COSTA MESA -- The four winter sports have been in the gym and on the mat at Vanguard University, as the buildup to the next big kickoff has begun in earnest. While the fall sports have the headlines for now, basketball and wrestling are less than two months from the beginning of their campaigns. As such, VU basketball and wrestling are ready to reveal the 2026-27 schedules so fans can plan their trips to the Freed Center or elsewhere.
Women's wrestling has one home date, as the program has its first home tournament in program history on the weekend of January 16-17, which is combined with the men's team. Before that, the squad opens at the Menlo Open in Atherton on November 8 and then heads to the Westcliff Tournament on November 21. A trip to Southern Oregon and the Desert Duals fill up December before the MPSF Tournament at San Francisco State on January 30, 2027. The title bout is followed by a trip to the prestigious Grand View Open in Des Moines, Iowa, on February 6, with the regular-season finale being a dual at Hope International on February 10. Preparation begin after that for the NCAA Regional.
Men's wrestling has four home dates on the docket, beginning with the opening event of the year against Victor Valley College on November 4. Menlo arrives at the Freed Center for a dual on December 5, and the VU Open takes place January 16-17. After the MPSF Tournament, Cal Poly Humboldt duals Vanguard on February 5,and Westcliff comes to town on February 11. Other highlights include multiple duals at Colorado School of Mines (Nov. 13), the Nebraska Kearney Open (Nov. 21), the Reno Tournament of Champions (Dec. 20), and three duals at Western Colorado (Jan. 9).
The reigning Pacific West Conference champions in women's basketball get their year started with an exhibition against Cal on October 29 before heading to Billings, Montana, for the opening weekend. There, VU takes on Montana State-Billings and Simon Fraser, rematches from last year in British Columbia. The first home games are on November 20-21, with the first day featuring Northwest Nazarene and the second day showing a rematch against NCAA Tournament foe Central Washington. The Lions then have two first-time opponents, Concordia-St. Paul and Gannon, on November 27-28 at the D2 Jackpot Classic in Las Vegas before starting PacWest games in Honolulu on December 3. Dominican is the conference opener for the Lions, who equally split home and away games after the Hawaii trip. The end of the regular season comes at Biola on February 27, a good venue to end on as the PacWest Tournament begins in La Mirada a few days later on March 4.
The men's basketball ledger begins on November 9 against CSU San Marcos, which is followed by games against Dominguez Hills and San Bernardino in Carson on the 13th and 14th. Vanguard has not played Westminster (Utah) since November 14, 2014, but the Griffins are back on the schedule and come to Costa Mesa on November 17. A home game against CSULA (Nov. 20) and a road game against Cal Poly Pomona (Nov. 24) are next, with the Blue and Gold then welcoming Seattle Pacific and Central Washington right after Thanksgiving (Nov. 27-28). Then it is off to Hawaii and PacWest play, though one final non-conference game comes on January 13 as Grace comes to the Freed Center. The PacWest Tournament on the men's side runs concurrently with the women's at BU.
