The Big West Conference (BWC) is an American collegiate athletic conference whose member institutions participate in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I. The conference was originally formed on July 1, 1969, as the Pacific Coast Athletic Association (PCAA), and in 1988 was renamed the Big West Conference. The conference stopped sponsoring college football after the 2000 season.
The UC Irvine Anteaters are the athletic teams fielded by the University of California, Irvine. Its athletics programs participate in the NCAA's Division I, as members of the Big West Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. For earlier years of the school's existence, the teams participated at the Division II level with great success as explained below.
The Cal Poly Mustangs are the athletic teams representing California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, California. The university fields twenty-two teams and compete in NCAA Division I; they are primarily members of the Big West Conference, but the football team plays in the Big Sky Conference, the wrestling team is an associate member of the Pac-12 Conference, and the swimming and diving program competes as an affiliate member in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation.
The 2016–17 UC Irvine Anteaters men's basketball team represented the University of California, Irvine during the 2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Anteaters were led by seventh year head coach Russell Turner and played their home games at the Bren Events Center as members of the Big West Conference. They finished the season 21–15, 12–4 in Big West play to win the regular season conference championship. As the No. 1 seed in the Big West tournament, they defeated UC Riverside and Long Beach State before losing to UC Davis in the championship game. As a No. 1 seed in their conference tournament who failed to win their conference tournament title, UC Irvine received an automatic bid to the National Invitation Tournament. As a No. 8 seed, they were defeated by No. 1 seed Illinois State in the first round. The team won their third Big West Regular Season title in the past four years and their 5th straight season with at least 20 wins.
The 2016 Big West Conference women's soccer tournament is the postseason women's soccer tournament for the Big West Conference to be held from November 3 to 6, 2016. The three match tournament will be held at George Allen Field in Long Beach, California. The four team single-elimination tournament will consist of two rounds based on seeding from regular season conference play. The Cal State Fullerton Titans are the three-time defending tournament champions after defeating the Long Beach State 49ers 1–0 in the championship match in 2015.
The 2017–18 UC Davis Aggies men's basketball team represented the University of California, Davis during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Aggies, led by seventh-year head coach Jim Les, played their home games at The Pavilion as members of the Big West Conference. They finished the season 22–11, 12–4 in Big West play to win the regular season championship. In the Big West tournament, they defeated UC Riverside before losing to Cal State Fullerton in the semifinals. As a regular season conference champion who did not win their conference tournament, the Aggies received an automatic bid to the National Invitation Tournament where they lost in the first round to Utah.
The 2017–18 UC Irvine Anteaters men's basketball team represented the University of California, Irvine during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Anteaters were led by eighth-year head coach Russell Turner and played their home games at the Bren Events Center as members of the Big West Conference. They finished the season 18–17, 11–5 in Big West play, to finish in a tie for second place. As the No. 3 seed in the Big West tournament, they defeated Hawaii and UC Santa Barbara before losing to Cal State Fullerton in the championship game.
The 2017 Big West Conference women's soccer tournament was the postseason women's soccer tournament for the Big West Conference held on November 2 and 5, 2017. The three-match tournament took place at Matador Soccer Field in Northridge, California. The four-team single-elimination tournament consisted of two rounds based on seeding from regular season conference play. The defending champions were the Long Beach State 49ers, but they failed to qualify for the 2017 tournament. The Cal State Fullerton Titans won the title by virtue of winning the penalty shoot-out tiebreaking procedure following a tie with the Cal State Northridge Matadors in the final. This was the seventh Big West tournament title for the Cal State Fullerton program and the fifth for head coach Demian Brown.
The 2018 Big West men's soccer tournament was the 11th edition of the tournament. The tournament decided the Big West Conference champion and representative into the 2018 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship. The tournament began on October 31 and concluded on November 10.
The 2018 Big West Conference women's soccer tournament was the postseason women's soccer tournament for the Big West Conference held on November 1 and 5, 2018. The three-match tournament took place at Anteater Stadium in Irvine, California. The four-team single-elimination tournament consisted of two rounds based on seeding from regular season conference play. The defending champions were the Cal State Fullerton Titans, but they failed to qualify for the 2018 tournament. The Long Beach State won the title by beating the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos 1–0 in the final. This was the fourth Big West tournament title for the Long Beach State program and the fourth for head coach Mauricio Ingrassia.
The 2019 Big West Conference women's soccer tournament was the postseason women's soccer tournament for the Big West Conference held on November 7 and 10, 2019. The three-match tournament took place at Titan Stadium in Fullerton, California. The four-team single-elimination tournament consisted of two rounds based on seeding from regular season conference play. The defending champions were the Long Beach State 49ers, but they failed to qualify for the 2019 tournament. The Cal State Fullerton Titans won the title by beating the Cal State Northridge Matadors 2–0 in the final. This was the eighth Big West tournament title for the Cal State Fullerton program and the sixth for head coach Demian Brown.
The 2019–20 Cal State Fullerton Titans men's basketball team represented California State University, Fullerton in the 2019–20 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Titans, led by seventh-year head coach Dedrique Taylor, played their home games at the Titan Gym in Fullerton, California as members of the Big West Conference. They finished the season 11–20, 6–10 in Big West play to finish in a tie for seventh place. They were set to be the No. 7 seed in the Big West tournament. However, the Big West tournament was canceled amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 2019 Big West Conference men's soccer tournament, was the 12th edition of the tournament. It determined the Big West Conference's automatic berth to the 2019 NCAA Division I men's soccer tournament.
The 2021 Big West Conference women's soccer tournament was the postseason women's soccer tournament for the Big West Conference held on November 4 and 7, 2021. The three-match tournament took place at Anteater Stadium in Irvine, California. The four-team single-elimination tournament consisted of two rounds based on seeding from regular season conference play. The defending champions were the Cal State Fullerton Titans. The Titans won the tournament in 2019 and are classified as the defending champions because there was no tournament held in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Cal State Fullerton was unable to defend its crown, falling to Cal Poly in the Semifinals. The UC Irvine Anteaters won the title by defeating Cal Poly 1–0 in the final. This was the second Big West tournament title for the UC Irvine program and the first for head coach Scott Juniper. As tournament champions, UC Irvine earned the Big West's automatic berth into the 2021 NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Tournament.
The 2021 Big West Conference men's soccer tournament was the postseason men's soccer tournament for the Big West Conference held on November 3 through 12, 2021. All rounds of the tournament were hosted at the higher seeds home stadium. The six-team single-elimination tournament consisted of three rounds based on seeding from regular season conference play. The defending champions were the UC Davis Aggies. The Aggies won the tournament in 2019 and are classified as the defending champions because there was no tournament held in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. UC Davis was unable to defend its crown, falling to UC Santa Barbara in the Semifinals. UC Santa Barbara would go on to win the title, defeating UC Irvine 4–0 in the final. This was the second Big West tournament title for the UC Santa Barbara program, both of which have come under head coach Tim Vom Steeg. As tournament champions, UC Santa Barbara earned the Big West's automatic berth into the 2021 NCAA Division I men's soccer tournament.
The 2022 Big West Conference women's soccer tournament was the postseason women's soccer tournament for the Big West Conference held from October 30 to November 6, 2022. The Semifinals and Final of the five-match tournament took place at Mustang Memorial Field in San Luis Obispo, California and the higher seed hosted First Round games. The six-team single-elimination tournament consisted of three rounds based on seeding from regular season conference play. This was the first season that the tournament expanded to six teams, as it had only previously invited the top four teams. The defending champions were the UC Irvine Anteaters. The Anteaters successfully defended their title, defeating Long Beach State 3–0 in the Final. This was the third Big West tournament title for the UC Irvine program and the second for head coach Scott Juniper. As tournament champions, UC Irvine earned the Big West's automatic berth into the 2022 NCAA Division I women's soccer tournament.
The 2022 Big West Conference men's soccer tournament was the postseason men's soccer tournament for the Big West Conference held on November 2 through 12, 2022. All rounds of the tournament were hosted at the higher seeds home stadium. The six-team single-elimination tournament consisted of three rounds based on seeding from regular season conference play. The defending champions were the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos. UC Santa Barbara was unable to defend its crown, falling to UC Riverside in the Final, 1–0. This was the second Big West tournament title for the UC Riverside program, both of which have come under head coach Tim Cupello. As tournament champions, UC Riverside earned the Big West's automatic berth into the 2022 NCAA Division I men's soccer tournament.
The 2023 Big West Conference men's soccer tournament was the postseason men's soccer tournament for the Big West Conference held on November 1 through 11, 2023. All rounds of the tournament were hosted at the higher seeds home stadium. The six-team single-elimination tournament consisted of three rounds based on seeding from regular season conference play. The defending champions were the UC Riverside Highlanders. UC Riverside was unable to defend its crown, falling to UC Santa Barbara in the First Round, 3–2. Second seed UC Irvine would go on to win the tournament in a penalty shoot-out over UC Davis in the Final. This was the fifth Big West tournament title for the UC Irvine program, and their first since 2013. The title was the first for head coach Yossi Raz. As tournament champions, UC Irvine earned the Big West's automatic berth into the 2023 NCAA Division I men's soccer tournament.
The Big West women's soccer tournament is the conference championship tournament in soccer, organised by the Big West Conference. The tournament has been held every year since 2003.
The 2024 Big West Conference women's soccer tournament was the postseason women's soccer tournament for the Big West Conference held from November 3 to November 10, 2024. The Semifinals and Final of the five-match tournament took place at Waipiʻo Peninsula Soccer Stadium in Waipahu, Hawaii and on the campus of the higher seed hosted First Round games. The six-team single-elimination tournament consisted of three rounds based on seeding from regular season conference play. The defending champions were the UC Irvine Anteaters. The Anteaters were unable to defend their title as they fell in the First Round to Cal State Bakersfield. Third seed UC Santa Barbara went on to win the title in a penalty shoot-out over Cal State Bakersfield in the Final. This was the third Big West tournament title for the UC Santa Barbara program and the third for head coach Paul Stumpf. As tournament champions, UC Santa Barbara earned the Big West's automatic berth into the 2024 NCAA Division I women's soccer tournament.
