Chico State and UC San Diego met in the 2017 NCAA Tournament West Region title game. There is a distinct possibility that only one will make the 2018 field—the winner of Friday's California Collegiate Athletic Association Tournament semifinal at Kellogg Gymnasium on the campus of Cal Poly Pomona.
A berth in the CCAA title game would be nice, to be sure. But both of these programs have reached the level in which the real goal is an NCAA Tournament berth. Chico State currently boasts the longest current NCAA Tournament streak in the West Region, having danced in March six seasons in a row. UC San Diego has advanced to the regional title game two years running.
They are both squarely on the NCAA Tournament bubble. The NCAA Regional Rankings revealed Wednesday show Chico State ranked No. 7 in the West and UC San Diego No. 9. The bracket has room for eight. (Wednesday's rankings do not reflect results from Tuesday night's CCAA Tournament first-round games.) The NCAA Tournament selection show will take place Sunday night at 7:30 p.m.
The Wildcats enter Friday's game with a record of 20-7, having secured their fifth consecutive 20-win season with Tuesday night's 84-63 win over Cal State San Bernardino in their final appearance at Acker Gym this season. UC San Diego is 19-10 following its thrilling double-overtime victory over Stanislaus State at home in the opening round.
The Wildcats are the No. 2 seed in the CCAA Tournament. UC San Diego is No. 3. The winner will face Friday's Cal Poly Pomona-San Francisco State winner in the conference title game, where an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament will be on the line.
Friday's showdown will be an enhanced rubber match if both teams do not make the NCAA Tournament Field. Chico State and UC San Diego split their season series in each of the past five years.
The Tritons knocked Chico State out of the CCAA Tournament in last season's semifinals before Chico State won the regional title game.
This season, UC San Diego pounded the Wildcats 73-50 in La Jolla, handing the Wildcats their third straight loss and marking their low-point of the season. Chico State bounced back to win 11 of its next 13, including a 66-56 win over the Tritons in Chico. The Tritons, ranked No. 5 in the West Region just two weeks ago, have stumbled a bit coming down the stretch, losing four of their last eight, including the matchup in Chico.
CCAA Tournament semifinal and finals tickets will be available at the Kellogg Arena box office on game days. All Chico State postseason basketball games will be broadcast locally on AM-1290 KPAY. Streaming audio is available at
www.chicowildcats.com. Live scoring and streaming video will be also be available through the Wildcat Athletics website.
2017-18 CCAA Men's Basketball Tournament
First Round – Tuesday, Feb. 27 (campus sites – higher seed hosts)
#1 Cal Poly Pomona 73, #8 Cal State Dominguez Hills 60
#2 Chico State 84, #7 Cal State San Bernardino 63
#3 UC San Diego 82, #6 Stanislaus State 81 (2OT)
#5 San Francisco State 69, #4 Cal State San Marcos 66 (2OT)
Semifinals – Friday, March 2 (Kellogg Arena – Cal Poly Pomona)
12:05 p.m. – Cal Poly Pomona vs. San Francisco State
2:35 p.m. –
Chico State vs. UC San Diego
Final – Saturday, March 3 (Kellogg Arena – Cal Poly Pomona)
5:05 p.m. – Championship game
