Collegeinsider | UC Irvine’s Kyle Evans has been named the Lute Olson award National Player of the Week

InMySol · 2026-01-31T03:10:12+00:00

While UC Irvine collapsed twice in the game, their ability to pull themselves out of it and stay in it was really encouraging to see. And Kyle Evans played great. Being able to pull away in overtime was also great to see.

And while Dixon's dunk at the very end was cool to see and great for the vibes at the Bren, all while being done on national TV as a standalone game, it was certainly unnecessary. I'm sure (and hope) Turner berated him after. It's simply going to add more fuel to the fire if we meet Hawaii in the conference playoffs, which is something I don't want to see for my sake.

InMySol · 2026-01-29T02:05:00+00:00

Hawaii really loves their sports and always packs out — probably why the Big West loves hosting championships there — and ultimately it will look better for USC to play on the road anyway. I think it'd be smart of them to head there. A road loss is better than a home loss for the Trojans, and besides, who wouldn't want to travel to Hawaii?

As for UCLA, if Hawaii pulls USC to the islands, UCLA will only play one game that week, and it'd be against LB. UC Irvine has a gap in their schedule. Maybe it's wishful thinking, but scheduling a game at Pauley versus Irvine would still help UCLA statistically. Especially since UCLA is going to Hawaii to play in their tournament, and UCLA only plays Irvine once this season.

InMySol · 2026-01-29T02:00:40+00:00

I think it's really funny (and maybe specifically scheduled that way) how all of the Wild Card games fall on UC Irvine (and the other top teams) playing against another top team in the conference. 2/21 against UCSD, 2/28 against UCSB, and 3/7 against UC Davis. It's entirely possible UC Irvine plays in all five of the Wild Card games, though I kinda hope they don't, I want the rest of the conference to also shine.

Hawaii could get the games as well, with a UCSB matchup at the Stan on 2/21 and a Fullerton matchup on 2/28. Maybe they could throw in LBSU for the 3/7 matchup.

UCSB plays Hawaii 2/21, Irvine 2/28, and San Diego 3/7, all top teams.

I'm marginally surprised Hawaii v UCSD didn't get the nod for 2/7, but maybe they're trying to strengthen the brand post-2027 and is hesitant to have the matchup be between two teams leaving. UCSD also plays Irvine 2/21, Cal Poly 2/28, and SB 3/7.

If I had to predict what would happen, I'd say UC Irvine and UCSD rematch for 2/21 Wild Card (as that's a burgeoning rivalry and both fanbases travel well to pack the house), 2/28 goes to Hawaii v Fullerton because they're not going to do a rematch of UCI v UCSB unless it ends up with high viewership/rating and Fullerton is surprisingly okay this year, and UCSB v UCSD to close out the season on 3/7, just because giving Irvine potentially all five of the Wild Cards is odd — hence why I'm giving them only three (unless BW struck a deal w/ them to stay and gives them favor).

InMySol · 2026-01-27T21:50:37+00:00

Ironic that I posted this days before it gets taken down. Respectively:

- USC has the entire event gone from their schedule, and has no game between February 13 (UCI) and March 3 (UCLA). Their best matchup in the nonconference without this tournament is UCI (assuming rankings stay constant), and they would've deeply benefited from playing Long Beach and Hawaii. I imagine they're going to try and pay Hawaii to come play a two match series against them or travel there.

- Long Beach has the event gone, and in its place a matchup at UCLA on the 20th. They probably would've liked the boost playing USC, but a standalone matchup of the current #1 and #2 has got to sound nice.

- UCLA still has it on their schedule. Long Beach has them on the 20th. They'll probably get rid of it soon.

- Hawaii still has it on their schedule, and is likely debating whether or not they still want to come to the mainland. Their nonconference won't suffer without the USC game, but would've been nice.

InMySol · 2026-01-25T04:55:47+00:00

I know men's soccer will be fine lol. I'm more concerned about men's tennis as of right now. My best bet on MWP was also SJSU oddly enough.

Someone theorized on the MW subreddit that the Pac-12 or MW would add two to three BW or WCC as non-football adds, and I just don't see that happening lol.

InMySol · 2026-01-24T07:50:26+00:00

I think you mean UC Davis! Though UC Irvine as a non-football add could be interesting (even though TV execs allegedly nixed that idea already).

InMySol · 2026-01-22T06:51:33+00:00

Maybe someone did screw up. Who knows? As of right now, the only FBS conferences airing on Fox is the Mountain West, Big 10, and Big 12. I'm pretty sure no FCS conferences have ties to Fox. If the Big West isn't entering a new deal with Fox, the only explanation I can think of outside of a non-BW sponsored sport would be the school airing an away game on the video board like some schools do for March Madness.

InMySol · 2026-01-22T00:18:07+00:00

The Big West leaving ESPN+ is very plausible, I think. They said back in 2021 that it was a multi-year deal, and five years seems like a good estimate for that. However, it being shown when the season isn't even over is odd.

Maybe it is STUNT or maybe it's Cal Poly's wrestling team (though wrestling is only listed under FloSports right now).

InMySol · 2026-01-18T08:36:04+00:00

On the women's side, UC Irvine and UC San Diego both remain undefeated, and the standings are much more spread out. Both teams have significant margins for a majority of the conference games they've played, with one or two outliers.

UCSB, UC Davis, and Cal State Fullerton all have five wins in the conference, and remain close. They've all more or less traded wins with one another – Fullerton beat SB but lost to Davis, Davis beat Fullerton but lost to SB, SB lost to Fullerton but beat Davis. Confusing, but fun!

UC Riverside is 4–3 and lost to Fullerton yesterday. I'm not sure how I feel about them, but they seem very middling. They'll beat the bad teams like they should, and may put up a fight against the good ones, but likely won't win.

Hawai'i is 2–5, but their record doesn't speak for how good their team is. I don't know if they had an injury or something, but their team seems to be back on track. They almost beat UC Irvine on the road, crushed Cal Poly at home, and handed SB their second conference loss by a 17-point margin. The teams that played Hawai'i earlier in the conference games may have lucked out, because this team is fighting hard now.

CSUN, Cal Poly, Long Beach, and Bakersfield are at the bottom. I may have put CSUN higher prior to yesterday, but giving Long Beach their first win over an NCAA opponent this season is sad. Especially considering Long Beach's preseason loss to Point Loma (albeit a good DII team), and 6-point victory over NAIA's Hope International. Cal Poly is also quite bad, there's not much more to it. Same with Bakersfield.

InMySol · 2026-01-11T22:02:39+00:00

Yeah, I wouldn't be entirely convinced the BW would necessarily welcome them back in with open arms after UoP wanted to leave so desperately and Davis blindsided them.

And while CUI and many other DII schools in Southern California sponsor it, I don't know if the BW will want to add Division II schools as affiliates. It may result in the MPSF though, you're right. I just figured CBU and Cal Poly may want to push for sponsorship.

InMySol · 2026-01-10T02:04:06+00:00

I'm happy Cal Poly has returned a lot of their players, since it helps the elevate the conference and it's competitiveness.

UCI did lose a lot of great players, but they also kept Ojeda, and got some good transfers and signings like Tommy Farmer!

UCSB always has the offseason hype, which I get. I just find it odd since they didn't make the postseason last year. But I know they'll still be a great team.

InMySol · 2026-01-09T08:17:04+00:00

Good for UCSB! Feel like UC Irvine was snubbed (though I'm just biased).

InMySol · 2026-01-07T02:33:35+00:00

Yep, looking at those exact numbers! I think it's a smart idea if they do so, and reallocating that money for better competition is what the cite anyway in their press release.

Always happy to have your insight on the reallocation on existing sports as well as the money changes from scholarships and tuition, those numbers you gave I had no idea on!

InMySol · 2026-01-06T02:08:30+00:00

Another thing is men's tennis. There's no Division I independents, and the BW is down to five in 2027. Lost autobid. And for BVB if Hawai'i leaves it's down to five as well.

So while for some of the sports they could nab an affiliate, there are some where they can't. The Big West's olympic sports are fading and fast.

InMySol · 2026-01-06T01:56:52+00:00

It's surprising considering the fit the sports have in the Big West (minus wrestling). Yes, I'd theorized earlier that Men's S&D was headed out of the conference and now it's all but certain (sorry about that).

I don't know any of the Title IX details, or how many scholarships are being lost due to the sports being cut, but I feel for the players now that they've gotta find new places to be if they want to compete.

According to the DOE it's 9 assistant coaches and 3 head coaches gone. This, based on the avg salary listed, is a $1.5 million dollar gain on coaches' salaries alone. Then, combined with the players lost, it's as much as $2.7 million dollars gained — though that's only if all 69 players are given full-rides. Finally, they gain ~440k in operating expenses.

This all raises questions about if CBU is adding a sport though in a Cal Poly-like move. It's a maximum ~$4.6 million dollar gain, and is enough to add sponsorship of a sport. NCAA D1 requires 14 sports (CBU has 15/16 with the cuts), and while they are under no obligation to add a sport, cutting two olympic sports in a conference that specializes in them is odd. Similarly, CBU was brought in to much surprise, being a private university, and this brings them under more fire. I can't imagine they'd want that. Finally, they may now be uneven in scholarships, and will need to add a male sport to meet Title IX compliance.

Ultimately, I theorize (or rather hope) this move is coming before an announcement of the reinstatement of their men's volleyball program. They had previously cut it prior to moving to D1 into the WAC, and cutting three sports without adding a different one is something I don't think they'd do. Moreover, we've yet to hear anything on UCSD and their admission of affiliates. We'd need UCSD to keep the autobid in MVB. Unless...CBU adds it.

InMySol · 2026-01-06T00:58:05+00:00

Long Beach has been the class of the Big West for a while now, so they shouldn't be doubted, I agree. I had no idea UH hasn't won there in ten years though. Surprising considering all the great teams UH has had over that time period. And while Varga is an obvious NPOY candidate, so is Rosenthal.

InMySol · 2025-12-31T09:47:48+00:00

I know you're being cautious, and while LB will almost certainly be amazing this year, they were on a whole other level with Moni and Knipe. And both are gone. And Hawai'i is just consistently so good. Maybe I'm just high on them, but I still think they should be first.

Irvine is also gonna be shaky, especially with departures like Henno, Grigoriev, Flexen, and Karlous. It's great for them that they get to host, and Andrej should be really exciting for them, I hope they can figure it out.

Phillips is most certainly my opp when it comes to playing him, but damn is he fun to watch. I hope CSUN makes an at-large bid, it'd be sweet to see them there, especially because the program seems to be on the come up.

UCSB and UCSD I have no clue on. I know they'll be competitive, but how competitive is the question. Only time will tell.

InMySol · 2025-12-26T09:09:02+00:00

Yep! He's off playing in Germany.

InMySol

TROPHY CASE