QUEBEC CITY – While Saturday's loss to Calgary in the Canada West Final certainly stung, the Thunderbirds weren't left with much time to sit with the result.
 
The very next morning the bracket for the 2026 U SPORTS Women's Basketball Final 8 was announced, and the T-Birds now need to go from playing for a conference championship at home to a national quarterfinal in Quebec within just five days.
 
"You have to really lean into what you do well as a team and focus a little more on that, because you don't have the same amount of prep," said UBC head coach Dave Taylor on how the lead-up to nationals is different from a typical week. "It's about taking in the important information and really focusing on yourself."
 
This is the first time that UBC will compete at nationals in back-to-back years since they did so three seasons in a row from 2006-08. 2008 is also the last time that the T-Birds won the national championship, the sixth in program history. The Thunderbirds have won the most U SPORTS titles of any program in the field, although four have won one more recently.


 
That loss to the Dinos snapped what had been a 13-game win streak for the blue and gold, which punched their ticket to Quebec City and earned them the No. 4 seed. They have quite the difficult draw, however, matched up in the opening round against the Saskatchewan Huskies.
 
Led by two-time Canada West Player of the Year Gage Grassick, The Huskies were undefeated and ranked No. 1 in the U SPORTS Top 10 the entire regular season, but an upset loss to Calgary in the Canada West semifinals knocked them out of the conference playoffs and forced them into the No. 5 seed as the tournament's wildcard team.
 
"Obviously they're very good, they might be the all-time greatest fifth seed," added Taylor with a chuckle. "The first time we played them it didn't go great, but we're playing much, much better now and have more of an idea of our identity. I'm excited to have the shot at them again – once you get to the Final 8 every team is good, all games are tough."
 
The Thunderbirds and Huskies faced off in Saskatoon twice in the regular season, with Saskatchewan winning on both occasions. The two teams also faced off in last year's Canada West Final and U SPORTS Semifinals, with the Huskies also prevailing in both of those two games. The T-Birds are hunting for their first win over the prairie side since 2018.


 
The Thunderbirds and Huskies play in the third quarterfinal of Thursday's opening round, at 3:00 p.m. (PT). Whether they end up in the semifinals or in the consolation round, the T-Birds will face either OUA champs – and No. 1 overall seed – TMU or hosts Laval in their second game of the tournament.
 
Rounding out the field are AUS champs UNB and OUA runners-up Carleton in the No. 2 vs No. 7 matchup, and No. 3 Calgary taking on No. 6 McGill, the RSEQ champions.
 
This week will mark the final games played in a Thunderbirds uniform for a number of players on the UBC roster. Seven of the 12 athletes who saw the court against Calgary in the Canada West Final are graduating seniors, who will want to leave it all out on the court as they finish their U SPORTS careers this weekend.


 
"The fact that their season is going to end in Quebec, at nationals, is what we wanted," said Taylor. "We obviously want it to be ending with us playing for a medal of some kind, but looking at the journey and the big picture, we've gotten to where we wanted to be. Now it's a matter of writing the ending."
 
Every game at the 2026 U SPORTS Women's Basketball Final 8 will be broadcast by CBC on all their digital platforms, including their YouTube channel and CBC Gem.