BIG WEST NOTEBOOK / MIKE DiGIOVANNA : San Jose State Picked to Win Football Title

San Jose State, which will be under the direction of first-year Coach Ron Turner, was picked by both coaches and the media to win the Big West Conference football championship at Thursday’s football/volleyball media day in Los Angeles.

Cal State Fullerton pulled a rare triple; the Titans were picked to finish last in both football polls and the volleyball coaches’ poll.

The coaches and media football polls were identical, with first-year conference member Nevada, which replaced Western Athletic Conference-bound Fresno State, picked to finish second.

The Wolf Pack, which is moving from Division I-AA to Division I-A, went 12-1 last season, including an 8-0 mark in the Big Sky Conference.

University of the Pacific, led by former Mission Viejo High School quarterback Troy Kopp, was picked third, Utah State fourth, Nevada Las Vegas fifth and New Mexico State sixth.

Defending conference champion Cal State Long Beach was rated a slight favorite over Pacific and Hawaii in the volleyball poll. UC Irvine was rated sixth.

Quotes and notes: A Stockton reporter asked Fullerton football Coach Gene Murphy why he remains at a school that has caused him so much heartache--the Titans nearly dropped football in 1991, went 3-20 the past two seasons, and budget cuts have pared the program to the bone.

Murphy’s reply: “How many calls have you got from the Washington Post lately?”

* First-year Pacific Coach Chuck Shelton on why he must close the gap between the Tigers’ offense, which ranked second in the nation in total yards per game (511.3) last season, and defense, which ranked last in points allowed per game (40.1):

“Statistics get assistant coaches jobs, but winning keeps mine, and my wife’s the one with thousands of dollars of debt.”

* Former Edison High and Orange Coast College quarterback Greg Angelovic will enter fall drills as Utah State’s starting quarterback. . . . Former Seattle Seahawk quarterback Jim Zorn is the offensive coordinator at Utah State. . . . Nevada has expanded its stadium to hold 31,500 and has sold out 42 sky boxes for this season. . . . New Mexico State has a new, $500,000 weight room that is the fourth-largest of its kind in the nation.

* San Jose State’s Shon Ellerbe, the team’s top returning running back, contracted a rare virus known as “San Joaquin Valley fever” during the off-season and will be a redshirt this year.

Contingency plan: There has been much speculation about the future of Fullerton’s football program--many expect the Titans to either drop to Division I-AA or drop football altogether after this season.

The Big West, hoping to avoid the scheduling problems caused when Long Beach suddenly dropped football last winter, is bracing itself for life without the Titans.

The conference has issued member schools two 1993 master football schedules, one with Fullerton on it and one without.

“We’re not implying anything--it’s not a vote of confidence or non-confidence,” new Big West Commissioner Dennis Farrell said. “We’re just covering ourselves in either scenario.

“Long Beach sent our schools scrambling last winter, and we learned from that situation. It’s better off having contingency plans. We hope Fullerton is part of the conference, but if they’re not, we’re covered.”

Viva Las Vegas: The Big West Conference Council voted to move the postseason basketball tournament from Long Beach to Las Vegas beginning in 1994, Farrell said.

The Thomas & Mack Center, with a capacity of 18,250, and the MGM Grand, which is building a 13,500-seat arena, made proposals to play host to the tournament, and Farrell said the conference will award a three-year contract to one of those groups in August.

The Long Beach Arena, which will play host to the tournament for the fifth consecutive year in 1993, and Sacramento’s Arco Arena also made bids for the tournament.

Without perennial power UNLV, banned from postseason play by the NCAA, last season’s tournament attracted few fans to Long Beach.

“Long Beach was a victim of bad timing,” Farrell said. “If their contract would have come up a year ago, people would have wanted to keep the tournament there because it was growing and doing well.

“But last year we saw how vulnerable we could be without Las Vegas. Most fans go to watch their own schools, but they need other things to occupy their time. That’s what Las Vegas gives them.”

Big West Polls

First-place votes in parentheses

FOOTBALL COACHES

Pos. School Points 1. San Jose State (4) 46 2. Nevada (1) 39 3. Pacific (1) 38 4. Utah State (1) 25 5. Nevada Las Vegas 21 6. New Mexico State 20 7. Cal State Fullerton 7

FOOTBALL MEDIA

Pos. School Points 1. San Jose State (25) 249 2. Nevada (5) 210 3. Pacific (5) 198 4. Utah State (3) 150 5. Nevada Las Vegas 109 6. New Mexico State 95 7. Cal State Fullerton 53

VOLLEYBALL COACHES

Pos. School Points 1. Cal State Long Beach (9) 99 2. Pacific (1) 90 3. Hawaii 81 4. UC Santa Barbara 70 5. San Jose State 56 6. UC Irvine 52 7. New Mexico State 40 8. Utah State 25 9. Nevada 22 10. Cal State Fullerton 15