Welcome UC San Diego to the Big West and division 1 basketball. Usual powerhouse UC Irvine will have some tough competition for the conferences auto bid. There are 4 teams go enough to win the conference tournament and go to March Madness.
Big West
- UC Santa Barbara (14 Seed)
- UC Riverside
- UC Irvine
- UC Davis
- Hawaii
- Long Beach State
- UC San Diego
- Cal State Bakersfield
- CSU Northridge
- Cal Poly
- Cal State Fullerton
- UC Santa Barbara- The Gauchos bring back all of their talent from a 10-6 conference record. Led by leading scored Amadou Sow coming back to lead this team. Anything worse than winning this conference would be a disappointing for the Gauchos.
- UC Riverside- Why are the Highlanders so high when they had a losing record in the Big West last season? (7-9). Callum Mcrae junior center will be joined in the paint by John Perry. Both of these centers are 7’1” and are now experienced. Along with some guards who can shoot from outside I think it will all come together this season with that in and out offense they run. Watch out for the Highlanders.
- UC Irvine- The Anteaters lost 3 out of their 5 starters and they did not reload as Big West fans are come accustomed too in the last. They will be a very good team in the conference, but I do not think they have the experience to win the conference this season. The Anteaters will be back on top in a year or 2
- UC Davis- The Aggies had a solid season with a young roster last season with an 8-8 record in conference. They bring back that young roster who has 1 more year experience now. The Aggies are my dark horse pick to get the automatic bid in the Big West. I see a lot of potential and if they are clicking on all cylinders by March, watch out.
- Hawaii- The Rainbow Warriors bring back most of their roster from an 8-8 Big West campaign last season. With a couple of transfers who will be role players for this team I except them to be back in the .500 range for another season.
- Long Beach State- The 49ers were stuck as one of the worst teams in the Big West for a while but started to look like a better basketball team last season. A tough finish made them 6-10 in conference, but they bring back all their talent and was a great defensive team. If they can find a little bit more offense, they will be a good Big West team.
- UC Davis- Welcome to the Big Show UC Davis! Entering their first season in division 1, I except the Tritons to not be as bad as some of their fellow transitioning teams. There is a lot unknown but look for UC Davis to make some noise in the Big West.
- Cal St Bakersfield- Coming over from the WAC. The Roadrunners will not be able to avoid their issues that they had last season. Their offense last season was a big issue and I do not see it getting any better. Maybe playing some new teams will help but I do not see first year success for this team in the Big West.
- CSU Northridge- Losing 4 out of 5 starters is tough production to replace from a 10-6 team which was good for tied for 2nd in the Big West. The Matadors have enough depth coming back to avoid being all the way into the bottom of the conference, but they will be in the bottom half of the Big West
- Cal Poly- Coming in last place in the Big West last season, The Mustangs bring back most of their roster, but it is still a young roster. Out of all the times in the bottom 4 of these projections I think Cal Poly is the most likely to jump up into the top half of the league but I think they are still a year or 2 away from being a solid Big West team.
- Cal State Fullerton- The Titans lose 4 out of 5 starters from this past season. That team was towards the bottom of the conference with a 6-10 record. With no talent coming in this season. It is a pretty easy pick to put the Titans on the bottom.
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