Cal State Fullerton Titans

1. Remember the Titans. Thirty years ago the Titans advanced to the elite eight only to be bounced out of the 1978 field by the famed "triplets" of Arkansas (guards Sidney Moncrief , Marvin Delph and Ron Brewer) who were coached by Eddie Sutton (some 628 wins ago). Speaking of legends former CSF basketball star Greg Bunch was in attendance at the Big West conference finals to witness the Titans return to the Big Dance three decades after he lead them in their memorable debut.

2. Cut(ly) and Run. Senior forward Scott Cutley, who averages 14.8 points and 7.6 rebounds per game, was named Co-Big West Player of the Year. Cutley left Kent State after his sophomore season, and it must have seemed like forward thinking to his teammate, junior forward Marcus Crenshaw (8.9 ppg), who also left the Golden Flashes for Fullerton. The Titans starting backcourt of Josh Akognon (19.9 ppg) and Ray Reed (6.4 ppg) are also transfers from Washington State and Georgetown, respectively. It should be interesting to see how it all plays out considering all the starting player's ex-schools made it to the big dance, so there is a good chance they could face at least one of those ex-teams.

3. Name Dropping. The Titans have a player named Frank Robinson (no relation to the baseball star Hall of Famer); he averages 16.1 points and 1.3 steals per game. These Titans are giant killers; they slayed the Cal State Northridge Matadors, whose star player went by the name of Chitwood (a la Hoosiers fame). That isn't the only Hollywood connection; Fullerton's famous alumni include actor/director Kevin Costner (who played baseball for the perennial power) and big name roundball alums including former Sun/Laker Cedric Ceballos and former Spur Bruce Bowen. — Shane Igoe