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With one of the closest regular season finishes up and down the standings in recent history, the bracket is set for the 2025 Big West Basketball Championship, presented by Credit Union 1.
For the second consecutive season of an eight-team bracket, No. 1 seed Hawai’i and second-seeded UC Irvine get double byes directly into the semifinal round of the Championship, taking to the court at Lee’s Family Forum on Friday.
The Rainbow Wahine (22
-8, 16-4 BW)
secured the Big West regular-season title for the sixth time in program history and third in the last four seasons (1993, ’94, ’15, ’22, ’24, ’25). UH was remarkably consistent during the conference slate, reeling off 14 victories from Jan. 4 to Feb. 22 to again land on the top of the league leaderboard.
The defensive-minded ’Bows have been locking down on defense all season, landing in the top 10 nationally in field goal percentage defense (33.5 - 3
rd), three-point field goal percentage defense (25.3 - 2
nd) and scoring defense (53.4 - 8
th).
Entering the bracket with a record of 21-9 and 15-5 in league play, the Anteaters are the No. 2 seed, a familiar place for the reigning Big West champions. The team has been one of the top two seeds in each of the last five Championship brackets, including a No. 1 seed in the 2023 iteration. Not to be outdone by UH, UC Irvine’s defense is also stout, ranking sixth in field goal percentage defense at 35.3 percent.
Hawai’i’s side of the eight-team bracket is filled by UC Santa Barbara, UC Riverside and Cal Poly. The ‘Bows have a 4-2 combined record over the trio heading into the postseason, with losses against the Gauchos and the Highlanders on the year.
The first game of the Championship pits No. 5 UC Santa Barbara (17-15, 13-7 BW) against eighth seed Cal Poly (13-17, 8-13 BW) tipping off at Noon on Wednesday. The two teams split the regular-season series in the Blue-Green Rivalry, with each visiting squad winning on their opponent’s court in a one-possession game.
Two other teams finished knotted at 12-8 in Big West play with UCSB, but the Gauchos were the first to separate themselves in the tiebreaker, due to a regular season win over UC San Diego.
Receiving the single bye into the second round is the fourth-seeded Tritons (17-15, 13-7 BW). UCSD is enjoying their first NCAA Division I postseason trip in their first season of full eligibility after reclassification to DI, and await the winner of the UCSB/CP matchup. In the regular season, both the Gauchos and Mustangs split with the UCSB.
UC Irvine’s side of the bracket has UC Davis, Long Beach State and UC Riverside in wait.
Sixth-seeded Long Beach State (16-13, 12-8) will tussle with No. 7 seed UC Riverside (16-14, 12-8 BW) in Wednesday’s first round, with a 2:30 p.m. tip time. The Beach swept through the Highlanders in the regular season, but the UC Riverside comes into Henderson with momentum, winning their last four and six out of the last seven with the loss to LBSU on Feb. 20 as the only blemish in the final four weeks of the conference slate.
The advancing side will meet up with No. 3 seed UC Davis (19-11, 13-7 BW) in Thursday’s second round. Knotted with UC San Diego in the final standings, the Aggies won the tiebreaker for third due to a regular-season victory over Hawai’i, bumping the Tritons to the fourth spot.
The Big West is set to crown the 2025 champion on Saturday, March 15, at 3 p.m. from Lee’s Family Forum. The victor receives automatic entry into the 2025 NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship.
The entirety of the 2025 Big West Women’s Basketball Championship, presented by Credit Union 1 will be aired on ESPN+ and SiriusXM 370. Tracy Warren will be on the call with Jennifer Mountain providing analysis for the ESPN+ broadcasts for all seven contests.