2024–25 Big West Conference men's basketball season
| 2024–25 Big West Conference men's basketball season | |
|---|---|
| League | NCAA Division I |
| Sport | Basketball |
| Teams | 11 |
| TV partner(s) | ESPN+, ESPNU, ESPN2 |
| 2024–25 NCAA Division I men's basketball season | |
| Season champions | UC San Diego |
| Season MVP | Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones, UC San Diego |
| Big West tournament | |
| Venue | Lee's Family Forum, Henderson, Nevada |
| Champions | UC San Diego |
| Runners-up | UC Irvine |
| Finals MVP | Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones |
| Conf. | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Team | W | L | PCT | W | L | PCT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UC San Diego † | 18 | – | 2 | .900 | 30 | – | 5 | .857 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UC Irvine | 17 | – | 3 | .850 | 32 | – | 7 | .821 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UC Riverside | 14 | – | 6 | .700 | 21 | – | 13 | .618 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cal State Northridge | 14 | – | 6 | .700 | 22 | – | 11 | .667 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UC Santa Barbara | 11 | – | 9 | .550 | 21 | – | 13 | .618 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UC Davis | 9 | – | 11 | .450 | 15 | – | 17 | .469 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cal Poly | 8 | – | 12 | .400 | 16 | – | 19 | .457 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cal State Bakersfield | 8 | – | 12 | .400 | 14 | – | 19 | .424 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hawai'i | 7 | – | 13 | .350 | 15 | – | 16 | .484 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Long Beach State | 3 | – | 17 | .150 | 7 | – | 25 | .219 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cal State Fullerton | 1 | – | 19 | .050 | 6 | – | 26 | .188 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| † 2025 Big West tournament winner | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The 2024–25 Big West Conference men's basketball season was for the Big West Conference in the 2024–25 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The basketball teams began with practices in October followed by the start of season in November 2024. Conference play began on December 5, 2024, and ended in March, after which the top 8 member teams participated in the 2025 Big West Conference men's basketball tournament at Lee's Family Forum in Henderson, Nevada. Tournament champion UC San Diego received the conference's automatic bid to the 2025 NCAA tournament.
This is the first season in which the UC San Diego Tritons were eligible to participate in postseason play after fully completing their transition to NCAA Division I.
Each team played 20 conference games in round-robin format. The Big West conference also added a "Bold Week" in December 5–7, 2024, where two early conference games will be held. This decision was made in order for better experience and eliminating three-game weeks.
With a 85–67 win at UC Irvine on February 8, 2025, UC San Diego moved back to tie with the Anteaters at first place. On February 20, a loss by UC Irvine made the Tritons gain sole possession of first place standings, and on March 8, the Tritons won the regular season championship title outright with a win at UC Davis, their first ever outright championship. UC San Diego guard/forward Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones was named Big West Player of the Year and Triton head coach Eric Olen was named Big West Coach of the Year.
The Big West tournament was held from March 12 through March 15 at Lee's Family Forum in Henderson, Nevada. UC San Diego defeated UC Irvine 75–61 to win the school's first Big West tournament championship.
UC San Diego received the conference's automatic NCAA tournament bid, while UC Irvine, UC Riverside and Cal State Northridge earned bids to the NIT, a conference record of most teams making the NIT. The Tritons were seeded 12th in the South region, where they lost to 5th seeded Michigan 65-68. The Highlanders and the Matadors also suffered first-round exits, while the Anteaters advanced all the way to the championship game, where they fell to Chattanooga 84–85 in overtime.