SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – The UC Santa Barbara Men's Basketball team is ready to hit the ground running for the start of the 2025-26 season. The 17-man Gaucho roster welcomes 10 newcomers (four freshmen and six transfers), as they have their eyes set on a third Big West Championship under Head Coach Joe Pasternack.
 
PROMOTIONS
For opening night, UC Santa Barbara Athletics will be giving away schedule posters and Metro Theatres gift cards to students and fans. As for Saturday's matinee matchup, UC Santa Barbara encourages all students, fans and spectators to wear white and white out The Thunderdome.
 
A LOOK BACK AT LAST YEAR
UC Santa Barbara finished the season with a 21-13 overall record, the sixth time the Gauchos have won 20 or more games under Pasternack. They also made it an eighth straight season of recording a winning record, the longest streak in program history. The Gauchos' season came to an end in The Big West semifinal, falling to eventual champion UC San Diego.
 
SCOUTING THE GATORS
Last season, San Francisco State finished with an overall record of 11-17 under Head Coach Vince Inglima. Inglima returns for his ninth season at the helm of the Gators program. In his eight previous years, he has led the Gators to four winning seasons.
 
San Francisco State looks to new faces this year after losing its five highest-scoring players from the 2024-25 season. 12 new student-athletes will look to make an impact immediately. The Gators missed out on the CCAA postseason tournament a year ago by a single game, and with the majority of the team being newcomers, the Gators look only to improve.
 
Defensively, the Gators were one of the best at forcing turnovers at the Division II level, ranking 51^st in the category. They turned their opponents over nearly 15 times per game. This season the Gators were picked to finish 11^th in the CCAA Men's Basketball Coaches Poll.
 
SCOUTING THE SPARTANS
The Gauchos will play San Jose State on Saturday, Nov. 8, following their opening game against San Francisco State. San Jose State opens its season today, Monday, Nov. 3 in Salt Lake City against the University of Utah. In the preseason, San Jose State played Division II Cal State East Bay and beat them 73-60.
 
The Spartans come into the 2025-26 season looking to make history by returning to the postseason for the third time in four years, making it back-to-back seasons. The Spartans competed in the NIT last season, the first time since 1981. The Spartans lost in the opening round to Loyola Chicago and finished the season 15-20 overall.
 
San Jose State added five freshmen to its team, with two of them being international student-athletes. They also added six players via the transfer portal from all over the country. The six transfers come from Longwood, Mississippi State, Western Michigan, Cal, Iona and Mercer. SJSU returns just three players who saw minutes last season, and they only account for 19.4 percent of their scoring.
 
FOLLOW ALONG
Tuesday's home opener against San Francisco State will tip off at 6 p.m. inside The Thunderdome. Doors will open at 5 p.m. The match will be streamed on ESPN+ with live stats available. On Saturday, the Gauchos and Spartans will tip at 1 p.m. and doors will open at 12 p.m. (noon). The Saturday contest will also be streamed on ESPN+ and live stats will be available for both games.