School basketball couldn’t have scripted a extra acceptable begin to March with a Saturday that featured a top-10 matchup buzzer-beater, a Huge Ten bubble presumably 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 end 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 faculty basketball, has this system on the cusp of a regular-season Huge West Convention championship. A break up within the Tritons’ closing week, with their residence finale on Thursday in opposition to Lengthy Seaside 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 Huge West crown to La Jolla—not dangerous for a program in simply its fifth 12 months of Division I membership. UCSD is poised to carry the No. 1 seed in its first-ever Huge West Match, having beforehand been unable to take part attributable to NCAA guidelines limiting applications transitioning between divisions from the NCAA Match till completion of a probationary interval.
The Tritons’ fast success is spectacular sufficient on its face, however there’s additional context that makes this story unfolding in Southern California all of the extra outstanding.
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 2020. This system started discovering success on the Division II degree regardless of having operated extra like a Division III athletic division not lengthy prior.
Though UCSD moved from the non-scholarship NCAA Division III degree in 2000, the varsity solely started providing athletic scholarships in 2014 because of the efforts of alumni David Schink and his son, Skip. An athletic scholarship program made the college’s transfer to Division I attainable.
Across the identical 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 move 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 may effectively have been nationwide championship contenders in Division II. As a substitute, this system started its transition to varsity basketball’s highest degree 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 residence. By the top of the common season, UCSD was arguably enjoying the most effective basketball of any crew within the Huge West, profitable six of eight down the stretch, together with a 92-88 additional time thriller in opposition to the convention’s longtime standard-bearer, UC Irvine.
The late February defeat of final season’s Huge West regular-season champion, and the crew the 2024-25 Tritons are vying to carry off within the closing week, finest showcased UCSD’s potential. When Bryce Pope hit a 3-pointer to power the additional body, connecting on a runner just some steps contained in the midcourt line, it was obvious the Tritons wouldn’t be denied.
It was additionally obvious Pope was maybe the most effective participant within the Huge 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 really been higher than final season’s 21-win squad. Actually, UCSD has been higher than final season’s nationwide champion by some metrics—by March 1, the Tritons rank No. 35 general in KenPom.com rankings, one spot forward of two-time reigning Remaining 4 winner UConn.
That KenPom rating, together with an NET rank of 35, suggests UCSD might not even have to win its first-ever Huge West Match to advance to the Tritons’ first NCAA Match. Behind the probably Huge 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 complete wins. The Tritons’ docket consists of street 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 one among 10 in UCSD’s present 11-game profitable 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 Huge West Match, UCSD’s at-large worthiness turns into irrelevant. The prospect of a power-conference crew having its March Insanity ended early by this program that was non-scholarship a bit greater than a decade in the past and Division II a half-decade in the past, nonetheless, turns into a definite chance.
