California Baptist Lancers

The California Baptist Lancers bring a fast-rising energy to Riverside, playing their home games at the Dale E. and Sarah Ann Fowler Events Center. A relative newcomer to Division I, CBU has quickly built a reputation as a scrappy WAC contender capable of knocking off bigger names. The program's rapid climb through the divisions has made it one of the more exciting mid-major stories in West Coast college basketball.

California Baptist University was founded in 1950 and its basketball program began at the NAIA level in 1969. The Lancers moved up to NCAA Division II in 2010 and completed the jump to Division I in 2018, joining the Western Athletic Conference. In 2026, CBU claimed the WAC championship and made its first-ever NCAA Division I Tournament appearance as a 13-seed, capping a 25-8 season with a buzzer-beating conference title win.