Titans, Anteaters Battle for Tournament Berths

Pacific is the runaway winner in the Big West Conference’s Western Division and will be the division’s top-seeded team in the conference tournament next week in Reno. The division’s other three playoff spots are up for grabs going into the final weekend of the regular season.

Cal State Fullerton, with two victories in its last three games, has emerged in the best position of the four teams in contention for the three playoff berths. UC Irvine, meanwhile, can decide its own fate.

The Titans can clinch a spot with a victory at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo Thursday or at UC Santa Barbara Saturday.

Fullerton (10-14) also could clinch a playoff appearance without a victory if either UC Irvine or Long Beach State go winless in its final two games. Fullerton swept two games from each team for the first time since 1986 to gain a tiebreaker advantage.

“We just have to concentrate on our own game and not worry about the other games,” Titan Coach Bob Hawking said.

Irvine (8-16) needs only to beat Santa Barbara tonight to qualify for the tournament. If the Anteaters lose, they will need help from other teams. Irvine, which ends the regular season Saturday at San Luis Obispo, is on the short end of tiebreakers with Fullerton and Long Beach, which also swept the Anteaters.

Fullerton, Irvine, Long Beach and San Luis Obispo are tied for second with 5-9 conference records. Santa Barbara, which has beaten Fullerton and Irvine, is 4-10.

San Luis Obispo is playing only its third season as a Division I team and since it cannot receive the conference’s automatic berth into the NCAA tournament until it has played eight seasons, it is not being allowed to participate in the postseason tournament.

Since the Big West Conference usually does not have a team that would be considered for an at-large NCAA tournament berth, conference officials fear they would be shut out should San Luis Obispo win the conference tournament.

Long Beach (10-16), which has a tiebreaker advantage over Santa Barbara, is at home Thursday against Idaho (14-10, 8-6) and then plays Saturday at Pacific (19-8, 12-2).

Utah State (20-7, 11-3) can clinch the No. 1 seeding in the Eastern Division with one more victory. Second-place Nevada (13-11, 9-5) is two games behind.

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Big West Standings

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WESTERN DIVISION Conf Overall W L W L Pacific 12 2 19 8 Cal Poly SLO 5 9 12 14 CS Fullerton 5 9 10 14 Long Beach St. 5 9 10 16 UC Irvine 5 9 8 16 UC Santa Barbara 4 10 7 17

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EASTERN DIVISION Conf Overall W L W L Utah State 11 3 20 7 Nevada 9 5 13 11 New Mexico St. 8 6 18 10 Boise State 8 6 16 11 Idaho 8 6 14 10 North Texas 4 10 5 19

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