‘Anything But Mid’ Podcast: Big Sky, Big South and Big West Men’s Basketball Preview

This week on our podcast, "Anything But Mid," we spoke about the Big Sky, Big South and Big West for men's basketball.

The Big Sky is welcoming Southern Utah and Utah Tech for the upcoming 2026-2027 season. This is an action-packed, tightly competitive conference, so having two new teams can shake things up this season. Portland State comes in as the defending champs, but losing players like Terri Miller Jr. and Tre-Vaughn Minott will hurt the program. Similarly, defending tournament champion Idaho lost important pieces during the offseason. Montana State seems to be an early favorite. After going 12-6 in conference, the Bobcats retain pretty much their entire core and all 10 scholarship players. Cavin Holden will be fully healthy after a season-ending injury while Jed Miller looks to have another breakout year with Montana State.

This seems to be High Point's conference to lose. The Panthers have won the conference tournament two years in a row and are in a prime position to three-peat. Flynn Clayman is one of the top coaches in the country. Key returners in Cam'Ron Fletcher and Conrad Martinez combined with transfers Jason Rivera Torres, Isaac Garrett and CJ Brown makes High Point just as scary as last year. Winthrop will still continue to compete after going 13-3 in conference last season, but High Point is the odds on favorite as of today.

Talk about a realignment. The conference lost UC Davis and reigning champion Hawaii to the Mountain West while adding California Baptist, Sacramento State and Utah Valley. These moves shape up to affect the top of the conference as Hawaii won the title and Cal Baptist and Utah Valley met in the WAC championship last season. UC Irvine lost to Hawaii in the Big West Championship last season but lost some key pieces Jurian Dixon, Derin Saran and Kyle Evans in the offseason. UC San Diego, who's leaving for the WCC next season, looks to be an early favorite. The Tritons added transfers Treysen Eaglestaff from West Virginia and Camp Wagner from Indiana State along with key returners Leo Beath and Alex Chaikin.

Make sure to tune into the "Anything But Mid" Podcast on Apple Podcasts and Spotify and stay tuned for our women's basketball preview for these conferences!