UC Irvine Anteaters

The UC Irvine Anteaters have grown into one of the Big West's most reliable NCAA Tournament contenders, playing in front of a spirited crowd at the Bren Events Center. Known for one of the more memorable mascots in college sports, UC Irvine has paired that identity with genuinely competitive basketball, headlined by a Sweet Sixteen run that turned heads nationally. The Anteaters' rise reflects steady program-building in a conference that regularly sends only its champion to March Madness. UC Irvine basketball has become a source of real pride for a campus better known historically for academics than athletics.

UC Irvine basketball began in 1965, the same year the university itself was founded, and moved up to Division I in 1977 as a charter member of what later became the Big West Conference. The program's signature moment came in 2019, when the Anteaters won their first-ever NCAA Tournament game over Kansas State, then upset Wisconsin to reach the Sweet Sixteen for the first time in school history. UC Irvine has also made NCAA Tournament appearances in 1986, 2015, and 2021, building a modern reputation as one of the conference's most consistent postseason threats. That 2019 Sweet Sixteen run remains the high-water mark of Anteaters basketball.