Larry Ness' 10* PERFECT STORM-CBB (-1-1 s/Jan 15)
My 10* PERFECT STORM is on CS-Northridge at 7:30 ET.
Despite being seven games below .500 on the season (12-19), the Cal Poly Mustangs have fought their way into the championship game of the Big West Conference tourney against the Cal State Northridge Matadors at the Honda Center tonight. Cal-Poly entered the tourney as the seven-seed but beat second-seeded UC Santa Barbara in a massive 69-38 upset on Thursday and then took down top-seeded UC Irvine 61-58 last night. With a victory tonight, the Mustangs would become the lowest seed in the 39-year history of the event to claim the championship, not to mention make the NCAA Tournament for the first time in Division I history.
CS-Northridge entered the tourney as the fifth-seed and wins over the 4th-seeded Hawaii in OT and the 3rd-seeded 49ers of Long Beach, has evened the Matadors record at 17-17. Unlike Cal-Poly, which has played two low-scoring games to get here, CS-Northridge has been involved in a couple of high-scoring, albeit close, games. The Matadors began with an 87-84 overtime affair vs Hawaii on Thursday night and then followed that with an 82-77 win over Long Beach State last night.
Stranger things have happened during Championship Week but there seems to be something 'magical' about Cal-Poly right now. However, I'm NOT 'biting' and I see NO reason Cal-Poly should be favored. The Mustangs rank 325th in scoring (63.3 PPG) on 40.8% shooting, which ranks 324th. Only the 6-7 Eversley (13.-7.2) and guard Nwaba (11.7-4.8) average in double figures.
Meanwhile, Northridge comes in averaging 77.4 PPG and has topped its average in BOTH tourney games. The 6-7 Maxwell leads the team in scoring (17.5) and rebounding (9.0) plus the Matadors own a terrific guard duo in Hicks (17.4-6.6) and Greene (16.1-3.3 APG). Maxwell has a modest 20 points (but 19 rebounds) in the two wins while Hicks and Greene each have scored 28 points in the two games.
Only twice before have the Mustangs made it to the title game of the Big West tourney and BOTH times the squad has been turned back. The third time will NOT be the charm. Northridge has too much firepower and spares TY's NCAA tourney of having a 13-19 team in the field.