NCAA Tournament March Madness
#117 UC Santa Barbara
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Projection: likely out
UC Santa Barbara’s profile reads like a team on the outside because its résumé has flashes of quality but also a string of damaging results that selection committees care about. The Gauchos have shown they can win tough conference games, with road victories at Long Beach State and UC San Diego and an emphatic win over Cal State Bakersfield, and they have a good home win over UC Irvine, yet those moments are offset by poor showings away from home and several bad losses. Trips to Nevada and a neutral-site loss to Utah Valley stand out as missed opportunities, and losses at Cal State Fullerton, Cal State Northridge and defeats to UC Davis at home and on the road undercut the résumé’s credibility. The remaining conference slate includes a cluster of winnable home games and a few true road tests, so UCSB can still improve its standing by protecting its court and stealing a road result, but until it does the mix of decent wins and damaging losses keeps it on the outside looking in.
| Date | Opponent | Ranking | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11/8 | San Jose St | 256 | W85-74 |
| 11/11 | @CS Sacramento | 252 | W92-87 |
| 11/17 | Loy Marymount | 152 | L78-74 |
| 11/22 | @Nevada | 56 | L77-64 |
| 11/28 | (N)Lehigh | 300 | W72-70 |
| 11/29 | (N)Seattle | 131 | W74-71 |
| 12/4 | Long Beach St | 240 | W84-77 |
| 12/6 | CS Bakersfield | 316 | W109-84 |
| 12/13 | (N)Utah Valley | 86 | L68-53 |
| 12/17 | @WI Green Bay | 218 | L67-64 |
| 12/22 | Portland | 198 | W79-61 |
| 1/1 | @CS Fullerton | 171 | L95-84 |
| 1/3 | @CS Northridge | 178 | L74-65 |
| 1/8 | UC Davis | 156 | L93-86 |
| 1/15 | @CS Bakersfield | 316 | W75-69 |
| 1/17 | Hawaii | 91 | W77-62 |
| 1/22 | Cal Poly | 233 | W107-67 |
| 1/24 | @Long Beach St | 240 | W74-71 |
| 1/29 | @UC San Diego | 113 | W62-48 |
| 1/31 | CS Fullerton | 171 | W83-69 |
| 2/5 | @UC Davis | 156 | L85-75 |
| 2/7 | UC Irvine | 119 | W84-79 |
| 2/12 | @UC Riverside | 277 | W76-68 |
| 2/14 | @Cal Poly | 233 | 65% |
| 2/19 | CS Northridge | 178 | 74% |
| 2/22 | @Hawaii | 91 | 30% |
| 2/26 | UC Riverside | 277 | 88% |
| 2/28 | @UC Irvine | 119 | 39% |
| 3/7 | UC San Diego | 113 | 60% |