Los Angeles is still looking like they'll have one representative in the NCAA Tournament, and no, it's not the UCLA Bruins or the USC Trojans. The Long Beach St. 49ers have started their season with a 14-6 record and won their first seven games on the Big West, making them the prohibitive favorites to capture their conference's bid.
Long Beach State just has to hope they don't get upset in the Big West Tournament, as their hold on a tournament bid is entirely dependent on winning those games in March in a single-elimination tourney. LBSU has generally been dominant in their contests against their conference foes, only being seriously tested by Cal Poly. Can they stay on the right road as they keep moving toward the tournament?
As of now, SBNation has Long Beach State sitting as an 11-seed, Stanford as a 9-seed and Cal as an 11-seed that would need to win its opening round game before officially entering the tournament.
Long Beach State is the only LA area team in the current bracket while Stanford and Cal represent the only teams from the Pac-12 to make the tourney, and even Cal's addition is suspect due to their need to play-in. Now, VCU made it all the way to a Final Four from the same spot so Cal can't be too mad about it. But it does mean that their status is on thin ice and they have plenty of work to do.
But it's still early and plenty of games remain to be played.
The Gonzaga Bulldogs were ranked No. 21 in last week's Associated Press poll, but dropped out of the top 25 after suffering an 83-62 loss to the Saint Mary's Gaels. The 17-2 Gaels were ranked No. 31 last week, but the West Coast Conference leaders have risen to No. 24 in this week's poll. Gonzaga dropped to No. 29.
Here is the AP poll top 10:
Syracuse (60 first place votes)
Kentucky (four first place votes)
Baylor (one first place vote)
Duke
Missouri
Ohio State
Kansas
North Carolina
Michigan State
Georgetown
The Pepperdine Waves travel to face St. Mary's Thursday night, in a battle of teams with opposing streaks. Pepperdine has lost five straight contests, while the Gaels have won seven straight contests and lead the WCC at 6-0. Gonzaga staved off an upset attempt at Loyola Marymount on Saturday, pulling out a four-point win at Gersten Pavilion in Los Angeles.
The Stanford Cardinal are the only Pac-12 team to receive any votes in the AP poll, tied for 33rd, a rise of two spots from their position last week. The Pac-12 has not had a team ranked in the top 25 of either poll for seven straight weeks.
