COLLEGE DIVISION NOTEBOOK / MARTIN BECK : Chapman Schedules LSU . . . for the Experience

Following the lead of the Cal State Fullerton and Cal State Long Beach football teams, the Chapman College men’s basketball team has scheduled a game it doesn’t expect to win this season.

The Panthers will step up an NCAA division--and then some--when they play Louisiana State in Baton Rouge on Dec. 7.

LSU has qualified for the Division I playoffs seven years running and advanced to the Final Four twice in the 1980s. It’s the LSU of 7-foot-1 sophomore center Shaquille O’Neal against Chapman, which was 11-16 overall and 3-11 in the Division II California Collegiate Athletic Assn. last season.

Chapman Coach Bob Boyd admits his team, which started practice Monday, doesn’t have much of a chance. He says the trip, which includes a game against McNeese State, another Division I school, will give the players a unique experience.

“A lot of them don’t know anything about the South,” said Boyd, who coached five years at Mississippi State. He added that his players will compete against some of the best players in the country and be exposed to the coaching of his friend, LSU’s Dale Brown.

Boyd said Chapman will also receive a $10,000 guarantee for the game in Baton Rouge and $5,000 plus the cost of hotel rooms for playing McNeese State the next day in Lake Charles, La.

Boyd said that will more than pay for the trip, adding that he hopes to take his team on a Division I excursion every year. Because of the emphasis on schedule strength to determine qualifying for the NCAA playoffs, Boyd said it is difficult to get many Division I schools to schedule his team. That is why he is thankful to Fullerton Coach John Sneed for doing so this season.

“John is really helping the Chapman program to be a notch above Division II,” Boyd said. “Were playing LSU, Fullerton and McNeese State and not many Division II schools get to do that. It probably won’t help our record any, but I’m not trying to use Chapman as a stepping stone. I’m not trying to build my coaching record.”

The magnitude of the mismatch against LSU appears so great--the Panthers’ starting center is eight inches shorter than O’Neal--that Boyd is already facing reporters’ facetious questions. He has been quick with his replies, apparently honing the one-liners.

“We might be a smidge over our heads,” Boyd said. “How’s that for another tongue-in-cheek answer?”

The defeat suffered by the Southern California College women’s volleyball team against Christ College Irvine Tuesday, probably ended its playoff chances. The Vanguards, who started their season 12-5 and received votes in the NAIA national poll, are 15-17, 1-8 in the Golden State Athletic Conference. With three matches remaining, it’s apparent they will not be among the five conference qualifiers for the District 3 playoffs.

College Division Notes

Southern California College cross-country runner Sherri Hall won her second Golden State Athletic Conference title in three years when she ran 18 minutes 16 seconds for five kilometers on the course at Bonelli Park in San Dimas Saturday. Hall, a 39-year-old mother of two, finished 14 seconds ahead of Azusa Pacific’s Jenee Ellis, the only conference runner who has beaten her this season. Amber Coley was eighth in 19:29 and Stacey Cabral was 20th in 21:28 for SCC, which finished with 82 points, fourth out of five teams and 38 points behind the winner, Westmont. Tim Bryan, the top finisher on SCC’s men’s team, was 21st, running 28:02 for eight kilometers. . . . On Saturday, SCC will play host to its cross-country invitational on the Newport Back Bay course. The starting line for the meet, which begins at 9 a.m., is near the Costa Mesa-Newport Beach YMCA. . . . Because of injuries, Christ College Irvine still wasn’t able to post a women’s team score in the GSAC meet, but Renee Carroll finished 19th in 21:22 and Karla Keithly was 21st in 22:40 in her first competitive race. For the men, who also have yet to field a full team, Mark Powell was the highest finisher at 34th, with a time of 29:20. . . . The Pacific Christian women’s volleyball team will begin the National Christian College Athletic Assn. District 7 Regionals today at Arizona College of the Bible. Pacific Christian (16-6) will play host to the national championship next week in Fullerton.