NCAA Tournament March Madness

#147 UC Santa Barbara

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Projection: need to automatically qualify

UC Santa Barbara’s profile is a classic resume of upside mixed with warning flags. The Gauchos have shown they can win away from their building, highlighted by the road victory at Sacramento and the neutral-site wins over Lehigh and Seattle, and they flashed offensive firepower in the dominant home showing against Cal State Bakersfield. Those positives are balanced by damaging results that can't be ignored, most prominently the loss at Nevada and the setback to Loyola Marymount at home, which raise concerns about consistency against stronger foes. The remaining slate features multiple meaningful chances to strengthen the case—road tests at Hawaii and UC San Diego, league matchups with Long Beach State and Cal State Fullerton, and home opportunities against UC Davis and UC Irvine—so committee thinking will hinge on how the Gauchos perform in those road and neutral settings. Put together, the mix of signature wins, harmful losses, and a conference schedule full of definitional opportunities explains why their standing is what it is.

Date Opponent Ranking Outcome
11/8San Jose St184W85-74
11/11@CS Sacramento279W92-87
11/17Loy Marymount134L78-74
11/22@Nevada89L77-64
11/28(N)Lehigh305W72-70
11/29(N)Seattle110W74-71
12/4Long Beach St263W84-77
12/6CS Bakersfield314W109-84
12/13(N)Utah Valley83L68-53
12/17@WI Green Bay27464%
12/22Portland24578%
1/1@CS Fullerton24959%
1/3@CS Northridge21254%
1/8UC Davis19171%
1/15@CS Bakersfield31474%
1/17Hawaii10147%
1/22Cal Poly23878%
1/24@Long Beach St26362%
1/29@UC San Diego9825%
1/31CS Fullerton24979%
2/5@UC Davis19149%
2/7UC Irvine12554%
2/12@UC Riverside25861%
2/14@Cal Poly23858%
2/19CS Northridge21274%
2/21@Hawaii10126%
2/22@Hawaii10126%
2/26UC Riverside25880%
2/28@UC Irvine12532%
3/7UC San Diego9845%