SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - The UC Santa Barbara Men's Basketball team kicks off the 2026-27 season with four straight home games. The Gauchos return for another electrifying season in The Thunderdome. For the first time this season, the Gauchos will take the floor, opening on Monday, Nov. 2 against San Francisco State and Saturday, Nov. 7 at 1 pm against Oakland, a team that upset No. 2 seed Kentucky in March Madness just three years ago.

PROMOTIONS
On opening night against San Francisco State, UC Santa Barbara Athletics, in partnership with Metropolitan Theaters, will be giving away 500 movie ticket vouchers for students only. All fans will be able to pick up 2026-27 men's basketball schedule posters.

When the Gauchos host the Golden Grizzlies for a Saturday matinee, UC Santa Barbara Athletics, in partnership with Chick-fil-A, will be giving away 500 free Chick-fil-A chicken sandwiches during pre-game festivities. 

WHAT TO EXPECT
Gaucho Basketball will be in full effect this week as the season tips off at home. With seven newcomers and nine players returners from a season ago after Aidan Mahaney was ruled eligible to play for the 2026-27 season.  UC Santa Barbara heads into the 2026-27 season with a third-place spot in the preseason poll and two first-place votes. Gaucho guards CJ Shaw and Miro Little were both named to the All-Big West Preseason team as well. With the return of Mahaney, the backcourt for the Blue and Gold has a ton of depth.

Also, with the return of Mahaney, the Gauchos return 55 percent of their points scored from a season ago with their nine returners. Prior to Mahaney being ruled eligible, the Blue and Gold only had 35.8 percent of their scoring returning. Additionally, As fans have begun to learn, Pasternack brought in another loaded transfer class. The class includes lethal sharpshooter Viljami Vartiainen, Conference USA freshman star Eric Dibami, Power 4 transfer Declan Duru Jr., JUCO All-American Antonio Chol and, by way of Colorado and DePaul, RJ Smith.

A LOOK AT OPENING NIGHT
Monday Night at 6pm, the Thunderdome will be rocking for an opening night joust with San Francisco State. The Gauchos are 6-0 in their last six against the Gators, and in their last meeting, the Gauchos handled business with a 98-67 win. The Gators are coming off a troubling 4-24 season, with a 3-19 conference play record.

This will be the Gators' second game against a Division I opponent as they started off the season with an exhibition loss to San Francisco. This match against the Gauchos will also be an exhibition for the Gators. This will also be the third consecutive season and fourth time in the last five years that UC Santa Barbara has opened up with San Francisco State.

GAUGING THE GOLDEN GRIZZLIES
The Gauchos lineup against Oakland for the first time in program history this Saturday at 1 pm. The Golden Grizzlies are coming off a 16-16 season and a 12-8 conference record. UC Santa Barbara will be Oakland's third game in a six-day span. After opening with No. 16 Michigan on opening night, the Golden Grizzlies will take a West Coast weekend trip as they first travel to Stanford who they will play on Friday night before coming to Santa Barbara Saturday afternoon. Additionally, on the schedule are also No. 20 Alabama, No. 10 Houston, No. 6 Michigan State and Purdue. The non-conference schedule is the fourth-hardest in the country coming into the 2026-27 season.

Oakland has dropped both their exhibition games to Division I programs while beating Division II Grand Valley. The Golden Grizzlies Men's Basketball team have been voted to finish the Horizon League in fourth place, as voted by coaches and media members. The Black and Gold finished the 2025-26 season in fourth place with a 12-8 record in league play. Two players who hit the court last season return again for OU, leading to just 7.3% of scoring from last season. Oakland sees the addition of 10 newcomers, including three freshmen.

FOLLOW ALONG
The Gauchos and Gators will tip off at 6 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 2, in The Thunderdome. On Saturday, the Gauchos and Golden Grizzlies will tip off at 1 p.m. for some matinee action. Both games will be streamed on ESPN+ with live stats available.