Sports
UC San Diego’s Dominance: A Mid-Major Cinderella in the Making
College basketball could not have scripted a more appropriate start to March with a Saturday that featured a top-10 matchup buzzer-beater, a Big Ten bubble possibly burst at the horn, and plenty of thrilling finishes to whet audiences’ appetites for Madness.
Of all the results on a day filled with nail-biters, however, perhaps the most interesting came courtesy of a 100-55 blowout at the expense of a six-win opponent. That was the outcome in UC San Diego’s rout of Cal State Fullerton, which also marked the Tritons’ 11th straight victory overall.
UC San Diego’s streak, tied with High Point for the longest in college basketball, has the program on the cusp of a regular-season Big West Conference championship. A split in the Tritons’ final week, with their home finale on Thursday against Long Beach State and a visit to UC Davis on Saturday, guarantees UCSD no worse than a share of the league title.
Two wins deliver an outright Big West crown to La Jolla—not bad for a program in just its fifth year of Division I membership. UCSD is poised to hold the No. 1 seed in its first-ever Big West Tournament, having previously been unable to participate due to NCAA rules restricting programs transitioning between divisions from the NCAA Tournament until completion of a probationary period.
The Tritons’ immediate success is impressive enough on its face, but there’s further context that makes this story unfolding in Southern California all the more remarkable.
UCSD began its move to Division I with positive momentum, having won three regular-season championships and four consecutive California Collegiate Athletic Association Tournament titles from 2017 through 2020. The program began finding success at the Division II level despite having operated more like a Division III athletic department not long prior.
Although UCSD moved from the non-scholarship NCAA Division III level in 2000, the school only began offering athletic scholarships in 2014 thanks to the efforts of alumni David Schink and his son, Skip. An athletic scholarship program made the university’s move to Division I possible.
Around the same time, UCSD basketball made another move that might have seemed small then but has since proven to be monumental: the promotion of longtime assistant Eric Olen to head coach in 2013.
Olen spent a decade as an assistant before replacing Chris Carlson. By Olen’s third season as head coach, UCSD reached the NCAA Division II Tournament for the first of four straight appearances—which would have been five if not for COVID-19 in 2020.
And, at 30-1, the 2019-20 Tritons might well have been national championship contenders in Division II. Instead, the program began its transition to college basketball’s highest level while navigating the challenges of a once-in-a-century pandemic.
UCSD took its lumps initially upon joining Division I, but by last season, the Tritons settled into their new home. By the end of the regular season, UCSD was arguably playing the best basketball of any team in the Big West, winning six of eight down the stretch, including a 92-88 overtime thriller against the conference’s longtime standard-bearer, UC Irvine.
The late February defeat of last season’s Big West regular-season champion, and the team the 2024-25 Tritons are vying to hold off in the final week, best showcased UCSD’s potential. When Bryce Pope hit a 3-pointer to force the extra frame, connecting on a runner just a few steps inside the midcourt line, it was apparent the Tritons would not be denied.
It was also apparent Pope was perhaps the best player in the Big West. And, after averaging more than 18 points per game for a second straight season, Pope opted for the path that so many breakout stars in mid-major conference programs follow in the current landscape: He transferred to a power-conference destination. In this case, that destination was Southern California.
The offseason departure of Pope just adds to the intrigue of UCSD’s story, however. Olen’s roster was not without established pieces coming into this season, with the versatile Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones having averaged 13.8 points and 5.8 rebounds per game in 2023-24.
But the Tritons lost their biggest piece in Pope and have actually been better than last season’s 21-win squad. In fact, UCSD has been better than last season’s national champion by some metrics—through March 1, the Tritons rank No. 35 overall in KenPom.com ratings, one spot ahead of two-time reigning Final Four winner UConn.
That KenPom ranking, along with an NET rank of 35, suggests UCSD may not even need to win its first-ever Big West Tournament to advance to the Tritons’ first NCAA Tournament. Behind the likely Big West Player of the Year Tait-Jones and the backcourt tandem of Hayden Gray and Tyler McGhie, UCSD has built a résumé very much worthy of at-large consideration.
Among current top 25-ranked teams, only No. 1 Auburn and Saint Mary’s have more than UCSD’s 26 total wins. The Tritons’ docket includes road wins over fellow potential at-large teams Utah State and UC Irvine, both ranked in the top 70 in KenPom.
What’s more, the win over UC Irvine at Bren Events Center by 18 points was one of 10 in UCSD’s current 11-game winning streak decided by a double-digit margin. The Tritons are not just beating opponents—they are crushing them.
Should that continue in Henderson, Nevada, at the Big West Tournament, UCSD’s at-large worthiness becomes irrelevant. The prospect of a power-conference team having its March Madness ended early by this program that was non-scholarship a little more than a decade ago and Division II a half-decade ago, however, becomes a distinct possibility.
Sports
A'ja Wilson has no shortage of motivation after Aces' early exit in '24
Oct 1, 2024; Brooklyn, New York, USA; Las Vegas Aces center A’ja Wilson (22) and New York Liberty forward Breanna Stewart (30) during game two of the 2024 WNBA Semi-finals at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images LAS VEGAS — Entering her eighth season in the WNBA, Las Vegas Aces superstar A’ja Wilson is poised to build on what was arguably the most dominant individual campaign in league history.
Wilson joined Cynthia Cooper (1997) as the second player in league history to win a unanimous MVP award and joined an exclusive club as the fourth player to win the award three times. She averaged 26.9 points and 11.9 rebounds per game last season and set the all-time single-season mark for points (1,021) and rebounds (451).
Unfortunately for Las Vegas, injuries and fatigue from their two previous championship runs mounted and resulted in the team’s worst regular-season record (27-13) since 2019. The Aces’ three-peat hopes ended with a 76-62 home loss to the New York Liberty to drop their semifinal series 3-1.
It’s that loss on her home floor that served as Wilson’s motivation this offseason.
“Losing sucks, especially on your home court,” Wilson said “It still kind of burns a little bit, but I’ve used that as fuel to help my teammates understand how hard it is to win in this league. Yes, we can celebrate the two championships. They were great. But for us to move forward, we have to understand how hard this league is and value the basketball and the little things. I think that’s what we lacked last season, so we’re going to make sure that we can show up better than we did.”
While the Aces appeared to be on top of the world heading into their potential three-peat campaign in 2024, the reality inside the locker room was that both the internal and external pressure to win another championship had become suffocating. A common theme across media day was the fact that the team feels less pressure entering the 2025 season, a sentiment Wilson shared as the unquestioned leader of the team.
“(Three-peat talks) obviously impacted us, because it’s like, y’all think we don’t want to win? We’re trying as well,” Wilson said.
“I would definitely say it’s refreshing this year. I feel like this is one of my only years where it feels like there’s no weight. There’s a lot of weight to be defending champs. It’s a lot of weight to be trying to win one. We don’t have that. We actually have a clean slate to really dial into getting back to who we are culturally, like, in our system and everything.”
Leading the Aces back to the top of the mountain for a third time in four years is one of a few historically significant achievements Wilson can collect this upcoming season. Wilson could also become the first four-time MVP in league history, though the meaning of that is something she hasn’t quite allowed herself to ponder yet.
“I haven’t given it much thought, but it would be a blessing to have my name in that conversation,” Wilson said. “Every year, I try to be better than I was the year before just to give myself a chance in this league. Because the league is getting better. We’re growing. At this point, you just want to maintain your stamina. You want to maintain your mental, all of that, because the season gets hard. I can’t think too much about that just yet, but I’m definitely going to try to be better than I was last year.”
As Aces coach Becky Hammon put it, fans can expect to see an even better version of Wilson this season.
“What I see is, she went and got better,” Hammon said. “Which is hard to do when you’re already the best, but it speaks to her work ethic, her desire and her mindset this whole offseason. We talked a lot this offseason. She’s a busy lady, but I can tell you what she always does is her workouts. She’s always getting her workouts in. That comes first and foremost, she never gets her priorities jumbled up.”
When Hammon was asked what a player like Wilson would possibly need to improve after last season’s campaign, the coach did not feel like revealing too much.
“There was (something for Wilson to improve), and she did,” Hammon said. “I’m not going to tell you what it was. Actually, there were two things.”
–Will Despart, Field Level Media
Sports
Jacob Wilson joins Aaron Judge in spotlight for Yankees-A's series
May 5, 2025; West Sacramento, California, USA; Athletics shortstop Jacob Wilson (5) throws to first for an out against the Seattle Mariners during the seventh inning at Sutter Health Park. Mandatory Credit: Dennis Lee-Imagn Images The top two hitters in the majors square off Friday night when the New York Yankees face the Athletics in the opener of a three-game series in Sacramento, Calif.
It’s no surprise to see Yankees star Aaron Judge off to a superb start after winning American League MVP honors last season. He has a major league-best .400 batting average and entered Thursday’s play tied for the big-league lead with 12 homers and 34 RBIs.
But who had Athletics rookie Jacob Wilson ranking second in the majors at .357 as the season nears the quarter pole? Wilson has played in just 64 career games and quickly has solidified himself as a future All-Star, perhaps even this season.
Sharing the marquee board with Judge seems quite surreal for the 23-year-old shortstop who was the No. 6 overall pick of the 2023 draft.
“It’s a great feeling, for sure,” Wilson said of his name being mentioned with Judge. “Obviously, everybody has seen what he is doing. It’s pretty incredible watching him do his thing on a daily basis. To be up there with him is pretty cool for me.
“I’m excited to play against him this week and see what it looks like in person.”
Wilson had his first career four-hit game during Wednesday’s 6-5 home loss against the Seattle Mariners and has six multi-hit outings in the past eight games. He went 8-for-14 with one game-winning hit in the three-game series against the Mariners and is 16-for-34 (.471) with four walks during the eight-game stretch.
The hot hitting led to Athletics manager Mark Kotsay moving Wilson to the leadoff spot on Wednesday. Kotsay indicated Wilson may be sticking at the top of the lineup.
“I think you’ll see Jacob up there now,” Kotsay said. “Jacob’s earned it. … Jacob has shown enough over the last week. He’s walking and taking pitches, and, obviously, swinging the bat really well.”
Judge arrives in Sacramento in the midst of a four-game funk in which he is 2-for-15.
The two-time MVP just went 1-for-10 in a three-game home series against the San Diego Padres, but the one hit was a homer.
Judge grew up 50 miles south of Sacramento in Linden and starred for Linden High but wasn’t highly sought by major league teams. The then-Oakland Athletics selected him in the 31st round in 2010.
Judge instead went the college route and starred for Fresno State. He was chosen in the first round (32nd overall) by the Yankees in the 2013 draft.
Trent Grisham was one of the heroes of Wednesday’s 4-3, 10-inning win over the Padres. He hit a tying two-run pinch-hit homer in the eighth inning.
Grisham had two homers and five RBIs in the series against the Padres — one of his former teams — and already has 10 long balls in just 89 at-bats. He hit just nine last season in 179 at-bats.
“I’m having fun with the guys, I would say that more than anything,” Grisham said. “The clubhouse is really good in here, led by Cap (Judge). So, I would say the guys have been the most enjoyable part.”
New York is starting right-hander Will Warren (1-2, 5.65 ERA) in Friday’s series opener. Right-hander Osvaldo Bido (2-2, 4.71) will be on the mound for the Athletics.
Warren, 25, struck out a career-high eight in 4 2/3 innings while losing to the Tampa Bay Rays on Sunday. He gave up five runs (three earned) and seven hits. Warren hasn’t previously faced the Athletics.
Bido, 29, received a no-decision against the Miami Marlins last Saturday when he gave up four runs on three hits over five innings. He is winless (0-1) over his last three starts. Bido hasn’t faced the Yankees.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Report: Boxing legend Manny Pacquiao coming out of retirement
Aug 21, 2021; Las Vegas, Nevada; Manny Pacquiao (right) fights Yordenis Ugas in a world welterweight championship bout at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images Boxing legend Manny Pacquiao plans to end his retirement and return to the ring on July 19 against Mario Barrios in Las Vegas, ESPN reported Thursday.
Pacquiao, 46, will be fighting for the first time since losing a unanimous decision to Yordenis Ugas in 2021.
The fight will be for Barrios’ WBC welterweight championship belt. Barrios turns 30 on May 18.
Pacquiao is an eight-division champion who is slated to be inducted into the boxing Hall of Fame in June. He reportedly will formally announce his return to boxing next week. The report stated that Pacquiao has been cleared to compete by the Nevada State Athletic Commission.
In recent years, Pacquiao has been focusing on his political career in the Philippines.
The boxer nicknamed “PacMan” has a 62-8-2 record with 39 knockouts during his career. He won his first major title — the WBC flyweight crown — at age 19 in 1998.
Pacquiao was 54-3-2 prior to turning 33 and 8-5 afterward. One of those losses was to Floyd Mayweather Jr. via unanimous decision in 2015, a bout that reportedly drew nearly $400 million in pay-per-view sales.
Barrios (29-2-1, 18 knockouts) fought to a 12-round, split-decision draw against Abel Ramos last November. This will be his third defense since winning the title by beating Ugas in 2023.
–Field Level Media
A'ja Wilson has no shortage of motivation after Aces' early exit in '24
Best Mothers Day gifts: Show mom some love
