Cal Poly Basketball Sniffing the Madness

Just one month ago, fansmanship.com featured a what-if article about Cal Poly Mens and Women’s Basketball teams making the March tournament.  It said, “were the Mustangs to make the tournament, they would likely play in one of the play-in games on Wednesday night, and places like Firestone Grill and The Shack would be spilling with green and gold. Were the Mustangs to win a Wednesday night game, a Thursday night celebration at Farmers’ Market would be something to behold.”

And boy would it have been. San Luis Obispo is better known for its Thursday Farmer’s Market than it is for its strong collegiate programs. This year has been an exciting experience for the city, watching both the men’s and women’s basketball teams not only compete, but sit atop the Big West conference for most of the year.

March’s unforgiving playoff format has already eliminated one of our town favorites. Coach Callero’s men’s basketball team lost their chance at dancing with a tough 70-66 loss to UC Riverside in the first round of the Big West tournament. Main made something very clear when it comes to the programs success– the ramifications of the Mustangs’ turn around into a real Big West threat (15-15, 10-6) could ultimately lead to them to a more substantial recruiting classes in the coming seasons. This will insure greater success in the future and hopefully bids into March more frequently.

We will miss the uber-athletic Shawn Lewis next year, that is for sure…

Despite the Men turning things around, Coach Mimnaugh’s Lady Mustangs (18-12, 12-4)  have been most impressive. Beginning the season without reigning Big West Player of the Year Kristina Santiago was like having your heart removed and then being asked to stay alive.  And they did. Starting the season just 2-5, forward Rachel Clancy assumed the role as the teams captain and leading scorer, averaging 16.3 points per contest. The Mustangs went on an eight game winning streak, and took control of the Big West Conference. Clancy was named Big West Player of the Year, giving Mustangs back-to- back players of the year. Mimnaugh was awarded the Big West Coach of the Year, her first-such award.

This season felt like the year we would see at least one of our two teams dancing. The Lady Mustangs were a poised, defensive-minded bunch, that had the coach and the leader to help them get there. But it just didn’t happen. There will be no celebrations at Firestone Grill or the Shack. Fansmanship’s what-if dreams, like so many in the area, were popped when the Mustangs were taken down in the Big West title game 66-49 against UC Davis.  Despite splitting the regular season with the Aggies (24-8, 10-6), Cal Poly looked sluggish on its biggest stage. With 4:42 to play in the 1st half, the Aggies were dominant, leading the game 30-14.

Clancy did all she could. Trailing 35-22 at the half, she hit two three pointers to open the 2nd half that cut the Aggies lead to seven. But that would be closest things would get. The Aggies returned the favor going on a 18-4 run to open the game back up and the Mustangs never recovered.

We were outnumbered, outplayed, and out hustled. The Aggies lassoed our Mustangs, beating us up in the post and outscoring our bench 25-4. Falling in the title game is without a doubt the largest disappointment for Mustang fans. We were like a chubby kid in a candy shop, sniffing the madness. Now, we’ve been put on an all veggie diet.

In retrospect, a better what-if would have been, what-if Cal Poly had Kristina Santiago? Teaming Santiago with Clancy would have been a dangerous threat. But as we all know, what-ifs are what-ifs because they never get resolved. Questions like that never get answered. Central Coasters will have to return to Farmer’s Market, the Palm Theater, and roller derby for another year, before we imagine living in the big boy and girl worlds of March. Maturation will be key as Cal Poly continues to build solid programs. It seems both squads are, finally, headed in that direction.