USIU Begins Its Version of ‘February Madness’ Against San Diego State Tonight

U.S. International’s game tonight against San Diego State at the San Diego Sports Arena is the start of its “playoff” season. For the Aztecs, it is little more than a late-season break from a Western Athletic Conference season gone sour.

The Gulls are approaching the 7:30 game as if it were the first half of a two-game playoff against San Diego’s other NCAA Division I teams--the Aztecs tonight, the University of San Diego on Tuesday.

It is an interesting way for USIU to end what Coach Gary Zarecky says is the best of his four seasons at the school.

The city rivalries have given his team something to play for when normally their season would be winding down. As an independent with a losing record (11-15), the Gulls have no chance at post-season play, but victories in these final two games could make their season, Zarecky said.

The games will serve as a shortened city series. Scheduling difficulties prevented SDSU and USD from playing each other this season, the first time since 1978-79 that the teams did not meet. That leaves the Gulls to provide a late-season measuring stick between the programs. “In the past, by the time February hit, the kids realized they weren’t playing for anything,” Zarecky said. “This has given them a reason to get emotional about the end of the season.”

Pardon SDSU Coach Jim Brandenburg if he doesn’t share Zarecky’s enthusiasm. His team, too, has a losing record (11-14), but unlike the Gulls, the Aztecs can still qualify for post-season play by winning the WAC tournament. The game against USIU comes at time when Brandenburg would prefer to be preparing his team to play its final WAC regular-season games next week at New Mexico and Texas El Paso.

Brandenburg said he would have preferred to play this game in December, along with his other non-conference games.

“We play our games where the schedule says they fall,” Brandenburg said. “That’s all we can do.”

Both coaches expect a return to an earlier date next season. So Zarecky figures he might as well enjoy the opportunity while it lasts. He just hopes it works out more like the Gulls’ 87-81 victory in 1986-87 than their 103-68 loss last season.

“The one thing I don’t want to happen is to be blown out,” Zarecky said. “That did nothing to help our respect or credibility.”