| 05 August 2010
Get your calendars out. College basketball season may not be for another three and a half months, but Portland State has some big games on this year’s schedule.
Three jump off the sheet.
After being dethroned last season from their position as the Big Sky conference champions - a title they’d held for two years running - the Vikings hope to rebound from their disappointing 13-19 finish.
Although they lost three significant players to graduation, PSU will enter the 2010-2011 season with the distinction of being awarded the “top recruiting class in the Big Sky” according to ESPN.
The elephant in the room regarding the upcoming season involves an off-season penalty that will disallow the Vikings from participating in this year’s Big Sky Tournament, NCAA Tournament and National Invitation Tournament.
The punishment came from the culmination of four years of insufficient grades, a trend second-year coach Tyler Geving has worked hard to reverse since taking over.
“My staff and I are committed to making this a top program on the court and in the classroom," Geving said.
But what does that look like for the Vikings right now?
Even with the recent disappointing news regarding sanctions, the team is ready to play. Its journey toward reclaiming conference bragging rights begins with some intriguing early matchups that should be tough tests, but will also be great opportunities for the new team to prove itself (and beat up on a couple other in-state programs).
Here are three games that really cannot be missed:
@ University of Oregon - Dec. 5 - Time TBA
The last time the Vikings played the Ducks was during the 2006-2007 season and the game did not end favorably for Portland. However, PSU hopes to turn things around this year, playing against new coach Dana Altman and his squad (minus now-graduated Tajuan Porter) in the recently unveiled Matthew Knight Arena.
University of Portland - Dec. 18 - 7:05 p.m.
The Vikings beat cross-town rival University of Portland 86-82 last year at the Chiles Center at a point in the season when the Pilots were the 25th ranked team in the country. Don’t think they’ve forgotten about it. UP will play the University of Kentucky in the Rose Garden on November 19th, one month before this game, and matching up against one of the top programs in the country will be a strong indicator of how good they really are. The Vikings will be watching.
@ University of Nevada - Dec. 20 - Time TBA
If you’re not too familiar with the University of Nevada basketball team, all you really need to know is that the Blazers drafted two of its players in this year’s NBA Draft: Luke Babbitt and Armon Johnson. While NBA talent like Babbitt and Johnson cannot be easily replaced, PSU shouldn’t count on stealing an easy one from the Wolfpack – they always put together a solid squad and have finished in the top two spots in the WAC for seven years straight.
With their post-season dreams already smashed even before the season’s first tip-off, the Vikings have a long and difficult road ahead of them.
But we know one thing for sure – they’ll come out with a fire under them.
photo: goviks.com
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