Matt Canaday

🏀 2026-27 Big West Preview 🏀 The best basketball happening after 10pm EST this winter is coming out of the Big West, and this might be the most fun version of this league we’ve ever gotten. It’s a farewell tour, a brand-new member, the reigning Player of the Year back for one more run, and the tallest player in college basketball history. Stay up. You won’t regret it. Late tips, close games, real stakes. Make the Big West your nightcap this winter. Also enjoy this picture of Peter the Anteater (@PeterTAnteater) and I! Team to watch: UC San Diego. This is the Tritons’ last ride in the Big West before they head to the WCC in 2027, and they’re loaded for a proper send-off. Clint Allard’s group went 23-11 a year ago and just added Treysen Eaglestaff, a former 18.9 PPG scorer at North Dakota who spent his summer with the Knicks in the NBA Summer League. Pair him with Leo Beath and UCSD has the kind of one-two punch that wins leagues in March. The bold call: Utah Valley at No. 2 in year one. The coaches have the Wolverines fifth, and it’s easy to see why. They lost their top three players to power-conference programs this offseason. But this is a program that went 25-9 and grabbed a share of the WAC title last year, and Todd Phillips just keeps reloading. Isaac Davis started all 34 games, Dominick Nelson is back in Orem after a year at Iowa State, and nobody in this league is going to enjoy a trip to the UCCU Center. Here’s the thing about this league: there’s no safe pick at the top. UC Irvine won the regular season. Hawai’i won the tournament and then left for the Mountain West. UCSB is on its own farewell tour. And last year Cal State Fullerton was picked dead last and finished as the 3-seed. Anything can happen here, and usually does. Storylines worth watching: - UCSD and UCSB both trying to leave the Big West with one last trophy before heading to the WCC. Expect every Gauchos-Tritons game to feel personal. - Josiah Davis back at CSUN for a fifth year after sweeping Player of the Year and Newcomer of the Year, the first Matador to win the league’s top award since 2019-20. - Utah Valley’s Big West debut, and whether a program that just won in the WAC can do it immediately in a deeper league. - UC Irvine reloading without its Defensive Player of the Year, but adding 7'9" Olivier Rioux to the frontcourt. Russell Turner has won eight regular-season titles in 16 years. Count him out at your own risk. - Miro Little, Finland’s starting point guard at EuroBasket, trying to stay healthy for UCSB. The Gauchos went 13-3 with him and 5-9 without him last year. Fun fact: UC Irvine just added Olivier Rioux, a 7'9" center who is officially the tallest player in college basketball history. He holds the Guinness World Record for tallest teenager and was over seven feet tall before he started seventh grade. Tune in to an Anteaters game just to see it. Stay for everything else.