The Big West 2021 Men’s Soccer Championship bracket has been set, after seeding was determined on the final day of the regular season. The tournament will feature the top six teams in the standings with seed Nos. 1 and 2 receiving a bye into the semifinal round. No. 3 hosts No. 6 and No. 4 hosts No. 5 in the opening round of play on Wednesday, Nov. 3.
 
The winners of the first round games will hit the road to compete in the semifinals, slated to be contested on Saturday, Nov. 6. The highest advancing seed will then host the championship match on Saturday, Nov. 13 with the winner earning The Big West's automatic bid into the 2021 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship. The championship game will be held on Friday, Nov. 12 if Cal Poly or UC Davis are the hosts due to prior scheduled football games.
 
UC Santa Barbara (10-4-4) and UC Irvine (8-7-3) finished the regular season with identical conference records of 6-1-2 for 20 points to stand on the top of The Big West table together. With the matchup in the regular season between the two being a draw and both teams having identical goal differential, the Gauchos earned the No. 1 seed based on scoring more goals in conference play. Both teams will receive a first-round bye and advance to at least the semifinals with hosting duties.
 
CSU Bakersfield (6-9-1, 5-4 Big West, 15 points) earned the No. 4 seed and will host No. 5 UC Davis (8-9-1, 4-4-1 Big West, 13 points) in the first round. The winner will advance and play at top-seeded UC Santa Barbara in the semifinals. The Roadrunners successfully qualified for the conference’s postseason tournament in their first year in The Big West. The Aggies are the defending tournament champions from 2019, and won their final regular season contest against Sacramento State to sneak in.
 
On the Anteaters’ side of the bracket, No. 3 Cal Poly (7-5-2, 5-1-3 Big West, 18 points) will host No. 6 UC Riverside (8-7-2, 3-4-2 Big West, 11 points) in the first round. The Mustangs will aim for their first conference tournament title in Steve Sampson’s final year at the helm. The world-class Cal Poly head coach announced his retirement earlier during the season. The Highlanders finished with the same conference record as Sacramento State for the last spot in the tournament and won the tiebreaker based on head-to-head play in the regular season. UCR defeated the Hornets by a score of 2-0 on Oct. 9.
 
Contested every year since 2008 with the exception of 2020's COVID pause, six schools have earned at least one tournament title. UC Irvine leads the way with four victories, but UC Davis reigns as the defending champion from the 2019 season after claiming its first Big West men's soccer title in program history. UC Santa Barbara will make its record 12th tournament appearance. UC Davis and UC Irvine are also have double digit appearances as well. 
 
Most Titles

School	No.
UC Irvine	4 (last 2013)
Cal State Fullerton	3 (last 2017)
CSUN	2 (last 2016)
UC Davis	1 (last 2019)
UC Riverside	1 (last 2018)
UC Santa Barbara	1 (last 2010)

 
Most Appearances

School	No.
UC Santa Barbara	12
UC Davis	11
UC Irvine	10
Cal Poly	8
Cal State Fullerton	8
CSUN	8
UC Riverside	7
Sacramento State	3
CSU Bakersfield	1