While most students took a four-week break in preparation for winter quarter, the Cal Poly sports teams competed in games spanning the West Coast and the Big West Conference underwent more changes.
Before the Boise State Broncos could even join the Big West, they are out. Though Boise State’s teams, aside from football, were expected to complement the addition of San Diego State, Boise State removed its football team from the Big East and remained in the Mountain West Conference. The school and the Mountain West also paid a $5 million exit fee to the Big East, despite never officially entering the conference. The Mountain West does not accept partial members and therefore all of Boise State’s athletic programs will enter that conference.
The move has set off speculation that San Diego State, which announced its intention to join the Big East for football and the Big West for its other programs later this year, will instead follow Boise State to the Mountain West.
Big West Commissioner Dennis Farrell said in a statement, “While Boise State’s decision is disappointing, the Big West Conference is well-positioned to move forward with its solid core of committed and nationally respected members. Furthermore, it has not been appropriate for me or anyone else to speculate at this time on any membership decision that San Diego State might make as a result of Boise State’s move.”
If San Diego State does remain in the conference for the start of the 2013 academic year, the Big West would maintain its current 10-member status because of Pacific’s departure next year. Sacramento State is a partial member for men’s soccer only.
Men’s Basketball
Following the program’s win over a then-ranked UCLA squad in Los Angeles, the men’s basketball team has gone 5-4 to push its record to 7-6 overall. However, following a 12-point loss to Washington the team rebounded for three straight wins over Big West Conference opponents.
The team lost Amaurys Fermin and Will Taylor to graduation and was picked to finish seventh in the 10-team Big West Conference in a preseason coach’s poll, but defeated Long Beach State and UC Irvine, which were selected to finish second and third, respectively.
“In the Big West, the word upset needs to be eliminated,” head coach Joe Callero said. “We can see from the first game in the conference that any team can beat any team, any night on their home court.”
Chris Eversley, who led the team in scoring six conference games last season, is averaging more than 15 points per game. Senior Dylan Royer is second on the team in scoring, averaging 10.1 points per game, and is shooting 42 percent from behind the arc. The Mustangs, with their 72-67 win over UC Irvine on Saturday, led the Big West with their 3-0 mark, the best conference start for the team in 16 years.
The team, which was 5-10 away from Mott Gym last season, goes on its first conference road trip over the next two weekends when it plays UC Davis, Pacific and UC Santa Barbara.
Women’s Basketball
The Cal Poly women’s basketball team (7-6, 1-1 Big West) won two of five games over winter break, but is coming off an 18-point victory over UC Irvine on the road. In that game, sophomore Ariana Elegado scored 20 points and two other players, Brittany Woodard and Molly Schlemer, scored in the double-figures.
Elegado, a redshirt sophomore from San Diego, leads the team with 12.9 points per game from the guard spot. She has also hit 41 percent of her team-high 70 3-point attempts.
In a preseason coaches poll, the Mustangs were predicted to finish fourth in the conference just one year after losing all-time points leader Kristina Santiago to graduation. The team was upset in the semifinals of the Big West tournament last season by the Aggies.
The team begins a three-game homestand tonight when the Mustangs face UC Davis at 7 p.m. in Mott Gym. The Mustangs also take on Pacific on Saturday then rival UC Santa Barbara on Jan. 19.
Wrestling
The Cal Poly wrestling team competes on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. in Mott Gym against Pac-12 foe Cal State Bakersfield in its first match since dropping two of three matches last weekend. The young team that lost Boris Novachkov, who placed second in the national championships in 2011 and third in 2012, to graduation last year boasts a 2-4 record.
Cal Poly’s lone ranked wrestler is 133-pounder Devon Lotito (21-6), who Amatuer Wrestling News listed as the 13th best in the nation in his weight class, will take on No. 12 Ian Nickell (23-6).
The Mustangs will be without heavyweight Atticus Disney, who has not wrestled since early December, and defending Pac-12 Champion Dominic Kastl, who has not wrestled all season because of a back injury.
J.J. Jenkins and Jefferson Nolan contributed to this report.