# 2021 Big West Conference men's basketball tournament

The 2021 Big West Conference men's basketball tournament was the postseason men's basketball tournament for the Big West Conference of the 2020-21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. It was held from March 9–13, 2021 at the Michelob Ultra Arena in Paradise, Nevada. The winner received the conference's automatic bid to the 2021 NCAA tournament.

## Seeds

Of the 11 conference teams, 10 were eligible for the tournament. UC San Diego was ineligible for this year's tournament, as they were in the first year of the four-year transition required for teams transferring to Division I from Division II. Teams were seeded by record within the conference, with a tiebreaker system to seed teams with identical conference records. Unlike previous years, reseeding teams after the quarterfinals did not take place for this year's tournament.
| Seed | School | Conference |
| 1 | UC Santa Barbara | 13–3 |
| 2 | UC Irvine | 10–4 |
| 3 | UC Riverside | 8–4 |
| 4 | UC Davis | 6–4 |
| 5 | Cal State Bakersfield | 9–7 |
| 6 | Hawaii | 9–9 |
| 7 | Cal State Fullerton | 5–7 |
| 8 | Cal State Northridge | 5–9 |
| 9 | Long Beach State | 4–8 |
| 10 | Cal Poly | 1–15 |

## Schedule and results

| Game | Time | Matchup | Score | Television |
| First round – Tuesday, March 9 |||||
| 1 | 2:30 pm | No. 8 CSUN vs. No. 9 Long Beach State | 63–85 | ESPN3 |
| 2 | 5:00 pm | No. 7 CSU Fullerton vs. No. 10 Cal Poly | 82–87 | ESPN3 |
| Quarterfinals – Thursday, March 11 |||||
| 3 | 11:00 am | No. 1 UC Santa Barbara vs. No. 9 Long Beach State | 95–87 | ESPN3 |
| 4 | 2:00 pm | No. 4 UC Davis vs. No. 5 CSU Bakersfield | 58–56 | ESPN3 |
| 5 | 5:00 pm | No. 2 UC Irvine vs. No. 10 Cal Poly | 58–51 | ESPN3 |
| 6 | 8:00 pm | No. 3 UC Riverside vs. No. 6 Hawaii | 62–52 | ESPN3 |
| Semifinals – Friday, March 12 |||||
| 7 | 6:00 pm | No. 1 UC Santa Barbara vs. No. 4 UC Davis | 71–55 | ESPN3 |
| 8 | 9:00 pm | No. 2 UC Irvine vs. No. 3 UC Riverside | 78–61 | ESPNU |
| Final – Saturday, March 13 |||||
| 9 | 8:30 pm | No. 1 UC Santa Barbara vs. No. 2 UC Irvine | 79–63 | ESPN2 |
| *Game times in PST. Rankings denote tournament seed |||||

## Bracket

| First round March 9 ESPN3 | First round March 9 ESPN3 | First round March 9 ESPN3 | Quarterfinals March 11 ESPN3 | Quarterfinals March 11 ESPN3 | Quarterfinals March 11 ESPN3 | Semifinals March 12 ESPN3/ESPNU | Semifinals March 12 ESPN3/ESPNU | Semifinals March 12 ESPN3/ESPNU | Championship March 13 ESPN2 | Championship March 13 ESPN2 | Championship March 13 ESPN2 |
| | | | 1 | UC Santa Barbara | 95 | | | | | | |
| | | | 9 | Long Beach State | 87 | | | | | | |
| 8 | Cal State Northridge | 63 | 9 | Long Beach State | 87 | | | | | | |
| 9 | Long Beach State | 85 | | | | | | | | | |
| 9 | Long Beach State | 85 | | | | 1 | UC Santa Barbara | 71 | | | |
| | | | | | | 4 | UC Davis | 55 | | | |
| | | | 4 | UC Davis | 58 | | | | | | |
| | | | 5 | Cal State Bakersfield | 56 | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | 1 | UC Santa Barbara | 79 |
| | | | | | | | | | 2 | UC Irvine | 63 |
| | | | 2 | UC Irvine | 58 | | | | | | |
| | | | 10 | Cal Poly | 51 | | | | | | |
| 7 | Cal State Fullerton | 82 | 10 | Cal Poly | 51 | | | | | | |
| 10 | Cal Poly | 87 | | | | | | | | | |
| 10 | Cal Poly | 87 | | | | 2 | UC Irvine | 78 | | | |
| | | | | | | 3 | UC Riverside | 61 | | | |
| | | | 3 | UC Riverside | 62 | | | | | | |
| | | | 6 | Hawaii | 52 | | | | | | |