UCSB vs. UC Irvine Odds & Betting Predictions - March 1, 2026

I’m on the Anteaters here for the same reason I was on Hawaii on Thursday night. You gotta get a top 2 seed because you get a bye to the Semifinals. UC Irvine pulled out a 1 point win at the Matadome, beating Northridge thanks to their defense, which is tops in the Big West, 25th nationally per Evan Miya. Top 5 in opponent eFG%, shooting efficiency and 2P%. You can’t score in close on Russell Turner’s team. I’ll you this, Turner has this game circled because the Gaucho’s punked them on the glass in the first meeting, a 5 point win for UCSB that also represented Irvine’s worst rebounding and defensive performance of the season. No one has completed a regular season sweep of Irvine in four years, Turner is a coach you want to back in a revenge, get-back game.