Before considering Thursday's Cal Poly upset over UCSD a buy signal for the Mustangs, note that Mike DeGeorge's squad was just 5-9 prior, with most of the many portal adds slow to assimilate aside from Dayton transfer wing Hamad Mousa, in contention for Big West MVP honors as he scores at 21 ppg. The Beach, however, has impressed, even if mostly in defeat, as Chris Acker has an upgraded roster this season featuring frosh G Gavin Sykes (17.9 ppg) and 6-9 Syracuse transfer Petar Majstorovic (13.6 ppg). Good efforts at the Pyramid vs. MVC contender Illinois State and wins over WCC San Diego & Pepperdine suggest home edge might work here for the Beach. Play Long Beach State