Cal State Northridge took home its first outright Big West men's basketball championship and grabbed the No. 1 seed in next week's conference tournament as regular season action came to a close Saturday.  The eight-team tournament runs March 11-14 at the Anaheim Convention Center Arena.  First round matchups on Wednesday feature No. 5 UC Irvine against No. 8 UC Davis, and No. 6 UC Riverside against No. 7 Cal State Fullerton.

The Matadors own the tournament's No. 1 seed for the first time in school history.  Cal State Northridge (15-13, 11-5) almost lost the top seed and dropped into a share for the regular season title with Long Beach State, but avoided that result when UC Santa Barbara's James Nunnally sank a last second three-pointer to upend the 49ers, 76-75, on Saturday evening.  The 49ers (15-14, 10-6) still secured the No. 2 seed and earned an automatic bye to the semifinals along with the Matadors.

Pacific claimed the No. 3 seed after sinking CSUN to improve to 17-11 overall, 10-6 in Big West play.  The Tigers earned an automatic bye into the quarterfinals and must face the lowest remaining seeded team advancing out of Wednesday's first round.  UC Santa Barbara, arguably the Big West's hottest squad entering tournament play, jumped all the way from eighth place into a tie for fourth in the standings and nabbed the No. 4 seed.  The Gauchos (15-14), winners of three straight and seven of their last eight games, tied UC Irvine and UC Riverside at 8-8 for fourth place, but won a seeding tiebreaker by virtue of a combined 3-1 record against the Anteaters and Highlanders.  UCSB's reward is a first round bye.  The Gauchos open the tournament in Thursday quarterfinal action versus the highest remaining seeded team advancing from Wednesday's first round.

The Anteaters are familiar to the No. 5 spot, advancing all the way to last season's tournament championship game from that position.  They will face a newcomer to the Big West Tournament atmosphere in UC Davis, which made the field as the No. 8 seed after not qualifying for the tournament in its first year as a conference member in 2008.  UCI, which has won four of its last five games, lost both regular season matchups to the Aggies.

Last year's Big West Tournament champion, Cal State Fullerton, fell to the No. 7 seed after closing the season with losses in five of its last six conference games.  The Titans split the regular season matchups with the Highlanders (17-12, 8-8), which enter with a school Division I record 17 wins. 

The men's tournament tips off Wednesday at 6:00 p.m. with UCI and UCD, followed by UCR and CSF 30 minutes after the conclusion of the first game.

Friday's men's semifinals run at 5:30 and 7:30 p.m. and will be aired nationally by ESPNU.  Saturday's men's championship tips at 9:00 p.m. and will be televised nationally by ESPN2.

Tickets may be purchased by calling the Anaheim Convention Center Box Office at (714) 765-8980.