School basketball couldn’t have scripted a extra acceptable begin to March with a Saturday that featured a top-10 matchup buzzer-beater, a Large Ten bubble probably burst on the horn, and loads of thrilling finishes to whet audiences’ appetites for Insanity.
Of all the outcomes on a day stuffed with nail-biters, nonetheless, maybe essentially the most fascinating got here courtesy of a 100-55 blowout on the expense of a six-win opponent. That was the result in UC San Diego’s rout of Cal State Fullerton, which additionally marked the Tritons’ eleventh straight victory general.
UC San Diego’s streak, tied with Excessive Level for the longest in school basketball, has this system on the cusp of a regular-season Large West Convention championship. A cut up within the Tritons’ ultimate week, with their dwelling finale on Thursday towards Lengthy Seashore State and a go to to UC Davis on Saturday, ensures UCSD no worse than a share of the league title.
Two wins ship an outright Large West crown to La Jolla—not dangerous for a program in simply its fifth yr of Division I membership. UCSD is poised to carry the No. 1 seed in its first-ever Large West Match, having beforehand been unable to take part resulting from NCAA guidelines proscribing applications transitioning between divisions from the NCAA Match till completion of a probationary interval.
The Tritons’ quick success is spectacular sufficient on its face, however there’s additional context that makes this story unfolding in Southern California all of the extra exceptional.
UCSD started its transfer to Division I with constructive momentum, having received three regular-season championships and 4 consecutive California Collegiate Athletic Affiliation Match titles from 2017 by way of 2020. This system started discovering success on the Division II stage regardless of having operated extra like a Division III athletic division not lengthy prior.
Though UCSD moved from the non-scholarship NCAA Division III stage in 2000, the varsity solely started providing athletic scholarships in 2014 due to the efforts of alumni David Schink and his son, Skip. An athletic scholarship program made the college’s transfer to Division I doable.
Across the similar time, UCSD basketball made one other transfer that may have appeared small then however has since confirmed to be monumental: the promotion of longtime assistant Eric Olen to go coach in 2013.
Olen spent a decade as an assistant earlier than changing Chris Carlson. By Olen’s third season as head coach, UCSD reached the NCAA Division II Match for the primary of 4 straight appearances—which might have been 5 if not for COVID-19 in 2020.
And, at 30-1, the 2019-20 Tritons would possibly properly have been nationwide championship contenders in Division II. As a substitute, this system started its transition to varsity basketball’s highest stage whereas navigating the challenges of a once-in-a-century pandemic.
UCSD took its lumps initially upon becoming a member of Division I, however by final season, the Tritons settled into their new dwelling. By the top of the common season, UCSD was arguably taking part in the very best basketball of any group within the Large West, successful six of eight down the stretch, together with a 92-88 additional time thriller towards the convention’s longtime standard-bearer, UC Irvine.
The late February defeat of final season’s Large West regular-season champion, and the group the 2024-25 Tritons are vying to carry off within the ultimate week, finest showcased UCSD’s potential. When Bryce Pope hit a 3-pointer to pressure the additional body, connecting on a runner only a few steps contained in the midcourt line, it was obvious the Tritons wouldn’t be denied.
It was additionally obvious Pope was maybe the very best participant within the Large West. And, after averaging greater than 18 factors per recreation for a second straight season, Pope opted for the trail that so many breakout stars in mid-major convention applications observe within the present panorama: He transferred to a power-conference vacation spot. On this case, that vacation spot was Southern California.
The offseason departure of Pope simply provides to the intrigue of UCSD’s story, nonetheless. Olen’s roster was not with out established items coming into this season, with the versatile Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones having averaged 13.8 factors and 5.8 rebounds per recreation in 2023-24.
However the Tritons misplaced their largest piece in Pope and have truly been higher than final season’s 21-win squad. In reality, UCSD has been higher than final season’s nationwide champion by some metrics—by way of March 1, the Tritons rank No. 35 general in KenPom.com scores, one spot forward of two-time reigning Last 4 winner UConn.
That KenPom rating, together with an NET rank of 35, suggests UCSD could not even must win its first-ever Large West Match to advance to the Tritons’ first NCAA Match. Behind the seemingly Large West Participant of the Yr Tait-Jones and the backcourt tandem of Hayden Grey and Tyler McGhie, UCSD has constructed a résumé very a lot worthy of at-large consideration.
Amongst present high 25-ranked groups, solely No. 1 Auburn and Saint Mary’s have greater than UCSD’s 26 whole wins. The Tritons’ docket contains highway wins over fellow potential at-large groups Utah State and UC Irvine, each ranked within the high 70 in KenPom.
What’s extra, the win over UC Irvine at Bren Occasions Middle by 18 factors was certainly one of 10 in UCSD’s present 11-game successful streak determined by a double-digit margin. The Tritons aren’t simply beating opponents—they’re crushing them.
Ought to that proceed in Henderson, Nevada, on the Large West Match, UCSD’s at-large worthiness turns into irrelevant. The prospect of a power-conference group having its March Insanity ended early by this program that was non-scholarship slightly greater than a decade in the past and Division II a half-decade in the past, nonetheless, turns into a definite chance.
