Hang in there! I've managed to avoid it, even when my wife got it a few months ago.

I may have to miss the game also but will stream it! Go Ags!!

Thanks. My primary got me right on praxcovid. Biggest issue for me has been a killer sore throat and fatigue.

Don't forget vitamins C, D, and Zinc (if they don't conflict).

I watched the UCSB-Hawai`i game since the Ags had a bye. In that 26-0 Gaucho run, Hawai`i went 0 for 15 from the field and 0 for 0 from the foul line. Overall, the team played pretty evenly aside from the 10 minute drought that the Rainbow Warriors suffered. I noticed that Hawai`i went to an effective2-3 zone a lot of the second half. Even so, UCSB scored 54 points in the paint, a lot of them coming from lobs from Ajay Mitchell.

Thanks, on it. And sorry to hijack this thread.

So sorry to hear that, agalum. I managed to dodge the bullet until Christmas 2022 when 7 of us got together at a friend's house on December 22nd and two days later 6 of us had Covid. It really kicked my butt! I could barely get off the couch and didn't test negative until 12 days later. Take care!

1/27 scores:

San Diego 92 Aggies 59
Irvine 77 CSUN 72
Long Beach 65 Riverside 53
Fullerton 68 Bakersfield 50
Hawaii 83 Cal Poly 73

Current standings:

2/01 games:

Aggies 79 Santa Barbara 69
Hawaii 76 Fullerton 68
Bakersfield 82 Long Beach 76 in OT
San Diego 83 CSUN 62
Irvine 73 Cal Poly 59

Current standings:

It's beginning to look like a two team race. I think this year's Big West tournament is different with the top two seeds not playing until the penultimate round, so getting those seeds is a bigger deal than in past years. The win over UCSB was huge for that reason, but the teams in the middle of the pack are still dangerous.

USCD is ineligible (last transition season) so we’d be one of those top two if we hold serve. I might go to Henderson this year!

Yes, the two teams I was referring to are us and UCI. Halfway through the season, UCD has only one more game against a team with a winning record. Of those, only the Beach has even a 5-5 record. On the other hand 6 of the games are away and we can't take any of those lightly, especially Hawai`i.

Honestly, I think San Diego may be the best team in the conference this year. They're blowing teams out at the moment. I really don't like the NCAA rule that makes teams ineligible for post-season play when they are moving up to D1. I feel like any team that wins the conference or otherwise deserves to be in the tournament should be eligible without a waiting period.

I vaguely remember Bob Williams mentioning the rationale for the waiting period but I can't remember what it was, just that it made sense.

only thing I can think of is they don’t want schools making a jump just to take in NCAA payouts. Else it makes little sense

Here's some reasons I got from Reddit:

"D2 has different initial eligibility standards than D1, and those eligibility rules are such that there are players who are ineligible to play in D1 but are eligible in D2. So the waiting period is designed to allow the players who were recruited under the D2 rules to cycle out of the program."

"The rule is in place so that schools won't make knee jerk decisions. This prevents a school being in D2 and getting a good coach who lands some stars from being able to transition to D1 for when those players are seniors."

"The idea is to bring stability and ensure schools are committed to being at a level. They don't want a lot of teams moving up and down divisions. So schools are free to move up, but they have to be committed enough to go through the four year probation period."

"I think it has to do with how many scholarship positions/roster spots are allowed on D2 vs D1 teams. They give 4 years for them to meet those requirements and not have to kick players off the team, but make them ineligible for postseason play."

I have no idea who is writing these things, but they make some sense.

After reading that, it does make good sense to have a waiting period.

2/03 games:

Aggies 59 Cal Poly 52
Long Beach 85 San Diego 76
Irvine 93 Hawaii 68
Santa Barbara 70 Bakersfield 59
CSUN 76 Riverside 70

Current Standings:

This is kind of a sideways question but it fits this thread best. It seems that many conferences have "traveling pairs" to make scheduling of road games pretty easy. For example, the Pac-12 has Cal and Stanford, UW and WSU, etc. playing other pairs in any given week. I keep trying to figure out what the Big West does, but it doesn't seem like there is any such pairing. It would seem that UCI and Fullerton are natural pair, also UCD and Cal Poly, UCSB and CSUN, UCSD and CS-Bakersfield, then maybe UCR and the Beach, leaving only Hawai`i. Clearly this is not the case. Does anyone know if there is any kind of logic to the Big West schedule?

The only thing I’ve noticed is that if we are playing, for example in Socal, they often line up more games with Socal teams. But it also doesn’t always work out.

in the not so distant past, when UOP was part of the 8 team big west, we partnered with the Tigers, Poly-UCSB, Irvine-beach, and CSUN-UCR. Made for a nice schedule. Hawaii mucked up everything!

We still get an occasional central coast trip (those two visited us in December). Else, the schedule seems random. Leading to us being finished with Irvine, SB and Poly, before we see Hawaii or Long Beach!

Speaking of UOP (sorta), they host St Mary’s tonight and are listed as 21-point underdogs! Seems really high….until you notice they are 0-9 in WCC play and lost to St Mary’s a couple weeks ago 76-28!

Bet they wish they were back in the Big West. :)

FTR, SMC beats UOP by 41, and Sac falls again.

2/08 games:

Aggies 71 Fullerton 58 - the Ags move into 2nd place in the conference with San Diego's loss.
Hawaii 94 San Diego 86 in OT
Irvine 76 Santa Barbara 61
Riverside 65 Bakersfield 63 - Riverside wins on a jumper at the buzzer.
CSUN 78 Cal Poly 65

Current standings:

The Beach seems the only threat to us landing a top 2 seed, since they still have 2 games with us. Have to be big fans of whoever they are playing, and make sure to at least split with them.

SMC is 10-0 in conference and beat Gonzaga in Spokane recently. (Zags are 8-2 in the WCC.)

I watched part of the Hawai`i upset of UCSD and was very surprised. The Rainbow Warriors held Bryce Pope to 10 points. I'll have more to say about Hawai`i once that game gets posted, but for now I can tell you all that I'll be at the game as a guest of Jim Les. I don't know him but I emailed the team to ask for a visitor's pass as a UCS alumnus and Coach Les wrote back himself, to my surprise and told me he would have two tickets at the visitor's gate.

That's great, Toke! I hope you get a chance to meet Les too.

Thanks. I met him once before back in 2015, on a flight back to Sacramento after the Ags had lost to Hawai`i. Nice guy, very down to earth, but I'm sure he doesn't remember me.

I'm sure he'd remember you if you get a chance to introduce yourself again. I've too have found him very approachable and genuine to talk to.