State Northridge | 93–78 | ESPNU | 2,060 |
| 6 | 8:30 pm | No. 2 Hawai'i vs. No. 3 Cal State Fullerton | 78–63 | ESPN2 | |
| Final – Saturday, March 14 | |||||
| 7 | 7:00 pm | No. 1 UC Irvine vs. No. 2 Hawai'i | 64–71 | ESPN2 | 3,488 |
| *Game times in PDT. Rankings denote tournament seed. | |||||
Bracket
| First Round Wednesday, March 11 | Quarterfinals Thursday, March 12 | Semifinals Friday, March 13 | Championship Saturday, March 14 | |||||||||||||||
| 1 | UC Irvine | 93 | ||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Cal State Northridge | 80 | 4 | Cal State Northridge | 78 | |||||||||||||
| 5 | UC San Diego | 72 | 5 | UC San Diego | 70 | 1 | UC Irvine | 64 | ||||||||||
| 8 | Cal Poly | 69 | 2 | Hawai'i | 71 | |||||||||||||
| 2 | Hawai'i | 78 | ||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Cal State Fullerton | 82 | 3 | Cal State Fullerton | 63 | |||||||||||||
| 6 | UC Davis | 79 | 6 | UC Davis | 70 | |||||||||||||
| 7 | UC Santa Barbara | 73 | ||||||||||||||||
Game summaries
First round
March 11 6:00 pm |
| No. 5 UC San Diego 72, No. 8 Cal Poly 69 | ||
| Scoring by half: 26–35, 46–34 | ||
| Pts: Hudson Mayes (20) Rebs: Leo Beath (8) Asts: Tom Beattie (4) |
Pts: Hamad Mousa (21) Rebs: Cayden Ward (9) Asts: Cayden Ward (4) | |
Lee's Family Forum Henderson, Nevada Referees: Jeff Campbell, Deldre Carr, Bill Vinovich |
ESPN+ |
March 11 8:30 pm |
| No. 6 UC Davis 79, No. 7 UC Santa Barbara 73 | ||
| Scoring by half: 34–31, 45–42 | ||
| Pts: Carl Daughtery Jr. (24) Rebs: Carl Daughtery Jr. (8) Asts: Marcus Wilson (4) |
Pts: CJ Shaw (20) Rebs: Miro Little (7) Asts: Miro Little (3) | |
Lee's Family Forum Henderson, Nevada Attendance: 1,035 Referees: Deron White, Rick Crawford, Ervin Wilson |
Quarterfinals
ESPN+ |
March 12 6:00 pm |
| No. 4 Cal State Northridge 80, No. 5 UC San Diego 70 | ||
| Scoring by half: 32–36, 48–34 | ||
| Pts: Larry Hughes II (34) Rebs: Mahmoud Fofana (12) Asts: Josiah Davis (9) |
Pts: Tom Beattie (22) Rebs: Tom Beattie (7) Asts: Tom Beattie (5) | |
Lee's Family Forum Henderson, Nevada Referees: Matthew Rukasin, Eric Curry, Deron White |
ESPN+ |
March 12 8:30 pm |
| No. 3 Cal State Fullerton 82, No. 6 UC Davis 70 | ||
| Scoring by half: 38–26, 44–34 | ||
| Pts: Joshua Ward (24) Rebs: Jefferson De La Cruz Monegro (11) Asts: Joshua Ward (3) |
Pts: Connor Sevilla (20) Rebs: Tied (7) Asts: Brayden Fagbemi (6) | |
Lee's Family Forum Henderson, Nevada Attendance: 1,030 Referees: Darron George, Antonio Petty, John Hampton |
Semifinals
March 13 6:00 pm |
| No. 1 UC Irvine 93, No. 4 Cal State Northridge 78 | ||
| Scoring by half: 49–37, 44–31 | ||
| Pts: Derin Saran (23) Rebs: Derin Saran (9) Asts: Jurian Dixon (7) |
Pts: Josiah Davis (26) Rebs: Tied (5) Asts: Josiah Davis (8) | |
Lee's Family Forum Henderson, Nevada Referees: Deldre Carr, Justin Shamion, Eric Curry |
March 13 8:30 pm |
| No. 2 Hawai'i 78, No. 3 Cal State Fullerton 63 | ||
| Scoring by half: 29–21, 49–42 | ||
| Pts: Isaac Johnson (19) Rebs: Harry Rouhliadeff (10) Asts: Hunter Erickson (5) |
Pts: Christian Williams (21) Rebs: Jefferson De La Cruz Monegro (5) Asts: Joshua Ward (5) | |
Lee's Family Forum Henderson, Nevada Attendance: 2,060 Referees: Deron White, Antinio Petty, Matthew Rukasin |
Championship
ESPN2 |
March 14 7:00 pm |
| No. 1 UC Irvine 64, No. 2 Hawai'i 71 | ||
| Scoring by half: 30–31, 34–40 | ||
| Pts: Jurian Dixon (17) Rebs: Kyle Evans (10) Asts: Tied (3) |
Pts: Isaac Johnson (22) Rebs: Harry Rouhliadeff (12) Asts: Hunter Erickson (8) | |
Lee's Family Forum Henderson, Nevada Attendance: 3,488 Referees: Tony Padilla, Randy McCall, Deron White |