Both UCSB basketball squads announced their 2023-24 season schedules on Tuesday as the men look to repeat as Big West Champions and the women’s team seeks another conference championship appearance.
Men’s Basketball
The Gaucho men’s team will begin its season on Nov. 9 in the Thunderdome against Portland State to kick off a 10-game non-conference schedule before Big West play.
Highlighting non-conference play will be a crosstown matchup with Westmont at home on Nov. 22 and a faceoff with Loyola Marymount on Dec. 16 at the Footprint Center in Phoenix, the home of the Phoenix Suns.
Non-conference competition will be wrapped up on Dec. 20 when UCSB takes on Howard, a fellow March Madness team from a year ago.
Big West play kicks off with a road matchup for the Gauchos against UC Davis on Dec. 28. After a game against UC Riverside on the road, the conference home opener will be on Jan. 4 against UC San Diego.
The first leg of the Blue-Green rivalry will be in San Luis Obispo on Jan. 6 and the two teams will face off in the Thunderdome on Feb. 29.
The final Big West regular season matchup will be on March 9 as the Gauchos will play host to UC Riverside.
UCSB will then begin its quest for another Big West championship at the conference tournament in Henderson, Nev. from March 13 through March 16. This year’s Big West tournament will include just eight teams, with the top two seeds advancing straight to the semifinals.
Women’s Basketball
The women’s team, meanwhile, will begin the season at the Thunderdome on Nov. 7 against the University of San Francisco.
In non-conference play, the Gauchos will compete in the University of San Diego Thanksgiving Tournament against UNLV on Nov. 24 and either the University of San Diego or Weber State on Nov. 25.
The non-conference schedule will close with a matchup against Life Pacific on Dec. 20 at home.
Like the men’s team, Big West play begins on Dec. 28 against UC Davis, but the women’s squad will open up in the Thunderdome.
The women’s Blue-Green rivalry matchups will take place on Jan. 6 in the Thunderdome and on Feb. 29 at the Mott Athletics Center in San Luis Obispo.
The Big West schedule also features back-to-back home matchups against Cal State Fullerton and Long Beach State on March 2 and March 7 before the regular season ends on the road against UC Riverside on March 9.
The women’s Big West tournament will also be limited to eight teams and is also taking place from March 13 to March 16 at the Dollar Loan Center in Henderson, Nev.