Big West Tournament 2015: Bracket, schedule and scores

UC Davis is the presumptive favorite to win the Big West, but there are a few teams nipping at its heels.

The Big West Tournament tips off on Thursday and will run for three days from the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif. There is one clear favorite in UC Davis, although plenty of teams have a chance to steal the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

The Aggies earned the No. 1 seed after putting up a 14-2 conference record in the regular season. Their only two losses came on the road to UC Santa Barbara and Hawaii. It's quite a turnaround from last season, when UC Davis went 9-22 and didn't even qualify for the conference tournament.

If you like chaos in your mid-major tourneys, the Big West could fit the bill. Last season Cal Poly crashed the party, winning the tournament and making the NCAAs with a 13-19 record. That probably won't happen this year, but keep an eye on teams like UC Irvine, Hawaii and Long Beach State in case UC Davis stumbles.

The format

Only the top eight of the Big West's nine teams qualify for the tournament (sorry, CS-Fullerton). This follows a standard eight-team format with no byes, except that after the first round the teams are re-seeded so that the highest remaining plays the lowest remaining in the semifinals.

The teams

1. UC Davis Aggies


2. UC Santa Barbara Gauchos


3. UC Irvine Anteaters


4. Long Beach State 49ers


5. Hawaii Rainbow Warriors


6. UC Riverside Highlanders


7. Cal Poly Mustangs


8. CS-Northridge Matadors

Bracket

The Big West has a downloadable bracket available here.

Schedule and results (all times Eastern)

The first round is airing on FOX Prime Ticket, a sister channel of FOX Sports West. Check your local listings. The final round will be carried on ESPN2.

Thursday, March 12 (Quarterfinals)

Game 1: No. 1 UC Davis 71, No. 8 CS-Northridge 67

Game 2: No. 5 Hawaii 79, No. 4 Long Beach State 72

Game 3: No. 3 UC Irvine vs. No. 6 UC Riverside, 9 p.m., FOX Prime Ticket

Game 4: No. 2 UC Santa Barbara vs. No. 7 Cal Poly, 11:30 p.m.**, FOX Prime Ticket

* Game 2 will officially start 30 minutes after the conclusion of Game 1.

** Game 4 will officially start 30 minutes after the conclusion of Game 3.

Friday, March 13 (Semifinals)

Game 5: No. 1 UC Davis vs. Lowest remaining seed, 9:30 p.m., ESPN3 (live), ESPNU (tape delay)

Game 6: Second-highest remaining seed vs. Second-lowest remaining seed, Midnight***, ESPNU/ESPN3

*** If Game 5 runs late, then Game 6 will start 30 minutes after the conclusion of Game 5.

Saturday, March 14 (Championship)

Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 winner, 11:30 p.m., ESPN2

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