1978 Pacific Coast Athletic Association men's basketball tournament

The 1978 Pacific Coast Athletic Association men's basketball tournament (now known as the Big West Conference men's basketball tournament) was held March 2–4 at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California.

1978 Pacific Coast Athletic Association men's basketball tournament
Classification	Division I
Season	1977–78
Teams	7
Site	Anaheim Convention Center Anaheim, CA
Champions	Cal State Fullerton (1st title)
Winning coach	Bobby Dye (1st title)
MVP	Greg Bunch (Cal State Fullerton)
Pacific Coast Athletic Association men's basketball tournaments

1977–78 Pacific Coast Athletic Association men's basketball standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Fresno State	11	–	3		.786			21	–	6		.778
San Diego State	11	–	3		.786			19	–	9		.679
Cal State Fullerton †	9	–	5		.643			23	–	9		.719
Pacific	9	–	5		.643			17	–	10		.630
Long Beach State	7	–	7		.500			16	–	13		.552
San Jose State	4	–	10		.286			8	–	19		.296
UC Santa Barbara	3	–	11		.214			8	–	19		.296
UC Irvine	2	–	12		.143			8	–	17		.320
† 1978 PCAA tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll

Cal State Fullerton topped defending champions Long Beach State in the championship game, 64–53, to win its first PCAA/Big West men's basketball tournament.

The Titans, in turn, received a bid to the 1978 NCAA tournament, where they advanced to the Elite Eight. It was CSUF's first Division I tournament appearance.

Format

The tournament field expanded again, this time increasing from six to seven teams (Fresno State participated in its first PCAA tournament).

Seven of the eight total PCAA members (newcomer UC Irvine was not invited) qualified for the event and were seeded based on regular season conference records. The top team earned a bye into the semifinal round while the remaining six teams entered into the preliminary first round.

Bracket

	First round Thursday, March 2					Semifinals Friday, March 3					Championship Saturday, March 4
						1	Fresno State	62
						5	Long Beach State	68*
	5	Long Beach State	84
	4	Pacific	82
											5	Long Beach State	53
											3	Cal State Fullerton	64
	3	Cal State Fullerton	88
	6	San Jose State	78
						3	Cal State Fullerton	64
						2	San Diego State	50
	7	UC Santa Barbara	70
	2	San Diego State	96