Two days after ending his second-worst season as Hawaii baseball coach, Mike Trapasso still kept an eye on the 2013 NCAA tournament selection show.

The Big West Conference, which had only one NCAA tournament team in 2012, was awarded two at-large bids in addition to regular-season champion Cal State Fullerton.

One of those bids went to UC Santa Barbara, which got in with a 34-23 record after tying for second place in the conference.

The Gauchos were 18-17 before making a late-season run in conference play, which was recognized by a selection committee that chose the Gauchos ahead of some bigger-name programs.

"You’re able to feel comfortable playing a tough nonconference schedule and then playing a conference schedule where if you can finish in the top half of the conference, you might have the RPI to be in the (at-large) conversation." Trapasso said Tuesday. "Santa Barbara was the perfect example of that situation last year."

This season looks to be even better for the league as a whole, which is down to nine teams after Pacific bolted for the West Coast Conference.

Seven of the nine teams entering the start of BWC play on Friday have RPIs in the top 100.

The three teams that made the tournament last season are all ranked in the top 15 of at least three major polls. UC Irvine was also ranked at one point this season.

"You look at the number of teams that are ranked, the number of teams above .500, and the league is outstanding," Trapasso said. "It’s something that we are proud to be a part of."

With a good league comes top talent. The Big West has six of the top 100 draft-eligible prospects for 2014, according to Baseball America.

Fullerton has two of the top 20 — Matt Chapman and JD Davis, who are both two-way players.

The Titans have owned the league the past 20-plus years, winning four straight BWC titles and 16 total since 1990.

But Cal Poly and UC Santa Barbara have continued to close the gap and will challenge them this season.

The Mustangs (20-4) are ranked in the top 10 in every major poll, while the Gauchos have climbed to No. 10 in the Collegiate Baseball rankings with 18 wins in their first 21 games.

UC Santa Barbara entered the week seventh in the country in hitting with a .317 batting average. Five of its nine position players are batting over .300, with two hitting over .400.

The Gauchos stand out in a league that is mostly dominated by pitching.

Six teams rank in the top 83 in the country in earned-run average, with Fullerton leading the way with a 2.09 mark.

Titans sophomore Thomas Eshelman is 4-0 with two complete games in six starts. He has struck out 37 with only one walk.

Fullerton has six pitchers with ERAs of 2.45 or better, including freshman Phil Bickford, who chose not to sign with the Toronto Blue Jays after he was picked 10th overall in last summer’s draft.

He has struck out 32 in 27 1/3 innings.

Long Beach State is one of only two Big West teams under .500 but is 11-12 against the 11th-toughest schedule in the country.

UC Davis, picked last in the conference, has infielder Adam Young, who is seventh in the country with a .472 batting average.

"As coach-speak as it sounds, every game we play is 1/24th of the conference season, and whether we’re playing Santa Barbara or Cal Poly or Davis or Northridge, it’s not easy in this conference," Trapasso said. "That really is the truth."

As a conference, the Big West is fifth in RPI, ranking behind the SEC, Pac-12, Big 12 and ACC. It’s .611 winning percentage in nonconference play is ahead of the Pac-12, and the Big West is 23-17 in the head-to-head meetings against its Pac-12 counterparts.