Where the hell is Dayton, anyway?

Brian De Los Santos was the Editor in Chief of the Mustang Daily last school year. He is currently in graduate school at Northwestern University in Chicago.

When Cal Poly made the NCAA Tournament, he got on a bus to Ohio and was in Dayton in time for the Mustangs’ First Four matchup against Dayton. Using his (and current Mustang News JJ Jenkins’) personal “YOLO” clause, De Los Santos was also in attendance at Cal Poly’s loss to Wichita State on Friday night, after which he wrote this for Mustang News.

I asked him to write something to describe his feelings as a recent Cal Poly alumnus who traveled to see Cal Poly’s historic run. What follows is his submission. I enjoyed it. I hope you do, too.

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“Where the hell is Dayton, anyway?”

That’s what I asked myself when I found that Cal Poly’s basketball team — one I had covered for five years — was making history by heading to a small town in southwest Ohio for the team’s first-ever NCAA Tournament berth.

Chris Eversley and the Mustangs showed Dayton fans at UD arena what they were capable of and, in the process, made Brian and other Cal Poly fans even more proud of the Green and Gold. By Owen Main

A week prior, while in my winter quarter of graduate school at Northwestern University, a friend had asked me if I wanted to head home with him to Cleveland for Spring Break since I had no way of getting back to sunny California. It wasn’t the Bahamas, but I thought it sounded more fun than sitting in a broom closet-sized studio in frozen Chicago for two weeks.

So I told him I would, but after learning the proximity of where I would be staying in respect to the first venue of Cal Poly’s historic berth — just a three hour drive — I tried to see if I could make a whirlwind trip to the NCAA Tournament work.

I phoned my friend, Connor, and told him the plan.

“Dude, I’ll pay for your ticket if you drive us to Dayton,” I said.

“Well I’ll have my car, so we should be able to make it no problem,” he responded.

For a split second, I paused. You have to understand, I am a graduate student at a private university headed into a field not known for its large paychecks. So anytime I am about to toss a handful of federally loaned Benjamins at anything, I contemplate whether or not I can — and should — make it happen. I considered the odds: What are the chances
Cal Poly makes the tournament again? What are the chances they play close to where I live? What are the chances I can afford tickets? I can’t imagine all these stars would line up again anytime soon.

“Let’s make this happen.”

So two days later I packed myself into a car and headed to a city I’d never heard of with a friend that was very gladly and willingly ready to jump on the Mustangs bandwagon. We got there checked into our hotel — which turned out to be the team’s hotel as well — and then headed to the stadium shortly after. And when we got there, it immediately felt like I became a hired spokesperson for Cal Poly.

“Where is that school located?” spectators would ask me, looking at my green Cal Poly sweatshirt.

The questions didn’t stop there.

“Is it nice?”

“What did you study?”

“It’s in Pomona, right?”

The last one, of course, made me cringe, but it felt great to be able to tell Midwesterners of the school I’d spent the past five years falling in love with. And during the game, it felt like most of the fans were falling in love with it too. By the time the smoke cleared and Cal Poly very impressively defeated Texas Southern — believe me, I still can’t believe it either — any fan wearing Mustangs gear became the popular kids in the stands. I felt like the cool kid who would walk into an 8th grade party that would cause all the girls to swoon. You know, the kid you always wanted to be, but never could. Well maybe
that’s just me, but people started staring at the name of the school on my chest, asking even more questions.

I’m still trying to come down to earth after that win, even if CalPoly did end up falling to Wichita State in a landslide 64-37 loss in the next round. As the famous “CP” logo was shown all over SportsCenter and CBS all week, no one really understood how big a trip this was for Cal Poly. The first year I was on campus, the football team won more games than the basketball team. And five years after getting a new coach, the team’s now dancing. It’s mind boggling to me and most, I’m sure, in the city of San Luis Obispo.

A 16 vs. 16 game meant something to the wide range of Cal Poly students and alumni, even if no one could comprehend the magnitude.

Perhaps — at least — the people of Dayton, Ohio do now.