Big West Conference Title Contenders

The Big West is reaching the halfway point of the 2023-24 conference season with every team having completed at least nine of 20 conference games. UC Irvine and UC Santa Barbara both finished 15-5 last season and there is a tie in the standings this season as well with UC Irvine and UC San Diego both starting 8-1 in league play. UC Davis, UC Santa Barbara, and Long Beach State are the only other teams with winning records so far in league play. Here is a look at the five top contenders in the Big West conference race:

 

UC IRVINE: UC Irvine won the first head-to-head pairing with UC San Diego in Mid-January 76-65, rallying from an early deficit but the Anteaters will have to play at UC San Diego in late February. So far Russell Turner’s squad has played one of the weakest schedules in the conference so far to contribute to the great defensive numbers. UC Irvine has only played one of the top five teams in the current standings on the road and the result was the team’s only conference loss, falling at UC Davis. Close wins have been the norm as UC Irvin, who has not won a Big West game by more than 11 points. The offense has had turnover issues and is a mediocre shooting team as the door could open in the conference race with UC Irvine facing road games in three of the next four, including a tough game at UC Santa Barbara next week. 

 

UC SAN DIEGO: This only the fourth season as a Division I program for UC San Diego, and this was a 10-20 team last season that went 5-13 in Big West play. Eric Olen’s squad has shown dramatic improvement, fighting through a four-game losing streak in non-conference play to turn things around with a great 8-1 start in Big West play. UC San Diego has only lost at home once all season and that was by one-point to San Diego State as the Tritons will be a threat to keep winning at home with UC Santa Barbara, UC Irvine, and UC Davis all still yet to visit La Jolla. UC San Diego has a very low turnover rate and strong shooting numbers all over the floor as currently the top offensive team in the Big West by a wide margin, even while playing a more difficult schedule than the other top contenders in the standings so far as the Tritons should have some staying power in this race. 

 

UC DAVIS: UC Davis sits just behind the top two teams at 7-2. UC Davis did hand UC Irvine its only defeat, but it has been a series split as UC Davis lost in overtime at UC Irvine. The loss to UC San Diego was not competitive with a stunning 92-59 home loss last weekend to immediately erase the big win over UC Irvine. UC Davis has three conference wins by 20 or more points, and this has been a good defensive team, forcing turnovers at a high rate and featuring the best 3-point defense in Big West play allowing just below 29 percent shooting beyond the arc. UC Davis will be on the road in three of the next four including a trip to Santa Barbara and a trip to Hawaii as the Aggies may not remain a top threat in the Big West race. Six of nine games so far in the conference path have been home games so far for UC Davis, who will also close the season playing four of the final five on the road. 

 

UC SANTA BARBARA: UC Santa Barbara may be lurking as a sleeper in the race after starting 0-3 in its bid to follow-up last season’s great 15-5 Big West campaign. The Gauchos have turned things around winning five of the past six including a win hosting Long Beach State and last week’s win at Hawaii by double-digits. This is the #1 effective field goal rate team in the conference and has appealing numbers in many areas with a major exception in turnovers, as UC Santa Barbara ranks last in turnover rate in the Big West on both sides of the ball. That is a bit of an oddity as Joe Pasternack’s offense had the lowest turnover rate in the conference last season and four of this year’s starters were on that team. UC Santa Barbara has not played a difficult conference schedule so far as they are yet to play either meeting with UC Irvine while going 0-2 vs. UC Davis and UC San Diego with the second meetings coming up in February. Three of the next four conference games are at home for the Gauchos as it will be a big first 10 days of February to determine if UC Santa Barbara will again be a threat in the conference race. 

 

LONG BEACH STATE: Of the top five teams in the conference standings, Long Beach State has faced the toughest schedule with five of nine league games on the road including some of the more difficult tests. The Beach are 0-3 vs. the top three teams in the standings as this hasn’t looked like a group that can rise to the top of the pack. Long Beach State as usual took on a difficult non-conference schedule and did pick up notable wins over Michigan and USC as this group may have a higher ceiling than the current trajectory suggests. Long Beach State is always a difficult matchup as one of the fastest tempo teams in the nation and Dan Monson has delivered 11 winning seasons in Big West play since taking over in the 2007-08 season. If the outside shooting numbers pick up, Long Beach State has a chance to climb back into the race, particularly with a favorable February schedule that will feature only two of the next eight games against the top five in the standings.