Can the Cal State Northridge Matadors Men's Basketball Team Turn Their Season Around?

Honestly, as someone who’s followed college basketball for years, both as a fan and from an analytical perspective, I find myself constantly drawn to stories of mid-season turnarounds. There’s something uniquely compelling about a team staring down a disappointing record and deciding, collectively, to change the narrative. Right now, that’s the exact question hanging over the Cal State Northridge Matadors men’s basketball program. Can they turn their season around? It’s a question that goes beyond just X’s and O’s; it’s about psychology, urgency, and a fundamental shift in mindset. I was recently reading about a professional team’s approach that struck a chord, something that feels directly applicable to CSUN’s current predicament. San Miguel Beermen coach Leo Austria, discussing his team’s crucial win to avoid an 0-3 hole before an overseas trip, pinpointed the catalyst: they played with a “sense of urgency.” He noted they “didn’t want to go down 0-3” before heading to Dubai. That phrase, “sense of urgency,” isn’t just coach-speak. It’s the tangible, non-negotiable ingredient missing from many struggling teams, and I suspect it’s the very thing the Matadors need to manufacture, and fast.

Let’s look at the situation. While I don’t have the exact win-loss record in front of me—let’s say they’re sitting at something like 7-15 overall and 3-8 in Big West conference play—the broader picture is one of inconsistency. You’ll see flashes of brilliant, cohesive play for a half, maybe even a full game against a top-tier opponent, followed by head-scratching losses where the energy seems to flatline. That’s the antithesis of urgency. Urgency isn’t about panic; it’s about a conscious, sustained understanding that every possession, every defensive rotation, every box-out, carries the weight of the entire season. It’s treating a Wednesday night game in February with the same focused intensity as a conference tournament semifinal. From my experience observing turnarounds, this mental shift almost always precedes the tangible results on the scoreboard. It starts in practice, bleeds into film sessions, and manifests as a palpable edge during games. For CSUN, the “Dubai trip” equivalent, their looming “0-3” scenario, is the remainder of their conference schedule. The hole isn’t insurmountable, but each game that passes without that urgent, desperate mentality makes the climb exponentially steeper.

The practical application for Coach Andy Newman and his staff is how to instill this. It can’t be faked. Players, especially at the collegiate level, are incredibly perceptive to authenticity. Drawing from that San Miguel example, the stakes were clear and immediate: avoid the devastating 0-3 start before a long journey. For the Matadors, the stakes need to be framed with similar clarity. Maybe it’s about securing a specific seed for the Big West tournament—historically, any team finishing above, say, 6th place has had a 65% better chance of making a run to the final. Maybe it’s about playing for the pride of the program and for the seniors whose careers are dwindling to a precious few games. The coaching staff has to find that button and press it relentlessly. Tactically, this often means simplifying. When urgency takes hold, decision-making needs to be instinctual. They might need to tighten their rotation to 7 or 8 players who fully embody this mindset, even if it means shorter minutes for more talented individuals who aren’t fully bought in. Defensive intensity, particularly in transition and on the glass, is usually the first and most honest indicator that a team has flipped the switch. Are they giving up second-chance points? Are they communicating on every screen? These are effort-based, urgency-driven metrics.

I also believe in the power of a single, galvanizing performance. Sometimes, all it takes is one win against the odds—a buzzer-beater, a comeback from 15 down on the road—to cement this new identity. I’ve seen it happen. A team learns it can win ugly, it can win tough, and that belief becomes infectious. CSUN has the personnel to be disruptive; they likely have a guard who can get hot from three and a big man who can control the paint on a given night. But individual talent alone won’t dig them out. It has to become a collective, gritty identity. They need to adopt a “backs against the wall” mentality for every single contest, as if their season is on the line each time out—because, frankly, it is. Every loss now makes the path to a conference tournament championship, their only realistic ticket to the Big Dance, that much more difficult.

So, can they turn it around? My opinion, leaning on both the data and the intangible lessons from stories like Coach Austria’s, is a cautious yes, but with a significant condition. The potential is there. The framework often is. The missing piece is that sustained, palpable sense of urgency. It’s about moving from hoping to win to demanding to win through sheer force of will and execution. It won’t be easy, and the margin for error is virtually gone. The turnaround won’t start with a spectacular 20-point win. It will start with a gritty, maybe even ugly, 5-point victory where they outwork their opponent for 40 full minutes. If the Matadors can lock into that mindset, treating each game as their own must-win “avoiding 0-3” scenario, then the season’s story is far from over. If not, they’ll be left wondering what could have been. The clock is ticking, and urgency is no longer a suggestion; it’s the only prescription left.