Tipping Off
What 2 Watch 4
Six squads are set to suit up on Monday, Nov. 3 to open the season, highlighted by the Crosstown Showdown between UC Riverside and incoming member California Baptist as the first game on the docket. Four more teams join the action on Tuesday and Wednesday before The Big West’s first ranked opponent appears on the schedule as UC Santa Barbara faces off against No. 3 UCLA. Friday sees Long Beach State join the fray on the road at Wyoming as the final side to take to the court. Along with the Bruins, Power 4 teams Arizona (vs. UC Riverside and UC Irvine) and Stanford (vs. Cal Poly) headline the opening slate.
All told, 18 games on the schedule will air on the ESPN family of networks with every Big West home contest appearing on ESPN+ throughout the season. Check listings for specific game information.
Last Year, Today
The Big West is coming off a season of parity where four teams reached the 20-win mark: Hawai’i (22-10), UC Irvine (21-10), UC Davis (21-12) and UC San Diego (20-16). The Big West Championship was won by No. 4 seed UC San Diego, who bested third-seeded UC Davis in the finale from Henderson. Regular-season champion Hawai’i was nipped at the buzzer in the semifinals, dropping their game to the eventual champions.
Winning both The Big West men’s and women’s titles to earn NCAA qualification in their first year of eligibility, UC San Diego is the first school in NCAA Division I history to accomplish that feat.
The Big West in the Rankings
Preseason favorite Hawai’i opens the year at No. 25 in the College Insider Women’s Basketball Mid-Major Top 25 poll, with UC Irvine receiving votes to open up the 2025-26 campaign.
Hoops in Henderson
Last week, The Big West announced an enhanced agreement with Credit Union 1, the Official Credit Union, Bank and Financial Services Partner of The Big West, to become the title partner of the 2026 Big West Basketball Championships, March 11-14, 2026, at Lee’s Family Forum in Henderson, Nev. All-Session tickets are available now! Learn more >>>
Preseason Prognostications
In yet another vote with the slimmest of margins, Hawai’i has been selected to win the 2025-26 Big West women’s basketball crown in a vote of The Big West’s 11 head coaches. It is the fourth consecutive season that the Rainbow Wahine have landed atop the preseason voting.
Hawai’i received 91 total points and four first-place votes after last year’s regular-season championship. UC Irvine, picked to finish second in the polling in consecutive seasons, landed just one point shy of UH, compiling 90 points with four first-place votes. UC Davis and UC San Diego are slotted in third and fourth, also earning the top nods on the ballot in what looks to be a four-team race to the crown.
Five of the seven Preseason All-Big West Team selections play for the top quartet, with Hawai’i the only team to record a pair of picks. Typically a six-person team, ties in the voting warranted a seventh slot be awarded, also showcasing the projected parity in not only the team predictions but the expected individual play across The Big West.
Last season, UH finished the campaign with a 22-10 overall record and a 16-4 mark in Big West action. After falling in the semifinal round of the 2025 Big West Women’s Basketball Championship, presented by Credit Union 1 to eventual victors UC San Diego, the ’Bows saw themselves in the field of the NCAA’s WBIT for consecutive seasons and a fourth-straight national postseason. Two Rainbow Wahine find themselves on the Preseason All-Big West Team in lone returning senior Imani Perez and reigning Big West Freshman of the Year Ritorya Tamilo.
Skylar Burke (UC Santa Barbara), Erin Condron (UC San Diego), Shelley Duchemin (UC Riverside), Hunter Hernandez (UC Irvine) and Megan Norris (UC Davis) round out the Preseason Coaches Team. See the complete poll and read more about the team here >>>
Watch Us Work
Building on one of the most successful men’s and women’s seasons since the 1990’s, The Big West has announced that more than 350 men’s and women’s basketball games will be available nationally on the ESPN family of networks and Spectrum SportsNet during 2025-26 season. All Big West men’s and women’s basketball home games and all seven games of the Credit Union I 2026 Big West Women’s Basketball Championship will stream nationally on ESPN+. Additionally, The Big West will continue its regional partnership with Spectrum SportsNet for the fifth consecutive season. Five women’s contests are part of the 14-game Spectrum SportsNet package with Long Beach State, UC San Diego, Hawai’i, UC Irvine, UC Santa Barbara and Cal Poly each slated to appear. Learn more >>>
Back for Bold Week
Continuing a bold scheduling strategy into the 2025-26 season, The Big West will open its 11-week true round robin basketball slate with Bold Week, taking place Dec. 4-6, 2025.
Both men’s and women’s basketball will tip-off conference action the first week of December, providing access to games before the holiday season to improve both the fan and student-athlete experience while adding early season intrigue and ensuring conference weeks feature a consistent Thursday/Saturday schedule format.
GET TOUGH!
The Big West has announced the return of its Tough Like Tammy fundraising initiative for the 2025-26 women’s basketball season and the goal of securing a $50,000 grant from the Kay Yow Cancer Fund.
The joint venture between Big West women’s basketball, the Kay Yow Cancer Fund and Big West women’s basketball analyst Tammy Blackburn, has raised more than $25,000 in support life-saving research on all cancers affecting women since its inception in 2023. The effort in 2025-26 revolves around securing a $50,000 grant to assist women in underserved communities in southern California. Currently, the Tough Like Tammy program stands over 60% of the way towards reaching the goal and fans can donate today at BigWest.org/TLT. Learn more >>>
Welcome to The Big West
New head coach at Cal State Fullerton John Bonner heads to the Titans after a Division II national runner-up season with Cal State Dominguez Hills. Bonner boasts the only two 30-win seasons in Toreros’ program history including a record 36 victories in 2024-25 and was twice named CCAA Coach of the Year. |
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