Every year, it seems I have some weird basketball mancrush.\u00a0 And, it’s oftentimes rather unusual.\u00a0 It’s never a guy like Jimmer or John Wall, or someone like that.\u00a0 Last year, it was Austin Freeman, and a couple of years ago it was Terrance Williams from Louisville.\u00a0 And, they never turn out to be stars in any way at the next level.\u00a0 I think it all started with guys like Randolph Childress from Wake Forest, Shawn Respert from Michigan St., and Randy Rutherford from Oklahoma St.\u00a0 Not sure what it is, but I can’t really look at these guys objectively.\u00a0 It’s the guys that\u00a0I would pay to just watch play.\u00a0 Well, this year’s version is pretty intense.\u00a0 I love Casper Ware.\u00a0 Love him.\u00a0 I think he’s absolutely incredible.\u00a0 I would absolutely pay straight cash, homey, to watch that guy play the game of basketball.\u00a0 I was actually pretty upset when the Beach lost in the Big West tournament last year, but it will be nothing like this year.\u00a0 I think I would actually trade a Temple A-10 title for a Long Beach Big West title this year (mainly because TU would still get in)…it’s pretty weird and pretty embarrassing, but whatever.<\/p>\n
Along with Kentucky in the SEC, The Beach is the most popular championship pick.<\/p>\n
Championship Picks Biggest Upsets Previous CTC Champions<\/em> #3 UC-Santa Barbara vs. #6 Pacific 6 people have Pacific in this upset (Dave, KA, Lil Lohse, Primm, RSmith, Waters).\u00a0 KA has them winning this tournament.\u00a0 8 people have the Gouchos in the final (Alexi, Bry, J, Lynch, Mac, Rikey, RDoc, Scoot), with RDoc picking them to break The Beach’s heart again in the finals.<\/p>\n #2 CS-Fullerton vs. #7 UC-Irvine<\/em> Bry, J, KA, and Primm all have this pretty big upset.\u00a0 Waters has Fullerton winning the tournament.<\/p>\n #1 Long Beach St. vs. #8 UC Davis No one took the upset here, and 17 people have LBSU winning the whole thing.<\/p>\n #4 Cal Poly vs. #5 UC-Riverside<\/em> 7 people went with the mild upset of Riverside here (Alexi, Dave, Gross, J, Primm, RSmith, Scoot).\u00a0 Dave, Primm, and RSmith have Riverside going to the finals.\u00a0 KA has Cal Poly in the title game.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Every year, it seems I have some weird basketball mancrush.\u00a0 And, it’s oftentimes rather unusual.\u00a0 It’s never a guy like Jimmer or John Wall, or someone like that.\u00a0 Last year, it was Austin Freeman, and a couple of years ago … Continue reading
\n<\/em>17 for #1 Long Beach St.
\n1 for #2 CS-Fullerton (Waters)
\n1 for #3 UCSB (RDoc)
\n0 for #3 Cal Poly
\n0 for #5 UC-Riverside
\n1 for #6 Pacific (KA)<\/p>\n
\n<\/em>QF – #7 UC-Irvine (Bry, J, Mac, Primm)
\nSF – #6 Pacific (KA)<\/p>\n
\n2011 – J
\n2010 – Stri
\n2009 – Bry*
\n2008 – Doogan<\/p>\n
\n<\/em>The Big West was supposed to be a really heated two-team race all year, but one of those teams didn’t show up.\u00a0 The Gouchos do have Orlando Johnson – who was Casper Ware before Casper Ware – winning the Big West POY as a sophomore two years ago.\u00a0 But, they just fell flat this year, losing to upstart CS-Fullerton and also a head-scratcher against Riverside.\u00a0 Oh, and even if they hadn’t lost those two, they got absolutely pummeled by the Beach in both showdowns.\u00a0 Pacific, who used to be the pride of this conference, was pretty bad this year.\u00a0 The only reason they finished in the middle of the standings is because this conference is full of really bad teams.<\/p>\n
\nThe Titans in Fullerton were kind of the forgotten team in the BW this year, but they were right there and actually won the non-LBSU regular season title.\u00a0 They did it with a high-flying offense and just barely enough defense.\u00a0 They take on the Anteaters of UC-Irvine, who aren’t very good.<\/p>\n
\n<\/em>But, this Beach team is not just Casper.\u00a0 This is a really fantastic team, honestly.\u00a0 But, then again, I can’t be objective in any way on them right now.\u00a0 Trust me, though, Larry Anderson and T.J. Robinson are truly outstanding players.\u00a0 Throw in a really solid JUCO transfer on the perimeter, Eugene Phelps and you’ve got yourself a potential Sweet 16 team.\u00a0 It all starts tonight against a team that started the season 1-27, but won 2 of the last 3 games to, somehow, qualify for the Big West tournament.<\/p>\n
\nUC-Riverside was not supposed to compete in the Big West this year, but they pulled off a couple of nice conference wins\u00a0and ended up finishing in 5th place, after spending most of the season in 2nd or 3rd.\u00a0 Cal Poly was supposed to be the best team after LBSU and UCSB this year, as they have been building for this year for a while, but they really struggled at points.\u00a0 They still have a lot of talent, but even at their best, they were overmatched by the two big dogs, so now that they haven’t hit their expectations, it’s hard to imagine them beating them both in consecutive nights.\u00a0 Hell, they might have trouble beating Riverside tonight.<\/p>\n