What about Bob?

I briskly made my way across campus after class let out last Thursday night.

It wasn’t the cold that had me in a hurry, though.

It was game night, and I was intent on sitting down in Mott Gym before the halftime buzzer sounded.

The scoreboard showed a predictable 14-point Cal Poly lead against UC Davis. I didn’t expect the Aggies to put up much of a fight, especially being that they’re not officially a Division I team until next season after their transition process from Division II is complete.

“Did I miss anything big?” I asked my buddy Terrance, who was saving a seat for me.

“Nah, not much. A dunk by Dreshawn (Vance) and that’s about it. Davis’ offense is pretty much no bueno.”

The synopsis delivered by Terrance gave me hope that Cal Poly would run away with the game.

Enter Cal Poly’s evil twin – for the sake of a name, we’ll call him Bob.

Bob doesn’t score too many points and tends to get torched defensively, sometimes for 50 points in a half. Bob builds brick houses from the free-throw line and gets pounded on the boards.

Bob is Cal Poly’s alter ego. Bob is why Cal Poly is 7-8 instead of 10-5.

Sometimes Bob stays dormant for the first half and wakes up just in time to toy with the Mustangs in the second half. Sometimes he wreaks havoc for the entire game.

For example, week one, game one: Cal Poly 41, Southeastern Louisiana 23. Then, along came Bob. Final score: Southeastern Louisiana 76, Cal Poly 69.

On Dec. 3, Bob was on the court for the full 40 minutes. San Jose State won its first game of the season 80-63. To date, the Spartans are 2-14.

Bob has also made appearances against Long Beach State and, most recently, UC Davis.

Cal Poly isn’t a bad basketball team. They’re certainly better than a 7-8 record. However, Bob is a very bad basketball team and Bob is preventing the Mustangs from making a run at the Big West Conference title.

On that frigid Thursday night, Cal Poly failed to put away a mediocre, at best, opponent in UC Davis. The Mustangs didn’t shoot poorly – 52.6 percent from the floor and 4 for 8 from 3-point range in the second half. Bob instead chose to focus his attention on the glass and in the passing lanes.

The Aggies had 15 offensive rebounds, mostly due to a concerted second-half effort, and forced Bob into 21 turnovers (again, most of them coming in the second half).

Cal Poly limped away with a 72-68 win despite Bob’s second-half appearance, but it was yet another grim reminder that the team’s yin-yang nature is a major issue.

Before the season began, I picked Cal Poly to win the Big West and earn a trip to the NCAA Tournament. That prediction seems far away from reality now that the Mustangs are 1-3 in conference play, but they can start the climb to the top with a win at Central Coast rival UC Santa Barbara on Saturday.

With 10 games remaining on the conference schedule, Cal Poly may need to win out to capture the regular-season title and give credence to the prediction.

But what about Bob?

Bob is the only thing standing between Cal Poly dominance and a broken season.