California (Pa.) University isn't used to sitting home for the men's basketball playoffs.

The Vulcans (14-13, 4-8) have won six PSAC West titles in nine years under coach Bill Brown, but missed out on postseason play last year.

"Things didn't work out the way we had hoped last year," Brown said. "We had a hard time scoring for the first time in a number of years.

"Our returning players were motivated to work that much harder in the off-season."

California has four starters returning and is the preseason No. 1 pick this year in a poll of PSAC West coaches.

Boris Mesnager, a 6-foot-7 senior forward from France, averaged 15.1 points and 7.5 rebounds per game last season. Senior guard Travis Eisentrout (8.3 ppg.), sophomore forward London Houston (6.0 ppg., 5.3 rpg.) and sophomore guard Mike Smelkinson also return.

Kelvin Green, a 6-5 junior guard-forward, joined the Vulcans for the final eight games of last season and averaged 11 points per game, leading the team in scoring three times.

"We were a different team with him in the lineup," Brown said. "Hopefully, Kelvin will provide that spark again."

The Red Raiders (18-11, 7-5) enjoyed their best season since 1990-91 and return all five starters.Junior guard Chuck Davis (17.0 ppg.) was among the conference's top five in scoring and steals. Senior 6-8 center Seth Scott (9.8 ppg., 5.4 rpg.) also returns, as do 6-5 sophomore guard Ryan Kraft, 6-5 junior forward Todd Johnson and senior guard Marcus Hudson."We have four guys inside who are interchangeable," said fifth-year coach David Springer. "We're excited about our depth. We can probably go 10 or 11 players deep."

Greg Walcavich, in his 17th year, needs 10 wins to reach 300 with the Fighting Scots (24-7, 8-4). He has three starters back in senior guard Torry Mitchell (11.7 ppg.), 6-8 senior forward Darren Tielsch (13.2 ppg., 7.2 rpg.) and 6-3 senior guard Chris Ravello to help him get there.Edinboro must overcome the losses of PSAC West Player of the Year Jakim Donaldson (16.3 ppg., 13.1 rpg.) and three-time all-conference guard Rob Sims."Those are two major losses," assistant coach Patrick Cleary said. "Things are not as optimistic as they were at this time last year, but that's OK. We have a few new guys who are gonna help."

Ron Righter enters his 18th year at Clarion needing 14 wins to reach 300 with the Golden Eagles (19-9, 8-4). He has two solid guards and a big man coming back.Senior 6-5 center Michael Clarke (13.2 ppg., 7.6 rpg.) returns along with guards Terrance Vaughns (12.1 ppg.) and Bobby Franklin (7.0 ppg., 3.2 apg.).Garrett Heath, the all-time leading scorer in District 9 high school basketball, will push for playing time as well.Karns City graduate Patrick Craig, a 6-4 junior forward, also is vying for time."Patrick's in the mix," Righter said. "He's been in our system for a year now. He's got tremendous work ethic and he can shoot the ball. He should be able to help us."

Former IUP assistant Wes Layton is the interim head coach this season and inherits a team that graduated 67 percent of its scoring and 59 percent of its rebounding.The lone returning starter for the Indians (24-9, 8-4) is two-time all-conference pick and senior guard Eddie Peterson (11.8 ppg., 3.5 apg.)."Eddie's a fifth-year senior and should be one of the top guards in the conference," Layton said. "We've got a couple of transfer players and a solid recruiting class."One freshman, Dontaie Anthony, could be our starting point guard."

The Bald Eagles (4-23, 2-10) return two starters, but could put an entirely new starting lineup on the floor after graduating three double-digit scorers."We've got a sizable freshman class and a junior college transfer really pushing for playing time," coach John Wilson Jr. said.Junior 6-3 guard Ryan Carson and junior guard Kranthi Senadhi combined for just three points per game as starters last year.