CBB: Big West Conference Tournament Preview

Favorites (odds below +500)

UC Irvine Anteaters (-195): This league originally appeared to be wide open, but it wasn’t. UC Irvine took command, only losing 3 conference games all season. The Anteaters have been strong all year, they made early headlines with a win over USC and came so so close to beating San Diego State. They play good team ball and are the best team in the conference on the defensive end.

UC Davis Aggies (+420): UC Davis appeared to be the team to beat in early February they split with UC Irvine with the loss happening in overtime, but then the Aggies got cold for a stretch. They got back on track at the right time, winning their last 3 games. The Aggies are dangerous because they force a lot of turnovers but rebounding is an issue.

Sleepers (+500 or above)

Hawaii Rainbow Warriors (+750): Hawaii looked really good early in the year, especially when they came so close to beating Nevada and Georgia Tech, and battled hard with TCU/Utah. Hawaii had a brutal start to conference play and fell out of contention early but played well to end the season and earn a 3 seed. The rainbow warriors are good on both sides of the ball, and their ability to rebound gives them a shot to pull a surprise win in this conference tournament despite having an extra game.

Long Beach State 49ers (+1300): Long Beach State was a very entertaining team to me early in the year because they got off to an extremely wild start. With such random losses yet wins over USC and Michigan. In hindsight their results aren’t as crazy. Does the interim coach bump work for a conference tournament? I considered removing the 49ers from this section because they surprisingly fired Dan Monson before the conference tournament even started!

UC Santa Barbara Gauchos (+2500): UCSB was the preseason favorite to win the conference. The excitement was because they returned some key players from last year’s conference championship winning team along with some exciting transfers. It just never came together for the Gauchos as they struggled all season. It’s a longshot but this team has the talent to suddenly pull it together and win it.

My Pick:

UC Irvine Anteaters (-195): The Big West Tournament is often won by one of the top 2 seeds so this usually isn’t a league for you to search for an underdog to win. UC Irvine has the path of least resistance thanks to a double bye and UC Davis has a lot of dangerous squads on their side of the bracket.