REDLANDS, Calif. – The University of Redlands men's basketball team begins their 2026-27 season at home inside Currier Gymnasium on Friday, November 6 as they host University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC) at 7:00 p.m. in game one of 25 this season.
Overall, the Bulldogs' 25-game schedule includes nine non-conference games and 16 Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) games. They play four non-conference games at home, four at neutral sites, and one on the road against a future SCIAC opponent. In SCIAC they host eight with the other eight being on the road.
"As always, we're excited to have a full Division III slate," explained Head Coach Eric Bridgeland. "Additionally, to be invited and included in arguably the two top Division III preseason tournaments is 1) quite an honor and 2) exciting! Without a doubt, our preseason schedule will prepare us for another challenging SCIAC slate."
UCSC went 14-11 overall with a 9-7 true road game record. Their season came to an end in the Coast-To-Coast Athletic Conference Tournament Semifinal against national semifinalist Christopher Newport University. They finished 3-4 against SCIAC teams. The Banana Slugs and Bulldogs meet for a second time a little over a month later when UCSC returns to Currier on December 15. Overall, in series history, Redlands has won seven-straight and eight-of-10 with their last loss coming in 2018.
On November 8 Lewis & Clark College, and former assistant and new River Otter Head Coach Cory Coombe, comes to Redlands. The two sides then play six days later on November 14, again inside Currier. L&C finished 13-13 last season with a 2-1 record against SCIAC. The two sides have only met once since 2015, and it was a 72-66 road win for the Bulldogs in 2024.
The first neutral site trip will be to the Great Lakes Invitational in Ohio, hosted by Ohio Wesleyan University, on November 20-21. Arguably one of the best Division III National Tournaments, the Bulldogs will take on Johns Hopkins University (JHU) on the 20th and Denison University on the 21st.
JHU finished last season 20-8 overall with 1-2 neutral site record. They lost in the NCAA Championship First Round against The College of New Jersey. The Bulldogs and Blue Jays have never met before (as of 2005-06).
The Big Red of Denison went 18-9 in 2025-26. Their season ended in the North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament Final against John Carroll University. Denison and Redlands have never met before.
Redlands opens SCIAC play at home against the University of La Verne (ULV) on December 5, seeking their third straight SCIAC Regular Season Championship Title. The two sides play in La Verne on February 6. The Leopards were 4-20 overall with a 2-14 SCIAC record as the eighth-place team. The Bulldogs have won the last five and have an 8-2 record over the last 10 meetings.
In their second of two neutral site tournaments, Redlands will head to Las Vegas for the inaugural National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Division III Tournament hosted at Cox Pavilion, again another premier Division III National Tournament, which is invitation only. Game one is on December 21 against Trine University. The Thunder were 20-8 last season and made it to the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association Tournament Final where they lost to Hope College. The two sides have no prior meetings.
In the NABC tournament the Bulldogs are in one pod of four teams. The other two teams are Elmhurst University and Emory University. Those two will play each other the same day as the Bulldogs and Thunder. Whatever result Redlands gets against Trine, they will play the team with the same result in the Elmhurst vs. Emory game on December 22. If the Bulldogs beat Trine, then their game will be for the championship, if it was a loss, then they play a consolation game.
Elmhurst went 19-9 last season with the Blue Jays seeing their season end in overtime against Illinois Wesleyan University in the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin Tournament Championship.
On the other side Emory lost to University of Mary Washington in the national championship game and finished the year 27-4 overall. Regardless of match-up, it will be the first for the Bulldogs.
On the other side of the calendar to begin 2027, Redlands and Whittier College play on January 2. The second meeting is in Currier only 16 days later on January 18. The Poets tied for the fifth and final SCIAC Tournament spot with California Lutheran University (CLU), but they lost the tiebreaker after an 8-8 SCIAC record and a 15-10 overall mark. Redlands has an eight-game winning streak over the Poets and have won 13 of their last 14.
The Bulldogs' first road SCIAC game comes on January 6 when they travel to Claremont to face Pomona-Pitzer (P-P). The Sagehens struggled through a down season as they finished seventh at 5-11 in SCIAC and 10-15 overall. Redlands has won the last four, but the series is tied at five across the last 10.
California Institute of Technology (Caltech) hosts Redlands on January 9. The Beavers finished in last place at 1-15 with a 4-21 overall record. The Bulldogs have dominated the series, going 35-5. They have won the last eight too.
In the first game of a rematch of the SCIAC Tournament Final, the Bulldogs host the Panthers of Chapman University on January 13. The Panthers host in Orange on February 3. Chapman finished third in the regular season at 11-5 with an 18-9 overall record. They made it to the SCIAC Tournament Final before losing to the Bulldogs. Redlands won the final two meetings last season and are 7-3 across their last 10.
CLU makes the trip to Redlands on January 16. The regular season then wraps up on February 20 in Thousand Oaks. The Kingsmen were the final team in the SCIAC Tournament at 8-8 with an even 13-13 overall record. They lost at Occidental College in the first round game. One of the most challenging sides to play in conference as of late, the Bulldogs are only 4-6 in the last 10 meetings.
Another SCIAC Tournament opponent, Occidental, went 11-5 and finished fourth in SCIAC and posted a 19-8 overall record. The Bulldogs host the Tigers on January 20 before traveling west on February 17. Redlands is 9-1 over their last 10 with that lone loss coming on the road last February.
Redlands' final unique SCIAC opponent is Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (CMS) who they play on the road on January 23 and host for their final home game on February 13. The Stags have been the only side to keep up with the Bulldogs in the standings the last three seasons with CMS sharing the regular season title at 13-3 in 2025-26. The Stags ended their season 23-5 overall after falling to University of Wisconsin-La Crosse in the NCAA Second Round.
The Bulldogs' final non-conference game will be on January 27 when they travel to Azusa to face off with soon-to-be full SCIAC member Azusa Pacific University (APU). In their final season at the NCAA Division II level, the Cougars went 7-20 overall last season. The only 21st century meeting was a home loss in 2009.
At the conclusion of the regular season, the top five teams in the SCIAC standings will qualify for the SCIAC Tournament. The fourth and fifth-place teams play in the first round game with the winner advancing to face the No. 1 seed on the road. The winner of that game gets the winner of the No. 2 vs. No. 3 game in the final. The winner of the tournament gets SCIAC's automatic qualifying bid into the NCAA Division III National Championships.
