IRVINE, Calif. - The Big West released its 2023-24 men's basketball conference schedule, featuring a 20-game double-round robin format culminating in the 2024 Big West Men's Basketball Championships. 

Non-conference activity begins across the league on Nov. 6. Conference play in The Big West starts on Thursday, Dec. 28 with with five games on the docket, kicking off an eleven-week slate. Each side will see 10 home and away games in a Thursday-Saturday format that ends on March 9. Some of the premier matchups and storylines include: 

• Defending Big West Championship winner and regular season co-champions UC Santa Barbara will start conference play on the road at UC Davis on Thursday, Dec. 28. The Gauchos return the reigning Player of the Year in junior guard Ajay Mitchell. UCSB faces Cal State Fullerton in two rematches of last season's Big West Championship final on Saturday, Jan. 20 at Santa Barbara and Saturday, March 2 at Fullerton. The Titans finished fourth last season.  
• UC Irvine shared the 2022-23 regular season title with the Gauchos with a 15-5 conference record. The Anteaters fell to Cal State Fullerton in the semifinals of The Big West Championship but qualified for the NIT. UCI had an impressive non-conference win over then-No. 21 Oregon, 69-56, in its second game of the season. The Anteaters open conference play at home on Dec. 28 hosting UC Riverside. The Highlanders finished third in the conference standings last season with a 14-6 league record. The two teams will meet again on Saturday, Feb. 10. 
• Hawai'i was fifth in last season's regular season standings and return two All-Big West honorees in guards JoVon McClanahan and Noel Coleman. The Rainbow Warriors will get a late start on league action, starting on Saturday, Dec. 30 hosting the Titans. Cal State Fullerton came away with three dramatic wins against Hawai'i last season, winning 79-72 in overtime at Fullerton, 52-51 at Honolulu and 62-60 in overtime at The Big West Championship. 
• CSUN has hired former Andy Newman as its new men's basketball head coach. Previously, Newman coached five seasons at Division II Cal State San Bernardino and registered an impressive 91-30 overall record with a 63-21 mark in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA). 

In June, The Big West Board of Directors also approved an eight-team field for the 2024 Big West Men's & Women's Basketball Championships scheduled for March 13-16, 2024, at The Dollar Loan Center in Henderson, Nev. The eight-team format will automatically advance the top two seeds into the semifinals. The change will also make the 2024 championships a Wednesday-Saturday event. 

Last season, UC Santa Barbara won The Big West Championship as the No. 2 seed, taking down Cal Poly 64-54 in the quarterfinals, UC Riverside 92-87 in the semifinals and Cal State Fullerton 72-62 in the final to earn the conference's automatic bid into the NCAA Championship. 

All Big West regular-season contests are slated for telecast on the ESPN family of networks. Please check ESPN listings for upcoming game schedule and additional information.
 

2023-24 Big West Men's Basketball Conference Schedule
Week 1	Thursday, Dec. 28	Saturday, Dec. 30
	UC Riverside at UC Irvine Long Beach State at Cal State Fullerton UC Santa Barbara at UC Davis Cal State Bakersfield at UC San Diego CSUN at Cal Poly	UC Santa Barbara at UC Riverside  Cal Poly at UC Davis Cal State Fullerton at Hawai'i  UC Irvine at Cal State Bakersfield  CSUN at Long Beach State
Week 2	Thursday, Jan. 4	Saturday, Jan. 6
	Cal State Fullerton at UC Irvine  UC San Diego at UC Santa Barbara  UC Davis at UC Riverside  Hawai'i at Cal State Bakersfield  Long Beach State at Cal Poly	UC Davis at UC Irvine  UC San Diego at Cal State Fullerton  UC Riverside at Long Beach State  UC Santa Barbara at Cal Poly  Hawai'i at CSUN
Week 3	Thursday, Jan. 11	Saturday, Jan. 13
	Cal State Bakersfield at UC Santa Barbara  Cal Poly at UC Riverside  CSUN at UC Davis  UC Irvine at Hawai'i  Long Beach State at UC San Diego	Long Beach State at UC Santa Barbara  Cal State Bakersfield at UC Davis  UC Riverside at Hawai'i  UC San Diego at Cal Poly  Cal State Fullerton at CSUN
Week 4	Thursday, Jan. 18	Saturday, Jan. 20
	UC San Diego at UC Irvine  UC Davis at Cal State Fullerton  UC Riverside at Cal State Bakersfield  Hawai'i at Long Beach State  UC Santa Barbara at CSUN	Cal State Fullerton at UC Santa Barbara  CSUN at UC Riverside  UC Irvine at UC Davis  Hawai'i at UC San Diego  Cal Poly at Cal State Bakersfield
Week 5	Thursday, Jan. 25	Saturday, Jan. 27
	UC Santa Barbara at Hawai'i  UC Riverside at UC San Diego  UC Irvine at Long Beach State  Cal State Fullerton at Cal Poly  Cal State Bakersfield at CSUN	CSUN at UC Irvine  Long Beach State at UC Riverside  Cal State Bakersfield at Cal State Fullerton  UC San Diego at UC Davis  Cal Poly at Hawai'i
Week 6	Thursday, Feb. 1	Saturday, Feb. 3
	UC Davis at UC Santa Barbara Hawai'i at Cal State Fullerton CSUN at UC San Diego Long Beach State at Cal State Bakersfield UC Irvine at Cal Poly	Hawai'i at UC Irvine  UC Santa Barbara at Cal State Bakersfield  UC San Diego at Long Beach State  UC Davis at Cal Poly  UC Riverside at CSUN
Week 7	Thursday, Feb. 8	Saturday, Feb. 10
	UC Irvine at UC Santa Barbara  Cal State Bakersfield at UC Riverside  Cal State Fullerton at UC Davis  UC San Diego at Hawai'i  Cal Poly at CSUN	CSUN at UC Santa Barbara  UC Irvine at UC Riverside  UC Davis at Hawai'i  Cal State Fullerton at Cal State Bakersfield  Cal Poly at Long Beach State
Week 8	Thursday, Feb. 15	Saturday, Feb. 17
	UC Riverside at Cal State Fullerton  Long Beach State at UC Davis  UC Santa Barbara at UC San Diego  CSUN at Cal State Bakersfield  Hawai'i at Cal Poly	Cal State Bakersfield at UC Irvine  Hawai'i at UC Santa Barbara  UC Riverside at UC Davis  Cal State Fullerton at UC San Diego  Long Beach State at CSUN
Week 9	Thursday, Feb. 22	Saturday, Feb. 24
	UC Santa Barbara at UC Irvine  UC San Diego at UC Riverside  Cal Poly at Cal State Fullerton  Cal State Bakersfield at Long Beach State  UC Davis at CSUN	CSUN at Cal State Fullerton  Long Beach State at Hawai'i  UC Irvine at UC San Diego  UC Davis at Cal State Bakersfield  UC Riverside at Cal Poly
Week 10	Thursday, Feb. 29	Saturday, March 2
	Cal Poly at UC Santa Barbara  Hawai'i at UC Davis  UC San Diego at Cal State Bakersfield  Cal State Fullerton at Long Beach State  UC Irvine at CSUN	Long Beach State at UC Irvine  Hawai'i at UC Riverside  UC Santa Barbara at Cal State Fullerton  Cal State Bakersfield at Cal Poly  UC San Diego at CSUN
Week 11	Thursday, March 7	Saturday, March 9
	Cal Poly at UC Irvine  Cal State Fullerton at UC Riverside  CSUN at Hawai'i  UC Davis at UC San Diego  UC Santa Barbara at Long Beach State	UC Riverside at UC Santa Barbara  UC Irvine at Cal State Fullerton  Cal State Bakersfield at Hawai'i  Cal Poly at UC San Diego  UC Davis at Long Beach State