UC Riverside Highlanders

The UC Riverside Highlanders bring a scrappy underdog spirit to the Big West, having built their strongest basketball tradition during their Division II years before making the full jump to Division I in 2001. UCR's home at the SRC Arena hosts a program still working to translate its earlier Division II success into Division I postseason breakthroughs. The Highlanders' 2003 Big West championship marked an early milestone in that transition. Riverside basketball carries the memory of a genuine national contender era, even as the program rebuilds its identity at the higher level of competition.

UC Riverside basketball reached its peak as a Division II power, making three Division II Final Fours (1970, 1989, 1995) and playing for the national title in 1995. After students voted to move the program to Division I, UC Riverside made the jump in 2001 and won its first Big West Conference championship in 2003, punching its first Division I NCAA Tournament ticket. The Highlanders have yet to replicate their Division II national title-game success at the Division I level. That earlier era remains the benchmark against which the modern program is measured.