Lame-Duck Rebels Might Be Good Enough to Win

The clock is running on the final Big West title race with Nevada Las Vegas still in the mix, as many teams begin conference play tonight. The undersized, injury-hit Rebels believe they have a shot at winning one more championship before bolting to the Western Athletic Conference.

Trust us, this isn’t good news for the Big West.

With all their problems, the Rebels shouldn’t have much hope. But watching the Big West in action inspires confidence--or at least makes you chuckle.

“The Big West has obviously been struggling in the nonconference season,” said Bill Bayno, the Rebels’ first-year coach. “Hopefully, our league will get better as the season goes on.”

Before the season, Big West executives, athletic directors and coaches stressed the need for big results in nonconference play. The opposite has occurred, and there’s no getting around it.

Yes, there were some quality victories and a shocker or two. However, the conference didn’t get it done overall.

Against Division I competition, the Big West’s record is 28-47. The Big West is 1-8 against the Pacific 10 Conference (Long Beach State defeated hapless Oregon State for the lone victory). The West Coast Conference has won 13 of 18 from the Big West.

The low point came Dec. 16. Miami of Ohio defeated Long Beach while making fewer than three of 10 shots from the field, and the Big West dropped seven of nine nonconference games.

“It’s been very disappointing,” Nevada Coach Pat Foster said. “Just the whole lack of wins is upsetting because we needed them as a conference. We just haven’t done enough.”

Nevada was solid, defeating Brigham Young and Colorado State. Long Beach had its moments with victories over George Mason, Hawaii and St. Mary’s. Pacific defeated Fresno State and pushed Santa Clara before losing.

UC Irvine won the biggest game in Coach Rod Baker’s tenure, shocking St. John’s of the Big East in the final of its tournament. And UNLV upset No. 19 Michigan.

But those victories are negated by many losses, Foster said. It took Utah State, the defending conference champion, 10 games to earn its first Division-I victory.

The Aggies, despite the protests of Coach Larry Eustachy, were picked to repeat as Big West champions in preseason polls by the coaches and media. Eustachy repeatedly said his team wasn’t very good, and seems to be right.

“I’m tired of trying to figure us out, but I think Long Beach has done quite well,” Eustachy said. “[Long Beach] beating Hawaii and Irvine going to St. John’s and winning are great wins.

“I think a lot of the records are deceiving. There have been a lot of close games and, in general, everyone has had tougher nonconference schedules to go along with what the conference seems to want.”

With the loss of UNLV and the ESPN Big Monday deal, Big West officials are doing what they can to keep the conference in the public eye. Competitive schedules help, but victories are the key.

“We’re requiring all of our schools to step up their nonconference schedules,” Commissioner Dennis Farrell said. “The only thing we can control is the quality of the schedule, then it’s up to our schools.”

So far, the job is only half done.

“[The conference] has fallen off dramatically,” Foster said. “I don’t say that to dog anybody, it just has, and everybody feels the same way.”

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Big Monday blues: Being part of Big Monday brought the conference national recognition. Losing that exposure is too huge to measure, UC Santa Barbara Coach Jerry Pimm said.

“It hurts us quite a bit, but I can’t put a number on it,” Pimm said. “We earned our way on to Monday night television and we have to earn our way back on.

“We have to prove ourselves over and over again. If we can do that, we’ll get back to getting some exposure. It’s that simple.”