NIT Bracket
Big West regular-season champion UC Irvine will represent the league in the 32-team 2026 National Invitational Tournament (NIT). The Anteaters, who received a No. 4 seed, are in the field for the fourth straight year and 10th time overall. Last season UC Irvine won four games and finished as the runner-up in the tournament.

The first three rounds of the NIT will be held at campus sites, with higher-seeded teams hosting games. The semifinals game will be played at Hinkle Fieldhouse and the final at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, both in Indianapolis, Indiana, on April 2 and April 5, respectively. The entire tournament will be broadcast across the ESPN family of networks.

Fourth-seeded UC Irvine (23-11) will host UNLV (17-16) in a first-round matchup, Tuesday, March 17 at 8 p.m. PT. The game will be broadcasted on ESPNU. The advancing team will play the winner of No. 1 Tulsa and Stephen F. Austin.  

The Anteaters finished the regular season at the top of the conference standings with a 15-5 record. The Runnin’ Rebels tied for seventh in the Mountain West with a 11-9 league mark.
UC Irvine is led by two All-Big West First Team selections in redshirt sophomore guard Jurian Dixon and senior forward Kyle Evans. Dixon averaged 16.0 points, 3.6 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game. Evans, the conference’s Best Defensive Player, puts up 12.0 points, on .624 shooting, with 8.5 rebounds per contest. The Anteaters have two more double-digit scorers in junior guard Derin Saran (11.3 PPG) and Big West Best Sixth Player Andre Henry (10.1), a senior guard.