Cal Poly Men Listed As A March Madness Participant, On ESPN’s Bracketology

Freshman Reese Morgan could be a key cog in a Cal Poly matchup against Southern in March. By Owen Main

This is all getting a little weird, and oh so real. Right when I was beginning to think just an upset over UCLA in November was enough for me, Callero and the gritty Mustangs continue to outdo themselves.

Tonight, in ESPN’s second installment of Bracketology (view bracket here), college basketball guru Joe Lunardi listed the Cal Poly men as one of the play-in teams pitted against the Michigan Wolverines.

According to Lunardi, if the madness began today, Callero’s crew would play Southern University, a 10-6 team in the Southern Athletic Conference led by combo guard/forward, Malcolm Miller, who seems a lot like Cal Poly’s Chris Eversley — a slashing, above the rim player.

How much does young coach Roman Banks echo Joe Callero’s consistent praise of his team’s, passion, demeanor, character and poise?

The two seem similar in that regard philosophically, both exalting tough matchups early-on against larger, more formidable schools, as a chance to ready themselves for conference play.

While Lunardi simply slots-in the top team in the standings for single-bid conferences like the Big West, Cal Poly and Southern have a lot in common. Currently Southern is 4-0 in the SAC. Their biggest win came against Texas A&M on December 22nd and they, like the Mustangs, also suffered a hard fought loss early in the season to Texas Christian.

The winner would face the Big Ten’s Michigan Wolverines in the next round as immediate underdog. But, before such an affair, I’m certain from San Luis Obispo to Cambria, all the way to Oceano, the Central Coast would party like its 1999.

The last time they were 3-0 to start conference play (1996-97), they reeled off six straight conference losses en-route to a losing conference season. Cal Poly has never started 4-0 in the Big West. In order to do so, Callero’s bunch must prepare for a road weekend at UC Davis (4-9, 0-2) on Thursday and in Stockton versus a tough Pacific (7-7, 1-1) team on Saturday.