The Aggies have been picked to finish 8th in the Big West Media Poll but someone gave us a first place vote also. Talk about an outlier vote...!

By the slightest of margins, UC Irvine edged UC Santa Barbara as the media favorite in the quest for the 2019-20 Big West men's basketball regular season title.

The 31-member media panel split their first place votes among UCI and UCSB. UCI prevailed with 258 points and 15 first place votes. UCSB collected 256 points and 15 first place nods of its own. CSUN was a popular third place pick and had 202 points. The middle of the pack included Hawai‘i in fourth place with 155 points, Cal State Fullerton in fifth with 152 and Long Beach State in sixth with 118. The remainder of the poll included UC Riverside (107), UC Davis (104) and Cal Poly (43). UC Davis grabbed the remaining first place vote.

MEDIA POLL RESULTS

1. UC Irvine (15) 258
2. UC Santa Barbara (15) 256
3. CSUN 202
4. Hawai‘i 155
5. Cal State Fullerton 152
6. Long Beach State 118
7. UC Riverside 107
8. UC Davis (1) 104
9. Cal Poly 43

https://bigwest.org/news/2019/10/24/uc-irvine-picked-to-repeat-in-tight-mens-basketball-media-vote.aspx

https://ucdavisaggies.com/news/2019/10/25/mens-basketball-senior-snapshot-stefan-gonzalez.aspx?path=mbball

https://ucdavisaggies.com/news/2019/10/18/mens-basketball-senior-snapshot-matt-neufeld.aspx?path=mbball

https://ucdavisaggies.com/news/2019/10/9/mens-basketball-senior-snapshot-joe-mooney.aspx?path=mbball

He chose us over MSU but is now receiving a lot more attention. He has picked up offers from Fresno State, Wyoming, San Diego State, Sacramento State and UNLV since announcing his commitment to us.

WEB @ UCD

Spread - Aggies by 2.5
Sagarin - Wildcats by 1
Massey - Aggies by 3

Computer Predictions

SAC @ CP
Spread - Hornets by 14.5
Sagarin - Hornets by 15
Massey - Hornets by 10

WEB @ UCD
Spread - Aggies by 2.5
Sagarin - Wildcats by 1
Massey - Aggies by 3

ISU @ SUU
Spread - Bengals by 7.5
Sagarin - Bengals by 10
Massey - Bengals by

PSU @ NAU
Spread - Viks by 2.5
Sagarin - Viks by <1
Massey - Viks by 3

EWU @ UMT
Spread - Griz by 7.5
Sagarin - Griz by 10
Massey - Griz by 7

MSU @ UND
Spread - 0
Sagarin - Bobcats by 3
Massey - F-Hawks by 3

There isn't any noticeable smoke this morning in the Land Park area of Sacramento...not sure about Davis though.

We're finally home from our 7 week journey to Newfoundland, Nova Scotia and New England so this will be the first game we have been able to attend this year. We didn't see a high of 70 degrees for the entire trip so we're not looking forward to the heat.

Some friends of ours used our tickets while we were traveling and they picked us up at the airport last night. They said that they did not feel that the Ags played well even in the games they won. We seem to have had our two best games in our losses to Cal and NDSU. We have been very inconsistent on both offense and defense in the rest of the games. I think our injuries have really disrupted the cohesiveness of this team this year.

The offense needs to be able to stay on the field and score when they have the opportunities. If Weber establishes a punishing run game and is on the field a lot, we'll be in big trouble. I'm hoping to see a solid, complete game from the Aggies but, given how things have gone this year, I'm not all that confident about our chances tomorrow.

Here is how the Aggies have done during the Jim Les era:

Pre-season scrimmages for Big West Men's Basketball Teams:

BIG WEST

Cal Poly – 10/19 vs. Corban; 11/2 vs. San Francisco
Cal State Fullerton – 10/26 vs. Pepperdine
Cal State Northridge – 10/19 at San Diego
Hawaii – None
Long Beach State – 10/26 vs. UC San Diego; 11/1 vs. Cal Baptist
UC Davis – 10/19 vs. San Jose State; 10/27 at Pacific
UC Irvine – 10/26 vs. Northern Arizona
UC Riverside – 10/26 vs. Cal State Bakersfield
UC Santa Barbara – 10/19 at Santa Clara; 10/26 at Arizona State

https://watchstadium.com/news/not-so-secret-list/

Weather forecast is for 87 degrees Saturday which is 13 degrees above average. Everyone will be baking at the 4 pm kickoff and chasing what little shade there is...ugh!

Quotes from the Davis Enterprise article:

“A win is a win,” UCD head coach Dan Hawkins told The Enterprise after the game. “It’s awfully hard to win on the road in this league, so we’ll take it.”

UCD defensive coordinator Robert Tucker said, “I know we were on our heels there at the end on defense, but we were down a couple of guys and everybody stepped up to make the plays.”

“I think we started well,” Tucker said. “Guys were doing a really good job in the first half staying on their assignments. We got a little banged up in the second half, and the tempo got away from us.”

“Their quarterback (Chris Helbig) did a great job escaping and keeping drives alive,” Tucker pointed out. “But we battled, and I’m extremely proud of how we finished, we didn’t fold.”

“They slowed us down a little bit in the second half, and it certainly wasn’t a clean game for us,” Hawkins said. “But it sets things up nicely for Weber State next week.”

And this funny tidbit:

SUU’s roster is a nightmare for radio announcers who must struggle with proper pronunciation in a timely manner … Among those performing for the Thunderbirds are La’akea Kaho’ohanoohano-Davis, Somtochukwu Achebo and Kyle Tauiliili.

https://www.davisenterprise.com/sports/aggies-hold-off-late-surge-to-ground-thunderbirds/

15,140 watched Sac dismantle the Griz and that number will go up after that convincing win. They could have several thousand more for the Causeway if they continue to roll.

Sac will move into the Top 5...total domination over Montana so far...they might win by 40 the way they are playing...

We escape from Southern Utah but it was not impressive...

We escape 33-25...a win is a win but this was unimpressive...

Sac 42 Montana 15 with 8:42 to go in the 3rd and, of course, Pluto TV goes down...