Few teams in college basketball could have had a more catastrophic season than the Cal Poly SLO Mustangs in 2004-05 as they finished with a record of 5-22 straight up and 8-16 against the spread as they failed to cover in eight of their first ten games of the season. With such a horrific record and reputation the possibility did exist for the Mustangs to actually be transformed into a value-added team as gamblers would not soon forget how they made a ton of money by pounding down the bets against Cal Poly SLO in that season before. Another factor that would possibly work in Cal Poly SLO’s favor was the fact that teams in the Big West conference often rise and fall quickly as the league is one in which fortunes have been known to change in the blink of an eye and worst to first stories, (and vice versa), were nothing to be considered uncommon.
Deceptive start
Cal Poly SLO began the 2005-06 season with a 71-67 unlined home win over UC San Diego. That was followed by a 57-72 home loss to San Jose State as 2-point dogs for a deceptive start in which they looked very similar to last year.
Value added team
In their next game at home against Fresno State, however, Cal Poly SLO scored a 77-85 loss in which they got the cash as 9-point dogs. In their next game at Stanford, the Mustangs proved to be a value added team with a 58-82 loss in which they got the cash as 26-point dogs. It was more of the same in their next game at Colorado as the Mustangs were defeated 75-93 and yet got the cash as 29-point dogs. The bargain values continued in their next game, which was a 58-73 loss at Santa Clara as 18-point dogs.
Brief break Cal Poly SLO Mustangs
After an unlined home win over CSU Stanislaus, the Mustangs scored a 59-80 loss at Sacramento State in which they failed to cover as 14-point dogs. From there, however, they got back into the black.
Cash cows
Cal Poly SLO began their run with a 62-76 loss at Eastern Washington as 16.5-point dogs. That was followed by a 61-66 home loss to Portland as 6.5-point pups. Next was an 83-70 upset win at Cal State Fullerton as whopping 18.5-point dogs and then a 66-55 win at UC Riverside as 3-point dogs. The streak continued with a 67-69 loss to UC Irvine as 5-point dogs before ending with a 66-79 home loss to Long Beach State in a pick’em affair. Cal Poly SLO went right back into the role of cash cows, however as after an unlined loss at UC Davis they scored a 74-62 win over Santa Barbara as 5.5-point dogs. That was followed by a 62-64 loss to Pacific as 9-point dogs and then a 73-54 win over Northridge as 3-point home dogs. At this point it was obvious that most of the college basketball gambling public could only see Cal Poly SLO’s losing straight up record and that they overlooked that the Mustangs were consistent bargain values on the board. The college basketball betting public simply feared taking losing teams, regardless of the value quota on the board.
Cal Poly SLO Mustangs Profits continued
After a 70-83 unlined home loss to UC Davis, the Mustangs covered a 66-69 loss at Long Beach State as 11-point dogs and followed that up with a 61-58 win at UC Irvine as 13-point dogs. The Mustangs suffered a brief blip in which they failed to cover two of their next three games but quickly recovered to end the regular season with three payoffs in their final four games despite losing three of those games straight up. The Mustangs then covered their lone post season game against Santa Barbara to finish as the most profitable team in the nation!