2026 Big West Conference women's basketball tournament
| 2026 Big West Conference women's basketball tournament | |
|---|---|
| Classification | Division I |
| Season | 2025–26 |
| Teams | 8 |
| Site | Lee's Family Forum Henderson, Nevada |
| Champions | UC San Diego (2nd title) |
| Winning coach | Heidi VanDerveer (2nd title) |
| Television | ESPN+ |
| Conf. | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | W | L | PCT | W | L | PCT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UC Irvine | 17 | – | 3 | .850 | 26 | – | 7 | .788 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UC San Diego † | 17 | – | 3 | .850 | 24 | – | 9 | .727 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UC Davis | 15 | – | 5 | .750 | 23 | – | 11 | .676 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hawai'i | 14 | – | 6 | .700 | 22 | – | 11 | .667 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cal State Fullerton | 13 | – | 7 | .650 | 18 | – | 14 | .563 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UC Santa Barbara | 12 | – | 8 | .600 | 20 | – | 10 | .667 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UC Riverside | 8 | – | 12 | .400 | 11 | – | 21 | .344 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cal State Northridge | 6 | – | 14 | .300 | 10 | – | 20 | .333 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Long Beach State | 4 | – | 16 | .200 | 5 | – | 25 | .167 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cal State Bakersfield | 2 | – | 18 | .100 | 7 | – | 23 | .233 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cal Poly | 2 | – | 18 | .100 | 4 | – | 26 | .133 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| † 2026 Big West tournament winner | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The 2026 Big West Conference women's basketball tournament was the postseason women's basketball tournament for the Big West Conference of the 2025–26 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. It will was held March 11–14, 2026, at Lee's Family Forum in Henderson, Nevada. The winner, UC San Diego, received the conference's automatic bid to the 2026 NCAA tournament. This was their second Big West championship, winning last year as well.
Seeds
In this format, the top two seeds receive automatic berths in the semifinals, the following two seeds are placed in the quarterfinals, and the remaining four seeds play each other in the first round. Big West commissioner Dan Butterly stated that the decision was made to improve the regular season champions odds of winning the tournament and thus receiving the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.[1]
Of the 11 conference teams, all 11 were eligible for tournament spots. As has been the case since 2020, reseeding teams do not occur at any point.
| Seed | School | Record | Tiebreaker |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | UC Irvine | 17–3 | 2–0 vs. UC Davis |
| 2 | UC San Diego | 17–3 | 0–2 vs. UC Davis |
| 3 | UC Davis | 15–5 | |
| 4 | Hawai'i | 14–6 | |
| 5 | Cal State Fullerton | 13–7 | |
| 6 | UC Santa Barbara | 12–8 | |
| 7 | UC Riverside | 8–12 | |
| 8 | CSUN | 6–14 | |
| DNQ | Long Beach State | 4–16 | |
| DNQ | Cal State Bakersfield | 2–18 | 5–5 vs. nonconference opponents |
| DNQ | Cal Poly | 2–18 | 2–8 vs. nonconference opponents |
Schedule
| Game[2] | Time | Matchup | Score | Television |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First round – Wednesday, March 11 | ||||
| 1 | 12:00 p.m. | No. 5 Cal State Fullerton vs. No. 8 CSUN | 80–65 | ESPN+ |
| 2 | 2:30 p.m. | No. 6 UC Santa Barbara vs. No. 7 UC Riverside | 53–58 | |
| Quarterfinals – Thursday, March 12 | ||||
| 3 | 12:00 p.m. | No. 4 Hawai'i vs. No. 5 Cal State Fullerton | 72–61OT | ESPN+ |
| 4 | 2:30 p.m. | No. 3 UC Davis vs. No. 7 UC Riverside | 70–59 | |
| Semifinals – Friday, March 13 | ||||
| 5 | 12:00 p.m. | No. 1 UC Irvine vs. No. 4 Hawai'i | 63–67OT | ESPN+ |
| 6 | 2:30 p.m. | No. 2 UC San Diego vs. No. 3 UC Davis | 84–79 | |
| Final – Saturday, March 14 | ||||
| 7 | 3:00 p.m. | No. 2 UC San Diego vs. No. 4 Hawai'i | 60–48 | ESPN+ |
| *Game times in PDT. Rankings denote tournament seed. | ||||
Bracket
| First Round Wednesday, March 11 | Quarterfinals Thursday, March 12 | Semifinals Friday, March 13 | Championship Saturday, March 14 | |||||||||||||||
| 1 | UC Irvine | 63 | ||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Hawai'i | 72* | 4 | Hawai'i | 67* | |||||||||||||
| 5 | Cal State Fullerton | 80 | 5 | Cal State Fullerton | 61 | 4 | Hawai'i | 48 | ||||||||||
| 8 | CSUN | 65 | 2 | UC San Diego | 60 | |||||||||||||
| 2 | UC San Diego | 84 | ||||||||||||||||
| 3 | UC Davis | 70 | 3 | UC Davis | 79 | |||||||||||||
| 6 | UC Santa Barbara | 53 | 7 | UC Riverside | 59 | |||||||||||||
| 7 | UC Riverside | 58 | ||||||||||||||||
*denotes each overtime period
See also
References
- ^ "Big West Board of Directors Approves New Initiatives at Annual Spring Meeting". Big West Conference. June 9, 2023. Retrieved November 9, 2023.
- ^ "2026 Credit Union 1 Big West Women's Basketball Championship". Big West Conference. Retrieved January 4, 2026.