History: The league that produced UNLV‘s dominant squads from 1989-1991 is now a collection of California schools + Hawaii.

UNLV leads the way with seven conference titles. Amongst current schools, Long Beach State and UC Santa Barbara have the most titles (5). Their last NCAA Tournament win was in 2019 when UC Irvine defeated Kansas State in a 13-vs-4 matchup. In 2016, Hawaii conquered a 13-vs-4 matchup when they knocked off California.

Returning Champion: UC Santa Barbara

The #2 seeded Gauchos defeated #4 Cal State Fullerton, 72-62, to take the championship. In the NCAA Tournament, as a #14 seed, they lost to Baylor by 18.

Format:  Eight of the 11 schools make it. Cal State Fullerton (14-18, 7-13) and Cal Poly (4-28, 0-20) missed the cut. UC San Diego is in their Division I transition period and is ineligible for the NCAA Tournament. While many conferences allow ineligible NCAA Tournament teams to play in the conference tournament, that isn’t the case here. Despite their 15-5 conference mark (which would have been good enough for the #2 seed), UC San Diego won’t play. The tournament is played stepladder style, with the top two seeds automatically in the semifinals.

Favorite:  UC Irvine (24-8, 17-3)

The Anteaters are a respectable #73 in the NET and KenPom. They are ranked 36th in adjusted defensive efficiency and played a decent non-conference slate, where they secured a road win over USC. Additionally, they lost to San Diego State by one on the road and Utah State by ten. While efficiency isn’t their offensive strength, they use volume to score (77.7 points; 73rd in the country).

Contenders: UC Davis (19-12, 14-6), Hawaii (19-13, 11-9)

Live Long Shot:  UC Santa Barbara (16-14, 9-11)

Preview:

With the Pac-12 going away, the Big West is the “conference of California.”

Most conferences allow ineligible NCAA Tournament teams to compete in their conference tournament. That is not the case in the Big West. Despite their 15-5 conference mark, UC San Diego is not eligible to play.

UC Davis is looking for their second NCAA Tournament bid. The Aggies won their final three games (Hawaii, UC San Diego (road), and Long Beach State (road)). Senior guard Elijah Pepper and junior guard Ty Johnson are mid-major monsters, averaging 20.5 and 17.6 points respectively.

Hawaii finished the season on a 7-3 run, earning themselves a first-round bye. The Rainbow Warriors lost to Nevada by six in non-conference play They are a strong premier defensive team, allowing only 4.6 made threes per contest (best in the country).

UC Santa Barbara will play Cal State Northridge in the first round, with the winner facing Hawaii. The Gauchos defeated the Rainbow Warriors twice this season. They average 75.1 points, with four players averaging double digits. At 49.4%, their field goal percentage is 8th in the country.

Bottom Line:

UC Irvine is a good team with solid metrics. However, I like UC Davis‘s star power. I will lean there in 2024.

Winner: UC Davis