California State University At Fullerton

Bob Burton isn't much of a believer in fate, even though fate seems to be on his side. The Cal State Fullerton basketball coach would rather have a roster loaded with blue-chip recruits and future NBA All-Stars as he heads to the NCAA tournament this week to face Wisconsin in a first-round matchup in Omaha.

Cal State Fullerton is going to Omaha. Nothing new there, but this time it's the basketball team heading to the NCAA tournament instead of the baseball team going to the College World Series. The Titans were seeded No. 14 in the Midwest Region and will play No. 3 Wisconsin on Thursday in Omaha, a city where the baseball team has become a fan favorite because of its 15 appearances in the College World Series and four championships.

It was up in the air for a while, but Cal State Fullerton's first appearance in the NCAA men's basketball tournament in 30 years will be carried live over-the-air locally by KDOC. When tipoff times for Thursday's opening-round games were announced, Fullerton initially appeared boxed out of local over-the-air television.

At college campuses across the nation, it wouldn't be March without serious talk of making it to the Big Dance. But at Cal State Fullerton? Not so much. It's been a generation and then some since Fullerton or any other Orange County school qualified for the NCAA basketball tournament, the end-of-season playoffs for the top 65 college hoop teams in the country.

OMAHA -- Alas, the 30-year old glass slipper had cracked. Either that, or it just didn't fit anymore after sitting in Cal State Fullerton's closet since 1978. The Titans did their best to squeeze in, hanging much closer than anyone outside their locker room might have expected but were eventually worn down by big-bodied Wisconsin and lost, 71-56, in a first-round game of the Midwest Regional at the Qwest Center.

OMAHA -- One of the untold stories of Cal State Fullerton's 71-56 loss to Wisconsin on Thursday night at the Qwest Center was a discrepancy in fouls, and Fullerton Coach Bob Burton wanted to keep it untold. Fullerton was whistled for 25, Wisconsin for only 11 and Burton had to bite his lip not to say anything. "I'm new to this big time stuff here so I don't think I'm supposed to comment on it, which I would absolutely love to," Burton said. "It was very discouraging."

Had Dave Serrano not done his job so masterfully at UC Irvine the last three seasons, this weekend would have passed without notice. The Big West Conference might not be so highly regarded. And Irvine fans never would have learned how to hold a grudge. But in 2007 Serrano guided Irvine to its first appearance at the College World Series, where the Anteaters became the darlings of Omaha.

A Quaker who lost her appointment as a Cal State Fullerton lecturer after she objected to a state loyalty oath submitted a revised statement of her beliefs Thursday in a bid to win the job back. People For the American Way, a Washington-based civil rights group now representing lecturer Wendy Gonaver, called on the university to reinstate her and adopt a policy protecting the religious freedom of all California State University system employees.

UCLA used the old hidden ball trick to perfection Friday in their NCAA baseball regional opener against Virginia, but it was a different kind of hidden ball that gave the Bruins a 3-2 victory over the Cavaliers at Cal State Fullerton. UCLA pinch-hitter Cody Decker came to bat with one out and runners at first and second in the bottom of the ninth and the score tied, 2-2.

A Cal State Fullerton lecturer who lost her job because she objected to signing a loyalty oath was reappointed Monday to teach next fall in an agreement worked out between the university and a national civil rights group. Wendy Gonaver, a Quaker and pacifist who said that California's required loyalty oath violated her religious beliefs and her right of free speech, will be allowed to attach a personal statement of her views when she signs the pledge. "It feels great," Gonaver said Monday.