College basketball fans excited about wagering on games will have door-to-door service this weekend with the Big West Tournament being held in Henderson, Nevada, just a short drive from the Las Vegas Strip.

But bettors beware: There is no chalk in this conference, and upsets are never more than a 3-pointer away.

In the last nine seasons, eight different teams have won the men’s tournament and the automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament that comes with it. So, most teams – including regular-season champ Long Beach State and two-time winner UC Irvine – won’t say much more than they have a chance.

The tourney begins Tuesday night with a pair of first-round games: No. 7 seed UC Davis (12-10 overall, 5-6 Big West) against No. 10 Cal Poly (7-20, 2-12) and No. 8 Cal State Northridge (7-22, 3-13) against No. 9 Cal State Bakersfield (7-18, 2-12). The quarterfinals are Thursday, beginning at noon, with the semifinals on Friday night and the title game on Saturday at 8:30 p.m.

Long Beach State (18-11, 12-3), Cal State Fullerton (18-10, 11-4), Hawaii (16-10, 10-5), and UC Irvine (15-9, 9-5) are the top four seeds. LBSU’s regular-season title was its first since 2012. And fourth-seeded UCI, which opens against No. 5 UC Santa Barbara (16-10, 8-5), is looking for a third tourney crown under Coach Russell Turner.

Long Beach had a rough start to the season, going 4-8 in nonconference games while also sitting out two-plus weeks because of COVID-19 protocols. The conference opener started poorly too, with Hawaii leading by 16 points with 3:48 left.

But Long Beach launched a press and whittled away at the deficit, cutting the margin to four with 16 seconds left. LBSU lost that game by six but then went on an 11-game winning streak.

“We went small and extended the pressure,” said Coach Dan Monson, who on Monday was voted Big West Coach of the Year by his peers. “What we learned was what kind of team we could be if we played at that speed and disrupted opponents.”

Monson moved Jordan Roberts and Aboubacar Traore to the forward spots. Not a tall team to begin with – “every team was bigger than we were,’’ Monson said – the emphasis now was on speed and energy.

“It was an easy buy-in because the guys saw what the energy was getting them.”

Traore has averaged 8.5 points and 8.2 rebounds per game, first-team all-conference pick Joel Murray has averaged 16 ppg, Big West Player of the Year Colin Slater is at 13.9 ppg and 2.8 assists per game, and Jaden Jones 10.5 ppg and 4.1 rpg. And sixth-year senior Roberts has provided leadership on and off the court.

Fullerton started the season slowly at 5-5, then went on an eight-game winning streak. The Titans have been tenacious in close games, winning eight conference games by single digits.

“The thing about the Big West is that we all know we can beat each other, that everyone has a chance,” Coach Dedrique Taylor said. “The key for us is that we learned we can look at the other teams and realized we’re just as talented.”

Two transfers have helped. Big West Newcomer of the Year E.J. Anosike, a graduate transfer from Tennessee is averaging 16.2 ppg and 7.7 rpg and Damari Milstead is averaging 11.3 ppg after starting his career at San Francisco. Returnees Tray Maddox Jr., Jalen Harris and Vincent Lee gave Taylor the nucleus to build around.

UC Irvine also struggled, with six losses and five cancellations during an early span, including a 1-3 start to conference play that included losses to Hawaii, Long Beach, and Fullerton. But the Anteaters have won nine of their last  11 games.

“Last year we had one of the youngest teams in the country,” Coach Russ Turner said. “We have all those guys back and we’re all a year better.”

That includes first-team all-conference selection Collin Welp (13.7 ppg, 6.5 rpg), Dawson Baker (10.9 ppg) and DJ Davis (8.3 ppg).

“We really struggled around Christmas with some travel and COVID and cancellations,” Turner said. “We didn’t have the usual options of playing games or having practice. It took us two weeks to figure things out.

“I think we have a team that can make a run at the title. There’s no one here who hasn’t been in the tourney before.”

Sixth-seeded UC Riverside (16-11, 9-6) opens against Hawaii on Thursday night and won’t lack confidence either. Last week, the Highlanders won a tight game at Fullerton and nearly won at LBSU before falling in overtime. They won their only regular-season meeting with Hawaii (the other was canceled).

Zyon Pullin (14 ppg, 5.6 rpg), Dominick Pickett (11.5 ppg, 4.2 rpg) and Callum McRae (11 ppg, 8 rpg) pace UCR.

BIG WEST TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE

(all games at Dollar Loan Center, Henderson, Nev.)

Tuesday (first round)

No. 8 seed Cal State Northridge vs. No. 9 Cal State Bakersfield, 6 p.m.

No. 7 seed UC Davis vs. No. 10 Cal Poly (SLO), 8:30 p.m.

Thursday (quarterfinals)

No. 1 seed Long Beach State vs. CSUN-CSUB winner, noon

No. 4 seed UC Irvine vs. No. 5 UC Santa Barbara, 2:30 p.m.

No. 2 seed Cal State Fullerton vs. UCD-Cal Poly winner, 6 p.m.

No. 3 seed Hawaii vs. No. 6 UC Riverside, 8:30 p.m.

Friday (semifinals)

TBD vs. TBD, 6 p.m. (early quarterfinal winners)

TBD vs. TBD, 8:30 p.m. (late quarterfinal winners)

Saturday (championship game)

TBD vs. TBD, 8:30 p.m. (ESPNU)