Bronco Tennis Team Ready For Annual California Trip

I haven't come up with a formula for this (!), but I use Boise State's tennis swing through California as a measuring stick for the Bronco team. Usually how Coach Greg Patton's army performs on this trip is a good indicator if the team is going to be a solid national contender or will have to fight to win the WAC.

What I like is how aggressive Patton is in his scheduling. After this road trip, the Bronco men will have completed their eighth consecutive road match in a row, seven of those against Top 30 teams! What Patton very much would like to do is get the sun-baked California youth to come to Boise. The California schools preach to their brethren that Boise is a cold, cold, so cold place that is blustery and uninhabitable by California citizens. The truth is, of course, that Boise is extremely mild for a city as north as it is, especially in the last 20 years or so. Patton of course has seen it all. He's been Conference Coach of the Year umpteen times and National Coach of the Year twice. He's headed professional tennis teams and USA National teams. Knowing Coach like I do, whatever Greg says you can take to the bank. He is a man of his word, and I cannot imagine any tennis player in the nation not wanting to jump at the chance to play for a man and a coach of his caliber. If I want the motivator of the millenium and a coach that is going to improve my tennis, I want Patton. And there isn't anyone else close.

But those sun-baked California tennis stars would probably be more likely to come up to mild Boise if the Broncos win on their California swing. In 1997, the Broncos came down to L.A. and stunned mighty UCLA on their way to a #2 national ranking. In the years in which Boise State has fared well in Cali, they are a strong threat to reach the Sweet 16. But if they don't play well, I don't see them as a clear favorite in the WAC. Again, I don't know how precise the correlation is, but it's something I follow and pay attention to.

Patton's group takes on #20 Pepperdine Saturday just across from famous Malibu beach. You can follow the action live here:

http://www.pepperdinesports.com/sports/m-tennis/sched/pepp-m-tennis-sched.html

Then, it's on to #6 UCLA Sunday for a battle with the Bruins. UCLA's site also will have live scoring of the Broncos and Bruins at:

http://www.uclabruins.com/sports/m-tennis/ucla-m-tennis-body.html

(Go down to the bottom of the page for the schedule to find the Boise State-UCLA match and click on the "Live Results" link.)

Finally, Boise State concludes its California visit with a meeting against #53 San Diego State. Obviously since Boise State is ranked higher, they need to at least come away with this one. A win against the national powers would be a bonus.

Good luck to Patton's Broncs, and make a mental note of how they fare on this trip and how they do at the conclusion of the season.