IRVINE, Calif. – The Big West unveiled its 2022-23 men’s basketball conference slate today, featuring a 20-game round-robin format culminating in the 2023 Hercules Tires Big West Basketball Championships, presented by the Hawaiian Islands on March 7-11 from the Dollar Loan Center in Henderson, Nev.
The Big West segment of the schedule tips off during the final weekend of 2022, with squads meeting up for the first games of the season on Dec. 29. The majority of weeks on the docket consist of Thursday-Saturday contests, with two Mondays and two Wednesdays also seeing action on the hardwood to complete the home-and-home loop through the league.
The 2021-22 regular-season and championship victors both open their league schedules at home as Long Beach State hosts UC San Diego and UC Riverside and Cal State Fullerton welcomes UC Santa Barbara and CSUN to close out the calendar year.
The two teams met but once in last year’s regular season with the 10-point victory going to Long Beach State. However, Cal State Fullerton avenged the defeat in the championship finale, coming away with a one-point win after gritty defense in the second half allowed the Titans to turn the tide. Securing a steal on the Beach’s final offensive possession iced the game in favor of Cal State Fullerton in the successful comeback effort.
The Beach and the Titans are pitted against each other in the fourth week of the schedule, on Thursday, Jan. 19, at Walter Pyramid, before the return trip to Titan Gymnasium just two weeks later, on Thursday, Feb. 2.
The Big West Board of Directors approved a variety of initiatives as the spring meetings. New in 2022-23, UC San Diego men’s basketball games against Big West opponents will be counted in conference records for both participating squads. Additionally, the Board approved moving to an 18-game schedule beginning in 2023-24 to participate in a potential non-conference wildcard scheduling initiative to be played in February.
All-session tickets for the 2023 Hercules Tires Big West Basketball Championships, presented by the Hawaiian Islands, will be available through the Athletic Ticket Office at each of the ten participating Big West institutions for $195, a 29 percent decrease from last year, with individual session tickets available for purchase beginning Feb. 1, 2023. Please contact the ticket office of your favorite Big West member institution for more information on securing your seats to join the action from The Dollar Loan Center.
All regular-season contests are slated for telecast on the ESPN family of networks through the multi-year, multi-platform media rights agreement announced last summer. Additional details on linear schedules and specifics on games times will be announced as they become available.