In this episode, Owen and Nick recap postseason awards and talk about the really fun matchups on Big West Tournament Thursday. 

On this episode of the podcast, Nick and Owen discuss their All-Conference teams and postseason awards and go through some scenarios for how the last week of play could impact the tournament. Also, a recap of Cal Poly’s big win on Thursday night over CSUN. 

On this Burn the Breeze edition of the show, we talked about what’s going on with Hawai’i, Cal Poly’s struggles in Fullerton and Long Beach, and Nick’s trivia question about transfers in the Big West. 

The Big West is not top-heavy this year. Or maybe it’s all top-heavy. There is no one team that has clearly separated itself from the rest. UC Irvine has the pedigree. UC Davis has Chima. Cal State Fullerton has a big three. Long Beach State has history and the conference’s most experienced coach. Hawai’i has a steady hand and a bunch of steady dudes on a roster that makes sense. UCSB may have the best overall talent and a fresh new coach that is probably both an advantage and disadvantage early in the conference season. 

On a given night there are 2-3 AMAZING games in the conference. Basically, this race is shaping up to be a mid-major Royal Rumble cage match where only one team will be left standing. 

So let’s continue the metaphor (not a simile — I didn’t use like or as). Which team matches up with which WWF early-90’s wrestler?

Hawai’i (4-1)

Hawai’i is 3-1 in conference play. Eron Ganot’s program has transitioned into one with players who also know their roles and play mostly sound basketball. For me, they are Shawn Michaels. The Heartbreak Kid was a solid wrestling personality. Hawai’i is a solid basketball team. (I picked them 4th going into the season.) That said, they are also very confident. They like to jaw and trash talk. They maybe think they’re better than they are, though they might be just that good. 

While you could probably say it about any wrestler, the irrational confidence and all-around classic personality of this team reminded me of Michaels. 

Cal State Fullerton (4-2) 

The Titans are off to their best start in years. They have three very good players at their core with a supporting cast that understands their roles. Fullerton knows exactly who they are and aren’t. They do a few things really well and playing against them is like staring into the cold eyes of The Undertaker. The Undertaker is big and physical and knows exactly who he is. He joined WWF in 1990 — a sort of new kid on the block at our targeted time period. So, too, are Cal State Fullerton. 

Long Beach State (4-2)

I used to never pick Dan Monson’s team out of the top 4. They were always in the hunt for a conference title and a chance at the conference’s NCAA tournament bid. Some of the sheen is off Long Beach State. Recent years have brought transfers in and out, but they still play the toughest non-conference schedule and probably have the biggest overall revenue of any program in the conference. For that, this team is the Million Dollar Man, Ted DiBiase. DiBiase’s upfront capitalist attitude (“Everybody’s got a price!”) made so many people uncomfortable and made him a classic heel. 

DiBiase’s character didn’t just elicit emotional responses. He made you introspective about why you did or didn’t like him. He brought all your own moral defects to your conscious mind. In the end, you had to respect the character because he did what he did. At some point, as a fan, you knew what was coming.

UCSB (3-2) 

In a week, UCSB could be right back on top of the conference. For me, they are still the team to beat, though currently they’re in SIXTH place. SIXTH. 

Because of their big start, UCSB is Hulk Hogan. Even into the early 90’s, Hogan was still dominant and still a good guy. Eventually he turned, but the bright yellow hulk tank from ’92 screams Isla Vista to me. 

Oh yeah, Brother!

Really though, Hulk Hogan was a centerpiece of WWF for most of two decades and UCSB has a rich history and is still the favorite in my mind. The Gauchos as Hulk just makes sense to me. 

UC Davis (3-2) 

UC Davis was my preseason #1 pick. Jim Les has an intense game demeanor that, under the surface, I know is basically Ric Flair. The Nature Boy was a top-3 dominant personality in the sport for years. Kids at my high school used to put up both hands and go WOOOOOOOOOO on a regular basis. One of our student body presidents used to read the announcements in homage to Flair just about every morning. 

A few years ago, I might have picked Long Beach State to be Flair. They were the team who was always there — year after year. Davis has become that team now. They have the marquee talent in the conference in Chima Monecke. They have worked hard to get relevant and they’ll do everything they can to stay there, even if it means turning heel sometimes. 

UC Irvine (3-3)

Russell Turner continues to amaze. He’s lost two seven-footers in recent years, but still boasts the biggest team in the conference in the paint. Between Jonathon Galloway, Tommy Rutherford, Elston Jones, and Brad Greene, UCI’s power forward nearly always has a post-up advantage against the opponent. Last night, the Anteaters outscored Cal Poly 44-16 in the paint. UCI has talented guards too, but for me they are Big Boss Man. 

Big Boss Man was, first and foremost, big. He didn’t let anybody get away with anything, and that’s the way UCI has played over the past 3-5 years. The Anteaters take advantage of opponents’ mistakes and don’t let them get away with anything either. To beat the Big Boss Man, you had to be on the top of your game. Same with UCI this season. 

CSUN (2-3)

I didn’t really know where to put the Matadors, so I enlisted some help. Ghizal Hasan, their radio voice, said Razor Ramon would be a good choice. So we’ll go with Ramon. 

Ramon was good times. CSUN can be good times too when things are going well. The hair is amazing. I had one other person vote for Hardy Boys for CSUN. 

Cal Poly (1-4)

The Mustangs won their first game in wild fashion, and thank goodness they did. Cal Poly has since lost three straight including last night in Irvine. They are at their best when their games are a little weird. They have some very specialized skills, and also some very specific weaknesses. 

I couldn’t find anywhere to put them, so maybe they’re Sgt. Slaughter. Maybe it works. Cal Poly is a pretty conservative campus overall. 

As a Cal Poly fan, I’ll say this — Sgt. Slaughter isn’t afraid of anybody. Neither is Cal Poly. Sgt. Slaughter is self-made. Lots of Cal Poly guys are too — many are JUCO transfers or transfers from other larger programs. Yeah, I think Sgt. Slaughter is a decent proxy for the Mustangs. 

UC Riverside (0-5)

I don’t want to pile-on. This group lost their head coach on New Year’s Day. They’ve been without their star point guard for all of conference play so far. What wrestler should UCR be?!

I thought about this one not very much, but the guy who I haven’t gotten on this list yet is Jake “The Snake” Roberts. Since it’s pretty unorthodox to fire a coach midseason, and having a huge python in the ring is also pretty uncommon, maybe this is a match made in heaven. Jake the Snake. 

Dude, how did they let Macho Man get bit by Jake’s snake? Holy crap. 

UCSD Athletic Director Earl Edwards has been with the Tritons since 2000.

In the spring of 2000, Earl Edwards took over as Athletic Director at UCSD. The program was transitioning from Division III to Division II and going through everything you’d expect as a result. I was also a freshman at UCSD at the time. 

Though I wrote for the newspaper on campus (the UCSD Guardian), covered a number of sports, and played in the school’s pep band, I had never met Mr. Edwards (now 17 years into his role there) before last week. 

In our conversation, he talked about UCSD’s ongoing efforts to move to Division I, the state of limbo they are currently in with the Big West Conference, and what’s new with UC San Diego athletics.

Slater Lee (Senior, Pitcher)

Season Synopsis

In his fourth and final year at Cal Poly, Lee dropped his delivery to more of a three-quarters arm slot and provided a reliable relief option for Larry Lee (no relation). Lee’s added funk and savvy pitching helped him to sport a career-low 2.86 ERA and strike out over 11 hitters per nine innings. Lee struck out 54 batters while walking just 15 and finished the season with a 4-2 record. His high-leverage innings down the stretch helped Cal Poly overcome a slow start to finish the season with a .500 record in 2017.

Evolution

Slater Lee’s evolution into a relief pitcher was somewhat unexpected. As a freshman, Lee’s complete game, two-hit shutout of defending national champion UCLA and Cal Poly’s subsequent series win was a big statement in the Mustangs’ 2014 season. That season Cal Poly probably had its best season ever in Division I with Lee starting 11 games. While Lee’s strong start as a freshman didn’t carry over into subsequent seasons, Slater showed some strong makeup, retooling over the course of the next two seasons into something of a super utility pitcher. As a senior, his 20 appearances were third most on the team.

Nick Meyer (Sophomore, Catcher)

Nick Meyer, post-mustache in 2017. A leader on the Cal Poly team, Meyer is poised for his junior season in 2018. By Owen Main

Living up to high standards

Last season, Lucas Clark (the Tribune writer who used to be on the Cal Poly beat) asked me whether Nick Meyer was the best defensive catcher in recent Cal Poly memory. “Well,” I explained, “There’s this guy named Chris Hoo. He won the national gold glove. He’s probably the standard that other Cal Poly catchers will be measured against for a long time.” 

So, the biggest credit I can give Meyer is this — he seems some very Hoo-like in his stability and approach. Larry Lee gave Meyer the reigns as a true freshman and he hasn’t looked back. 

Though he hit just .255 in 2017, Meyer started and played in 55 of Cal Poly’s 56 games (a few in right field) and hit two home runs while driving-in 31. He struck out and walked just 17 times each and his bat to ball skills are really solid. Balancing that hit tool with an effort to drive the ball harder and farther will be something to look for from Meyer in 2018.

National Team and beyond

This summer, Larry Lee is an assistant coach on the US Collegiate National Team, and he brought his catcher. Meyer was used mostly as a backup on the USA team, but he did throw out three of seven would-be base stealers. The experience could provide some confidence and insight for Meyer, who should be an up-the-middle cornerstone in 2018.

If Cal Poly is going to move forward from a few disappointing seasons in a row, they’ll need Meyer to take another step too. Meyer has always had very good bat control, but he’ll need to be more steady at the plate. Defensively, he was probably the second-best catcher in the conference last year and could compete for that crown in 2018. He takes a lot of chances, but he cut his throwing mistakes down in 2017 and figures to take another step in 2018. Having talented juniors in baseball is like having talented seniors in other sports. Meyer will be one of a hand-full in 2018 for Larry Lee. 

Cal Poly Athletic Director Don Oberhelman joined the podcast on this edition. Oberhelman talked about some of the projects going on at Cal Poly, reflected on the 2016-17 school year, and was pretty straightforward when posed questions about conference expansion and conferences in general. 

UCSD has been trying to get into NCAA Division I for years. For a while, it looked like it was finally happening. Then, the Cal State system stepped in. 

In a shocker that shouldn’t have been, it seems as though Cal State Presidents voted “No” while UC Chancellors voted “Yes” to extending UCSD an offer. 

Here’s a paragraph from a recent OP-ED in the UCSD Guardian (a paper I used to write for):

When looking at the composition of the conference, it is evenly balanced between UC and CSU schools, with four of each as well as a ninth school in the University of Hawai’i at Manoa. Seven of the chancellors or presidents in the conference needed to approve the move in order for UCSD to be admitted. Numerous sources have indicated that the UC Chancellors voted “yes” while the Cal State Presidents voted “no.” There is reliable speculation that the Cal State schools opposed UCSD’s membership as part of an ongoing effort to gain conference membership for Cal State Bakersfield. Thus, UCSD has seen its NCAA Division I ambitions stalled, not for lack of merit or conference fit, but as part of a political agenda.

For some history, CSU Bakersfield was not admitted into the Big West Conference when it made its move to Division I between 2006 and 2010. Apparently, CSU schools and UC Schools vote together a lot of the time like bad political parties. Parties with potentially long memories.

With Hawai’i as the 9th school, they are the current would-be tiebreakers. But, as it says above, you need seven schools to vote yes. And seven schools did not vote yes.

As indicated above, schools seem to have voted along party lines for and against UCSD’s admission. It could be the exact opposite of how CSU Bakersfield’s vote went. It’s also the kind of thing that makes a person just want to give up college athletics all together. But politics are a reality of NCAA sports at every level. 

The “logic” of it all

A logical decision by any of the individual schools throughout the Big West might be to let UCSD in. There is no real compelling reason not to. Many of their facilities are better than many of the current Big West schools. Their academic reputation would instantly vault them to being in the top 1-3 in the conference. They’d give the Big West a San Diego school and make the number of teams in the conference an easy one. You can see why any individual school in the Big West might think this is a good idea. 

But we’re talking about real life Survivor here. There are deep alliances. There may have been hurt feelings in the past. There is also money and unclear motives on the part of stakeholders that up the intrigue of the whole thing from an outsider’s perspective and engender distrust and disillusionment of the whole process and structure.

But, as an alum of both the UCSD and a CSU school (Cal Poly), I must come to understand realities at some point. Here we are.

One point I want to make sure I memorialize is that NOWHERE has anyone in the know said “UCSD wouldn’t be a great fit for the Big West,” or “We don’t want UCSD,” or “UCSD’s athletic department didn’t show us they were ready for Division I or the Big West.” They are ready. They have spent hours and days and years preparing for an invitation. Everyone thought it was a good idea. Athletic directors unanimously recommended the Tritons.

And when the time came… well… the Tritons were stood up. The invitation didn’t come.

Some possible scenarios

Moving forward, maybe these are tons of possible scenarios. Some of them are realistic. Some of them are me spitballing. Hopefully you can tell the difference.

1. The CSU decides to change their answer without any other changes to the deal. Maybe they were hung up on where in RIMAC UCSD was going to sell hot dogs, or on how the colors are too similar to the other UC schools. So maybe some of the presidents break with party lines vote yes and, presto! UCSD is in. UCSD has over a year to be invited, so we could all just wait. This is not a likely scenario.
2. Some kind of deal can be struck. Maybe this means along with UCSD, the Big West reverses course on CSU Bakersfield (which already competes in the Big West for beach volleyball). This would allow the conference to maintain an even number of UC’s and CSU’s. The problematic thing would be Hawai’i then. An 11th team does some weird things for schedules. Those issues are of much less import, apparently, than the two public school systems in California having uneven representation. I guess there could also be whatever issues with CSUB the Big West had a decade ago. They could still be issues. Maybe issues they’re willing to look past now? I dunno. Moving on. 
3. Would the CSU schools even block a move like number two? They could. CSU athletics already have a strong Division I program in San Diego. San Diego State has an FBS football program and competes in the stronger Mountain West Conference. Would CSU presidents be instructed to vote no, even if CSU Bakersfield was on the table? Sacrificing CSUB being in a conference that makes better geographical sense to maintain a stranglehold on D-1 athletics in San Diego seems like kind of a gangster move. Who knows? I’m really just thinking out loud here. 
4. Wait it out. For a long time. This is the thing that UCSD students, staff, faculty, and alumni are probably rooting against the most. They did everything they needed to. Everyone was poised to make it happen. And then it didn’t happen. In 5 or 10 years, it’s a possibility that the “Power 5” NCAA conferences (Pac 12, ACC, SEC, Big 12, Big 10) will split off into their own system or governing body, leaving the rest of college athletics to sort out the ensuing mess. If UCSD doesn’t get into the Big West by their self-imposed deadline, they would be stuck in a Division they have long outgrown for the forseeable future. 
5. There are other shades of things above and probably outcomes I haven’t considered. I’m not the CSU Chancellor or the UC Chancellor. I do not sit with the UC Regents at their meetings (I sure did write those people a LOT of checks in my day, though). Maybe all it’ll take is for Janet Napolitano and Timothy White to have lunch together and hash it out. If it were only that simple.

If you want to just blow it up…

I’m going to throw this in here — you can comment below and tell me if I’m wrong or crazy or whatever… . Again, it’s just spitballing. 

If the CSU really wants all the power over its conferences, why doesn’t it just START ITS OWN CONFERENCE. Think about it. Members would be Sac State, San Jose State, Fresno State, Cal Poly, CSU Bakersfield, CSUN, Long Beach State, Cal State Fullerton, and San Diego State. Did I miss anybody? That makes nine teams. Have Cal Poly and Sac State still play in the Big Sky in football, let SJSU, Fresno State, and SDSU compete in whatever FBS conference they want for football, and call it a day. 

The outlier here would be Cal Poly in terms of academics. This would be really tough for Cal Poly, since getting into school there is often more difficult than most/all UC schools in the Big West. Having them only compete against other CSUs would only heighten that academic inequity.

Where does that leave the UC schools? In the cold I guess. The remaining schools (UCSB, UC Davis, UC Riverside, UC Irvine, and presumably UCSD) could go off into their own conference. I don’t think there are any other UC’s with big athletic aspirations (the Division III UC Santa Cruz Banana Slugs aren’t exactly an athletic powerhouse). Perhaps Hawai’i would go with the UC’s. Maybe they pick up a few WAC schools like Grand Canyon, Seattle, etc… to round out the conference. 

None of this nuclear option is good for anybody, but it was in my head for a bit, so I’m writing it down. Everybody takes their own ball and goes home so they can play by their own rules and have complete control over everything. It would be the ultimate third-grader-with-a-bad-attitude move. I’ve seen worse in college sports.

Here’s hoping nothing ever comes to ridiculousness like this. Having UC and CSU schools in the same conference is good for college athletics in the state, and using one school’s D-1 bid as a bargaining chip is lame. Figure something out people and stop leaving UCSD and their students, staff, and alumni hanging.

More reading on the Subject:

UCSD’s Way Forward to Division I (Union-Tribune) 

Big West Denies UCSD’s Quest for Div. I (Union-Tribune)

UCSD Students vote to fund Division I Sports (Union-Tribune)

Big West Denies UCSD Division I Membership (UCSD Guardian)

Athletics Director addresses UCSD’s Future for Going D-1 (UCSD Guardian)

On Tuesday afternoon, UCSD announced that the students had approved a measure to increase student fees in order to start the process of moving to Division I. It was a long time coming.

After multiple failed attempts over the past decade to make the move, the time was right. Of the over 8,000 students who voted (35 percent of the student body), about 70 percent of the voters said “Yes.”

“Division I will help extend the entire university’s culture of excellence, align us with peer academic institutions, improve the student experience, strengthen our brand, increase alumni engagement and further our community connection. This move will impact the entire campus in a multitude of ways,” said UCSD Director of Athletics Earl Edwards in a release from UCSD Athletics.

Excitement

People were pretty pumped on social media today.

UCSD students overwhelmingly pass the DI referendum. DI here we come! Go @UCSDtritons !! pic.twitter.com/V7UMGIOafs

— Brad Kreutzkamp (@UCSDcoachK) May 24, 2016

Got chills watching the announcement all said and done UCSD is D1 bound #tritonsrising

— Justin Donatella (@jdonatella9) May 24, 2016

UCSD IS NOW GOING DIVISION 1!!!! So proud to have taken part in the pro side of this referendum ??? #UCSD #Tritons

— Kelly Weldon (@kellyweldon20) May 24, 2016

Not D-1 yet

Many were tweeting on Tuesday that UCSD was now “officially Division I.” That’s actually not the case. The vote was provisional and dependent on the University finding a Division I conference.

Enter the Big West, which we are quite familiar with here at Fansmanship. The conference currently includes Cal Poly, UCSB, UC Davis, Hawai’i, CSUN, Long Beach State, UC Irvine, UC Riverside, and Cal State Fullerton. UCSD could be the tenth team –it makes so much sense from an outsider’s perspective — but including the Tritons will still take a number of steps on the part of the Big West and the UCSD administration.

@BigWestMD @Ghizal_Hasan Thanks Steve!

— fansmanship (@fansmanship) May 24, 2016

So, there’s still clearly some work to do, and the concept that UCSD is already rubber-stamped is one the Big West doesn’t seem to like very much.

In the end, UCSD seems to make way too much sense not to be the 10th Big West Conference school.

A proud alumnus

Hey, in case you haven’t heard, I did my undergraduate studies at UCSD. While I never voted in an election like this between 1999 and 2003, students before me voted to fund projects like the Price Center and RIMAC, adding tons of value to my college experience and that of thousands of other students over the years.

In terms of what matters to me about on-campus life, UCSD basically had everything I could want — except Division I athletics.

Over the past week, 6,137 students paved the way to change the future of UCSD. For that, I couldn’t be more proud. Way to go Tritons.

At the helm of Cal Poly athletics since 2011, Don Oberhelman’s time at Cal Poly has included both the women’s and men’s basketball teams’ first respective trips to the NCAA tournament, the first NCAA baseball regional that Cal Poly has hosted, and a number of other successes.

Don took a chunk of time out of his schedule to sit down with me and talk about what he values in a head coach, what it’s like to be an athletic director at Cal Poly, and what some of his priorities are now. I know I learned a lot on a lot of fronts. It’s an hour-plus podcast, but I had a lot to ask him about and, frankly, Don had a lot to say. Hope you enjoy!