Big West Updates
  • Toke69
    531
    After the teams have played 5-6 games most of them are bunched in the middle of a pack of 7 at or around .500. This is the good news for the Aggies who are only one game out of third place. The bad news is that 6 other teams are in the same boat. It's seems like there are only two teams who are at the top: UCI and Hawai`i who played last night in a real close game that saw them exchange one point leads for most of thw second half until Hawai`i one on a buzzer beater, 67-66, after the Anteaters had taken the lead with 12 seconds left. At this point, neither UCSB nor UCSD are as strong as they have been in the past. I'd have to predict that the regular season and tournament champs will be either UCI or Hawai`i.

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    Toke69 Options
  • Jdur
    540
    ↪Toke69
    UCI has really stepped up these last few years. Riverside seems down?
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  • BlueGoldAg
    1.7k
    ↪Toke69
    As usual, the Wild Wild Big West looks like it will be a topsy-turvy dogfight. Irvine and Hawaii appear to be the early front runners with San Diego being up and down but still near the top. The Aggies are hard to figure at this point due to their inconsistency. On a good night we are capable of beating anybody but, when we struggle, any team is capable of beating us and we could easily end up middle of the pack or lower if our inconsistency continues.
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  • SoCalAggie
    138
    This Aggie team plays to the level of our opponent almost every game. We hang with Nevada and colorado but also Bakersfield and CSUN ha!
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  • Toke69
    531
    I'm copying the current Big West standings that BlueGold already posted elsewhere. The most interesting point is that seven schools are all bunched together at or close to .500. The other teams cap the top and the bottom with two top teams, with Hawai`i taking over first place last night and two bottom teams and, sadly, two of the Aggies three losses came against teams with losing records. The good news is that the third seed is open to anyone, the bad news is that UCI comes into town on Saturday.

    Hawai'i (5-1)
    UC Irvine (5-1)
    CSUN (4-3)
    UC San Diego (3-3)
    UC Davis (3-3)
    UC Santa Barbara (3-3)
    Long Beach State (3-3)
    Cal Poly (3-4)
    Cal State Fullerton (3-4)
    CSU Bakersfield (2-5)
    UC Riverside (1-5)
    Toke69 Options
  • DrMike
    1.3k
    ↪Toke69
    Hawaii, I thought, was heads and shoulders above the other 5 teams we played. Poly wasn’t as talented as last year, and Santa Barbara doesn’t seem as good. The other 3 were really flawed.
    DrMike Options
  • Toke69
    531
    ↪DrMike
    I also wonder what happened to San Diego?
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  • DrMike
    1.3k
    ↪Toke69
    I haven’t seen them play. They are 13-5 with some nice wins. Their coach left and a bunch of players left. According to AI:

    ‘ The UC San Diego (UCSD) men's basketball team experienced a massive roster overhaul in the 2025 offseason after former coach Eric Olen left for New Mexico, leading to almost the entire roster, including starters like Chris Howell, Nordin Kapic, and Hayden Gray, entering the portal and many landing at New Mexico, while UCSD hired Clint Allard and brought in key transfers like John Camden, Milos Ilic, and Chris Bell for the 2025-26 season. The team effectively reset, bringing in new talent alongside incoming freshmen to rebuild under new leadership after a significant exodus. ’
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  • Toke69
    531
    ↪DrMike
    I haven't seen them play either, but their record so far is very strange. They won 10 of their first 11 preseason games and I was thinking, same old Tritons, but they then lost to a weak San Diego team. In league play they lost to Fullerton, Cal Poly and CSUN, but they are the only team that has beaten Hawai`i so far. Maybe they had a key injury or two? I'll be digging into it more before we play them on Jan. 22.
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  • BlueGoldAg
    1.7k
    Things have really tightened up in the current BW standings with the Aggies win over Irvine and Santa Barbara upsetting Hawaii.

    Hawai'i (5-2)
    UC Irvine (5-2)
    UC San Diego (4-3)
    UC Davis (4-3)
    UC Santa Barbara (4-3)
    Long Beach State (4-3)
    CSUN (4-4)
    Cal Poly (3-4)
    Cal State Fullerton (3-5)
    UC Riverside (2-5)
    CSU Bakersfield (2-6)
    BlueGoldAg Options
  • Toke69
    531
    The first and eighth place teams are now only separated by 2 games. It's always been tough to win road games in the BW. The Anteaters have now lost two of those in a row and Hawai`' lost their only two on the road as well. Look out Aggie fans: two road games next week. With back to back home wins, UCD is in the mix...for now. Ironically, they played poorly against a mediocre Fullerton team, but played maybe their best game of the season to beat UCI. It makes me wonder if they're playing to the level of the opposition?
    Toke69 Options
  • BlueGoldAg
    1.7k
    The next two games at home vs San Diego on Thursday and Riverside on Saturday, Toke.
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  • Toke69
    531
    ↪BlueGoldAg
    Thanks. I don't know how I missed that.
    Toke69 Options
  • DrMike
    1.3k
    San Diego will be interesting since they are the only 'top team' that I haven't watched. So for, I think we match up with everybody, although Hawaii's size/length seemed like they will give us headaches any time we play. Irvine wasn't the Irvine of the past -> they lost some really good veteran players that would have put that game away yesterday.
    DrMike Options
  • abridge
    159
    I'm hoping we never see home whites again - Tahoe Blue all the way!
    abridge Options
  • BlueGoldAg
    1.7k
    Current standings as of January 23rd:

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    BlueGoldAg Options
  • DrMike
    1.3k
    I hope two things :1) those losses to poly and Bakersfield don’t bite us in the butt; 2) we don’t add to our trend of losing to the teams at the bottom on Saturday.
    DrMike Options
  • Jdur
    540
    ↪DrMike
    Does anyone have any idea where the old bako coach is now? I know he had a tumultuous exit.
    Jdur Options
  • Toke69
    531
    The standings after this weekend show that the middle of the Big West remains a 7 team pack separated by only 3 games. For UCD the problem is to climb over at least UCSD to grab a fourth seed. Trouble is they have already lost a game to the Tritons and have to play them again in SoCal along with six other road games.

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  • DrMike
    1.3k
    We are basically at the halftime point (for some reason the 2 long beach games are late) sitting at 5-4. We had 2 surprising wins (based on records) over UCI and UCSB, and two surprising losses (Bako and Poly). Looking ahead, I'm thinking its not unreasonable to see us finishing at 12-8, which would put us on the edge of the 4 spot. I just don't see use sneaking by the top four (i'm putting SB and SD in with UCI and Hawaii).
    DrMike Options
  • Toke69
    531
    Hawai`i travels to Irvine today. A win puts the Anteaters in the driver's seat.
    Toke69 Options
  • DrMike
    1.3k
    Hawaii vs UCI is a late (8:00) tip-off on ESPNU
    DrMike Options
  • Toke69
    531
    Irvine and Hawai`i are pretty evenly matched no matter where they play. In Hawai`i the Rainbow Warriors won on a buzzer beater. Last night it went into overtime at UCI after Hawai`i tied it in regulation with two last second free throws but the Eaters won 87-76 to take sole possession of first place. I wouldn't want to bet on who wins the tournament between those two, but I'd bet that it comes down to those two.
    Toke69 Options
  • DrMike
    1.3k
    ty70o6gkgtq0i2nz.jpeg

    Big old log jam in the middle. This week’s homestand against two teams on rolls will have a big impact on the rest of our season. Have to at least go 1-1.
    DrMike Options
  • Toke69
    531
    The Aggies' win today keeps them in 4th place and drops the Gauchos to 3rd, but there is s till something of a log jam in the middle with five teams still 2 games over or under .500. Here are the scores of the Feb. 5 Big West games. The only upset belongs to UC Davis. Hawai`i was idle,

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  • BlueGoldAg
    1.7k
    Current standings after the 2/5 games:

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    BlueGoldAg Options
  • DrMike
    1.3k
    If I’m a betting man, I’d put CSUN in the top 4. They are hitting their stride, especially on offense
    DrMike Options
  • BlueGoldAg
    1.7k
    Irvine is playing at Santa Barbara right now on ESPNU. Can you imagine what the officials have to tolerate with both Russ Turner and Joe Pasternack constantly barking at them. Should be fun to watch!
    BlueGoldAg Options
  • DrMike
    1.3k
    ↪BlueGoldAg
    I just turned it on with SB up 18 - Turner got two T’s, snd Pasternik got one while Turner was yelling at the refs. Pasternik had to be restrained by his many assistants - comical.
    DrMike Options
  • BlueGoldAg
    1.7k
    ↪DrMike
    TOO FUNNY! :rofl: Sorry I missed the comedy show!
    BlueGoldAg Options
  • BlueGoldAg
    1.7k
    Big West Standings as of 2/7:

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    BlueGoldAg Options
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