FanHouse Long Beach State

Cal State Fullerton will play host to Long Beach State on tonight. There was a time in recent memory when this was the preeminent college basketball rivalry in Southern California. Or at least the most blood thirsty among the fans, once even resulting in a brawl among the fans with 27 fans going to jail like it was an Eagles game or something.

There was a time when the Big West actually mattered.

UNLV ruled the college basketball world and produced the greatest team in college basketball history.

The conference had three teams among the field of 64.

The conference actually churned out NBA players on a regular basis.

Now it has come to this -- the Big West is looking at a No. 16 seed. The conference of Jerry Tarkanian is now one of the bottom-feeders in the NCAA.

I don't know what Long Beach State is expecting from their basketball program, but those goals appear to be loftier than you'd think. Larry Reynolds, Long Beach's coach, will not have his contract renewed.

Larry's been there for five years. Long Beach State went 12-2 in the Big West this year, and 24-8 overall. That follows an 18-12 mark the year before, and a 10-20 record in 04/05. Before that, they were 6-21, and before that, they went 5-22. You know what I call that? I call that steady improvement. In fact, that was the best case scenario when they hired Reynolds.

I imagine this is about something other than basketball. An assistant coach and recruiting coordinator, Reggie Howard, did not travel with the team to their tournament appearance in Columbus while the NCAA investigates possible recruiting violations. Howard's been placed on indefinite leave (I'm assuming this makes it permanent).

I don't know what to tell you about this. Maybe Reynolds is taking the fall for something Howard did. Maybe, and seemingly more likely, Reynods knew about or helped with something illegal that Howard did. There could even be something else going on ... the general public never gets a clear idea in cases like this.

Whatever the case, Long Beach, over the past five years, went from 5-22 to 6-21 to 10-20 to 18-12 to 24-8, and that is remarkable. It's a shame for the Beach that they're taking this step back.