BAKERSFIELD, Calif. – Basketball season is closer than you think. With less than four months until the tipoff of the 2023-24 season, the Cal State Bakersfield Roadrunners are excitedly preparing for to make another run at a league title. The start of the season got a little closer on Wednesday when The Big West announced the 2023-24 conference matchups schedule, all leading up to the 2024 Big West Basketball Championships and a shot at March Madness.

Bakersfield's fight for the crown will start on the road once again, Dec. 28, when the `Runners visit UC San Diego. Two days later, the CSUB men will host their first Big West game of the year when defending Big West regular-season Champion UC Irvine comes to Bakersfield just before the New Year.

Head Coach Rod Barnes and the `Runners eyeball nine more home games on the 2023-24 schedule. CSUB will start 2024 at home against Hawai'i (Jan. 4) and will host two more Big West teams in the month: UC Riverside (Jan. 18) and Cal Poly (Jan. 20)

The Icardo Center will be busy throughout February as Bakersfield will host six home games, including a rare Leap Day game. The `Runners will face off against Long Beach State (Feb. 1) and UC Santa Barbara (Feb. 3) to kick off the shortest month of the year. Cal State Fullerton (Feb. 10) and CSUN (Feb. 15) will keep the month going before Bakersfield closes it out against UC Davis (Feb. 24) and UC San Diego (Feb. 29).

After tackling a pair of road games at the start of March, CSUB will head out for its fourth-ever Big West Championship. Only the Top 8 eligible teams will earn a trip to Henderson, Nev., Mar. 12-16, with the conference's automatic berth bid to the NCAA Tournament on the line.

`Runner fans are encouraged to put down deposits on Season Tickets for the upcoming season. A full 2023-24 schedule, including all of CSUB's non-conference matchups, will be announced in the not-too-distant future.

~GoRunners.com~