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2020 Big West Conference Men’s Basketball Tournament Basics

Dates

Thursday, March 12th (quarterfinals); Friday, March 13th (semifinals); Saturday, March 14th (championship)

Format

Bracket with reseeding

Site(s)

Anaheim has been this tournament’s home since 2001, with the Honda Center taking hosting duties from Anaheim Arena in 2011. Note that this season’s tournament will be played without spectators due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

TV/Streaming Info

ESPN2 airs the final late on Saturday night Eastern Time. ESPNU will air the second semifinal live and the first on delay. ESPN3 will stream that first semi and all four quarterfinals live.

Participants

Eight of the Big West’s nine current members qualify, with the last-place Cal Poly Mustangs (7-23, 4-12) missing out.

Downloadable Bracket

Schedule

Quarterfinals (Thu., March 12)

ESPN3 will stream all four games.

Game 1: No. 7 Cal State Fullerton Titans (11-20, 6-10) vs. No. 2 CSUN Matadors (15-17, 10-6), 3 p.m.
The season series was a home split.

Game 2: No. 6 UC Riverside Highlanders (17-15, 7-9) vs. No. 3 UC Santa Barbara Gauchos (21-10, 10-6), approx. 5:30 p.m.
The Gauchos swept the season series.

Game 3: No. 8 Long Beach State Beach (11-21, 10-6) vs. No. 1 UC Irvine Anteaters (21-11, 13-3), 9 p.m.
The season series was a home split.

Game 4: No. 5 UC Davis Aggies (14-18, 8-8) vs. No. 4 Hawai’i Rainbow Warriors (17-13, 8-8), approx. 11:30 p.m.
The Rainbow Warriors swept the season series.

Semifinals (Fri., March 13)

Teams are reseeded.

Game 5: No. 4 vs. No. 1, 9 p.m. (ESPN3)
Game 6: No. 3 vs. No. 2, approx. 11:30 p.m. (ESPNU)

Championship (Sat., March 14)

Game 7: Semifinal winners, 11:30 p.m. (ESPN2)

10-Year Mayhem Potential

Data from Bob Vetrone Jr. on Twitter.

Over the past 10 seasons, one of the Summit League’s top two seeds has won the automatic bid six times, with the No. 1 winning the last of its four titles last season. Note that only the No. 6 and 8 seeds failed to record a title over the past decade.

• 1 seed (4): 2010, 2012, 2016, 2018
• 2 seed (2): 2013, 2017
• 3 seed (1): 2015
• 4 seed (1): 2018
• 5 seed (1): 2011
• 7 seed (1): 2015

10-Year NCAA Seeding Record

Years with an NCAA win are in bold.

• 15 seed (4): 2010, 2011, 2013, 2018
• 13 seed (3): 2015, 2016, 2019
• 16 seed (2): 2014 (First Four), 2017 (First Four)
• 12 seed (1): 2012

Given the spread in the seeding of the Big West’s past 10 champs, it shouldn’t be a surprise that these teams have been seeded all over the lower tier of the bracket during that time. UC Irvine is likely to earn a 13 or 14 with a second straight bid, while any other champ is likely to be seeded lower.

Last NCAA Tournament Appearances

UC Irvine: 2019 (13 seed, 2nd Round)
Cal State Fullerton: 2018 (15 seed, 1st Round)
UC Davis: 2017 (16 seed, 1st Round)
Hawai’i: 2016 (13 seed, 2nd Round)
Long Beach State: 2012 (12 seed, Round of 64)
UC Santa Barbara: 2011 (15 seed, Round of 64)
CSUN: 2009 (15 seed, 1st Round)

UC Riverside is the lone current Big West member that has yet to make the NCAAs, but UC San Diego will join the Highlanders in that group next year. Granted, the Tritons will have to wait until 2025 to qualify for the field, given their D1 transition. That won’t be the case for the Cal State Bakersfield Roadrunners, the 2016 WAC representative, who also joins the conference next year.

Meanwhile, Cal Poly (2014, 16 seed, Round of 64) won’t be able to make its next trip until 2021, thanks to their absence from Anaheim.

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