Cal State Northridge Men's Basketball Preview

SO CLOSE TO THE END!  My apologies for not speaking clearly, post midnight recordings don't always translate to "cohesive speaking."


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2012 Big West Men's Soccer Tournament

The seeds have been set and the Big West Tournament begins today.  Representing the North Division is UC Davis and Cal Poly and representing the South Division is Cal State Northridge and Cal State Fullerton. The matchups are as follows:

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2012 2:00 PM
S2. Fullerton vs N1. UC Davis

This matchup that happened one month ago ended in a 2-1 win for UC Davis.  However, Fullerton's Ian Ramos will be the key in this matchup.  The freshman phenom has been outstanding this season, collecting 5 points and 3 assists, averaging 2.3 shots/game.  The Aggies however, have been a much more well rounded team, depending on the conference's top defense and outstanding goalkeeping by Omar Zeenni (who averages under a goal/game).  I'm going to give advantage to the defense here:

My Prediction: Aggies win 1-0

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2012 7:00 PM
N2. Cal Poly vs S1. Northridge

These two teams are very evenly matched by looking at the in-conference statistics and it shows by their lone matchup this year (a 1-0 victory for the Matadors).  Northridge's Segi Lev-Ari and Mackenzie Pridam have been goal machines, collecting 12 and 11 goals each respectively.  The goalkeepers (all three of them) have been also instrumental for how well the teans have done.  While Northridge won the earlier match, Cal Poly has more momentum going right now, beating UCSB twice in front of large crowds, thus sealing their playoffs.

My Prediction: Cal Poly 2, Northridge 1 (OT)

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2012 1:00 PM
*Cal Poly vs *UC Davis
Considering that two of Davis' three losses came to the Mustangs, I don't see that trend changing...

My Prediction: Cal Poly wins 1-0


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Big West Tournament Preview: Women's Soccer

The seeds are set and playoffs begin tonight for the Big West crown.  Tonight's semifinals take place at Anteater Stadium at UCI beginning at 5:00 PM.

Semifinal No. 1: No. 2 Cal State Northridge vs No. 3 Cal Poly, 5:00 PM
This matchup is an intriguing one: Northridge held their playoff position by knocking out the defending BWC champs LBSU in double overtime, while Cal Poly was conference leader until the final weekend.  History is on the Mustangs side as Cal Poly is 7-0-1 in semifinals all-time while Northridge has never won a semifinals match.  However, Northridge is riding all the momentum off that LBSU win.  Head-to-head this season, the Matadors and the Mustangs drew 2-2, and we can expect more of the same for tonight's matchup.  However, I expect Goalkeeper of the Year, Cynthia Jacobo, in her senior year to lead the Matadors to their first Big West postseason victory.

My Prediction: Northridge 2, Cal Poly 0

Semifinal No. 2: No. 1 Cal State Fullerton vs. No. 4 UCI, 7:30 PM
Who's ready for an upset?  UCI comes in riding a 0-1-3 "safe" record to keep their last seed.  Home-field advantage is a powerful thing though, especially in soccer.   UCI also won the only matchup between these two this season, 3-1 at Fullerton.  Fullerton's Stacey Fox has been averaging 1.00 PPG, however, if she can be shut down like UCI did earlier, the Titans will have big problems beating what seems to be a desperate team that needs just a spark of life.

My Prediction: UCI 1, Fullerton 0

Final: No. 2 Northridge vs No. 4 UCI
My Prediction: Northridge 1, UCI 1 (Northridge wins 4-3 on Penalties)

Below is where you can follow the matches LIVE:

Semifinals • November 1	Time	Story	Media
No. 2 Cal State Northridge vs. No. 3 Cal Poly	5:00 pm	Recap	Live Stats  Radio - CSUN
No. 1 Cal State Fullerton vs. No. 4 UC Irvine	7:30 pm	Recap	Live Stats  Radio - CSF
Finals • November 4	Time
Winner of Match 1 vs. Winner of Match 2	1:00 pm	Recap	FOX Prime Ticket  Live Stats

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Wahine volleyball hit the road this week

The University of Hawai'i women's volleyball team hit the road yesterday to embark on a three match road trip starting on Wednesday against Cal State Northridge at 7pm PTin the Matadome. This will be the first conference match in the Big West for the Wahine since they left the conference back in 1996. The Matadors enter the match with a 9-3 record with wins against Arizona and Texas Tech. Natalie Allen leads the team in kills with 89 and has a .320 hitting pct. They will face the toughest opponent this season with the seventh ranked Rainbow Wahine(7-2).

Hawai'i will then play at UC Riverside on Friday Sept. 21 at 7pm PT in the SRC Arena. The Highlanders started the season strong going 3-1 only to struggle as of late as they are currently 5-8. Amanda Vialpando leads the team in kills per set with 3.24 and is ninth in kills in the Big West. Freshman Emily Borges is second in the conference in service aces with 19. In fact UCR leads the Big West in service aces per set with 1.77.

Finally, the Rainbow Wahine close out their long road trip with a stop at Fullerton, CA to face the Titans. They will play Saturday night Sept. 22 at 7pm PT in Titan Gym. Kayla Neto is sixth in the Big West in kills averaging 3.93 per set. CSUF has a 6-7 record with wins at Nevada and SMU.

Introducing the Big West Teams: Cal State University, Northridge

Over the next few weeks, I'm going to introduce the current members of the Big West conference.  This introduction will focus on the school, the fans, the athletics and other random trivial facts.  Hopefully, this will be an educational and fun introduction.  Of course, if you the alumni/fan of that team would like to correct me, feel free to do so in the comment section below or shoot me an email.
With that, allow me to introduce (in alphabetical order) the next member of the current Big West Conference: Cal State Northridge Matadors.

Morning Links 3/28/12

Good morning! Here's some links for you to enjoy!

EVERYONE PANIC! PACIFIC IS PLANNING TO JUMP SHIP!
So don't panic, they're looking at the WCC.  This makes sense because Pacific is the lone private school in the conference, who are religiously affiliated.  The Big West shouldn't worry though, we have SDSU and Hawaii incoming, with also the possibility of CSU Bakersfield if the commissioner wants to go that route.

Kristina Santiago named honorable All-American
And do you blame AP for this decision?  She was practically unstoppable, and she's getting scouted professionally.

CSU Northridge volleyball coach Stork selected to Volleyball Hall of Fame
Outside of the potential joke that is "I didn't know they had a Volleyball Hall of Fame"...Stork's playing resume is pretty impressive, one that highlights a gold medal in the 1988 Olympics.

Tuesday's softball recaps
The highlight of which would be Pacific's dominance in a doubleheader against CSU Bakersfield.

Tuesday's baseball recaps
In what could have been a close loss, UCSB turned it around and beat Pepperdine 10-5.  Other games yesterday: ASU beat the Titans 1-0 and SDSU beat UCR 7-3.

Seen anything I've missed? Comment below!

"Playoffs? PLAYOFFS? You kidden' me? PLAYOFFS?"

Yes...playoffs, college basketball playoffs for that.  Why are we back talking about basketball playoffs? Because while we had the open threads and some coverage, we really had no closure of the teams who made the different playoffs.  So thank you to those who reminded me that I needed to finish, this one's for you.

Morning Links 3/2/12

Happy Friday!  Little late this morning, but lets hop into it:

UCSB continues it's pursuit of the No 2 seed with a win over Pacific
They should be able to clinch it outright with a win over the Aggies on Saturday night (remember that Fullerton plays LBSU).

Cal Poly beats Davis 69-56
Interesting fact of the night: the Mustangs had three players get into double-digits with points (David Hanson-16, Dylan Royer-14 and Chris Eversley-13)

A full slate of Women's BB recaps in conference play
UCR finished their season completely with a loss to UCI, while the Anteaters and the 49ers pause to wait for their final seeding.

Interesting piece on UCR Women's BB Coach, John Margaritis
This is basically an article showing that the coach doesn't believe in double standards. Margaritis made an example of discipline by suspending his best player the final 3 games for an unspecified incident, while still fighting to try and just make the conference tourney.

Matadors 4, USD 3
Steven Keller of the Matadors hit 2 HR's and had 4 RBI's to beat the Toreros in the Aztec Invitational.

Aztecs 4, No 22 Mustangs 3
SDSU walked off with a single to right, as the future BWC team beat Cal Poly.

Highlanders softball shutout Portland State to begin the Highlander Classic
Jordyn McDonald had a 2-hit complete game as UCR won 5-0.

See anything I missed? Comment below!

Morning Links 2/29/12

Happy Leap Day and actual last day of February!  Here are some links to read for your slow Wednesday:

Preview of UCI-LBSU game
Anteaters travel to the Walter Pyramid in hopes of blemishing the 49ers perfect conference record.

Preview of the Northridge-Fullerton game
Biggest question to be answered in my opinion: will the Titans fall to another bottom feeder?

Honda Center and the Big West name ampm official convieniece store
Does this mean that we can get Hostess pies and Rockstar's during the tourney because I would be all over that!

WBB: Pacific beats 49ers
The Tigers shot well from behind the 3-pt line (47.4%), and from behind the free throw line (although 62.1% is not a good percentage at all from the line).

Baseball recaps from Tuesday's games
Biggest news is that Pacific won their first game of the season against Sacramento State racking up 18 hits and 13 runs.

Did you see anything I missed?  Comment below!

Big West Baseball: One week done in the season with a big weekend coming up

We are one week done with the season and so far, the teams have not really managed to follow the Preseason Poll.  Only 4 games have been played though, with a huge slate of 3 game series this weekend.  Let's look at them:

Cal Poly (3-1): @Loyola Marymount (Feb 24-26)
UC Davis (3-1): @Cal State Bakersfield (Feb 24-26)
UC Irvine (3-1): vs Washington (Feb 24-26)
Cal State Northridge (2-2): vs Northwestern (Feb 25-26, Feb 24 game was cancelled)
LBSU (2-2): vs Cal (Feb 24-26)
UC Riverside (2-2): @ASU (Feb 24-26)
Cal State Fullerton (1-2): vs TCU (Feb 24-26)
UCSB (1-3): @San Jose State (Feb 24-26)
Pacific (0-5): @USD (Feb 24, 26) @SDSU (Feb 25)

So what can we predict from the outcomes? The big ones obviously are UCR traveling to Tempe to take on the No. 13 Sun Devils and the Titans hosting No. 15 TCU.  Both of these series' will obviously be a success if UCR and Fullerton can take 2 of 3 or sweep, reestablishing Big West competitiveness against other western conferences.  Cal Poly is going to take on a very tough LMU (2-1) who scores a lot of runs, but gives up a lot as well.  The Aggies are going to have a challenge themselves against potential future Big West members Cal State Bakersfield (3-1).  The Roadrunners have outscored their opponents (Kansas State and Fresno State) 24-11.  The Anteaters are facing off against a high octane Washington (2-2) team who, like LMU give up runs as much as they score: the Huskies have scored and given up 29 through 4 games.  If UCI can force Washington in a pitchers duel, I can see them winning the series.  Due to weather conditions in the Midwest, the first game of the three game series between the Matadors and the Wildcats (1-2) was cancelled.  However, Northridge should like their chances as Northwestern didn't fare so well in the Big Ten/Big East Challenge.  LBSU will have to play their best if they want to win against Cal (3-0).  However Cal beat up on Pacific, so they haven't really been tested yet.  UCSB has a very evenly matched series with the Spartans (1-3) who have seemed to have a hard time finding an offensive rhythm.  Pacific looks to gain their first win against either USD (2-2) or future Big West mates SDSU (1-4).  Look for the Tigers to gain that first win against the Aztecs because the Toreros put the whipping on KSU 15-1 in their last game.

Good luck to all Big West teams this weekend.