As early Big West Conference men’s basketball schedules get released, Long Beach State’s looks the toughest so far.
The 49ers, who went 6-25 last season under first-year head coach Dan Monson, have assembled what the Long Beach Press-Telegram calls one of the “most impressive … and daunting” slates in the program’s history (which includes eras helmed by coaching legends such as Jerry Tarkanian, Lute Olson and Tex Winter).
It features visits to BYU, Wisconsin, Oregon and Syracuse, and a home date with Temple.
Through a news release, Monson admitted it may be “a little bit too much” for a team still reeling from NCAA penalization.
Maybe it’s why Thursday the 49ers announced the signing of a relatively unknown 7-footer, Mike Vantrimpont.
In any case, as far as a single game, the daredevil distinction is held by UC Santa Barbara, which hosts North Carolina on Nov. 21. (Last year, the Gauchos lost at the Tar Heels 105-70.)
UC Irvine, meanwhile, heads to USC and welcomes Oregon before hosting Utah.
Cal Poly’s schedule is yet to be released, but the Mustangs will give Utah State a shot at revenge for last year’s 83-69 decision at Mott Gym by playing at the Aggies on Nov. 29. Stay tuned for looming predictions on the conference’s order.
Pacific could be the frontrunner. The Tigers return their top 12 scorers from last season (all but 1.7 of their 72.2 points per outing), when they went 21-10, fourth in the league despite having its third-most overall wins.
First-place UCSB, on the other hand, loses its all-time leading scorer in guard Alex Harris.
No. 2 Cal State Northridge will be without forward Calvin Chitwood (20-game starter; 10.7 ppg) and guard Jonathan Heard (30-game starter; 11.4 ppg).
Conference champion Cal State Fullerton, which loses six of its top 10 scorers, will likely be hit the hardest.
Co-finalist UC Irvine will have to make up for the departures of forward Patrick Sanders and center Darren Fells, who combined for 29.5 points and 12.1 rebounds per contest a season ago.
To a lesser extent, Cal Poly will face similar frontcourt questions, without power forwards Matt Hanson and Dreshawn Vance, who teamed for 14.9 points and 10 rebounds per game in 2007-08.
Last year, Cal Poly announced its schedule Aug. 14.