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All the talk from handicappers is usually on games they would play. From time to time I will take a different angle and discuss a game that has no business being on anyone’s betting ticket. The last profiled game was Georgia Tech vs Syracuse which featured numerous lead changes and a narrow one point win from the Cuse.

Saturday I’ll head out to the Big West where a late night matchup features Cal Santa Barbara vs Long Beach State. As of this blog entry Long Beach State is favored by 3.5 points. Cal Santa Barbara is coming off a dud performance in which they lost outright as a 13 point favorite at home to Cal State Northridge. That line was severely off and not an indicator of the type of team Santa Barbara is.

Meanwhile Long Beach State is a puzzle that I could not back right now. They seem to have the pieces to be the Big West representative but have looked like a team non-focused for most of this season. They took their beatings in non-conference games against top-tier talent but have came out flat in conference play.

Long Beach State lost to UC Davis in overtime and nearly had to face Cal Poly in overtime because of costly errors by senior guard Mike Caffey. For the majority of the game against Cal Poly they failed as a team to match the defensive intensity that Cal Poly brought to the court.

The talent is there for Long Beach State but I have yet to see this team display their capabilities. This is a tricky game to see if Long Beach State finally emerges or if Cal Santa Barbara gives them another close Big West matchup.