After their games in the NCAA Division II Western Sub-Regional in Bellingham, Wash. last weekend, the Cal Poly Pomona men's basketball team persuaded a nearby sports bar to hook up the other sub-regional, at Brigham Young University-Hawai'i, via satellite dish.

And for two nights running, a spokesman said, Broncos' players watched and rooted, all the while knowing that a BYUH loss would bring the championship game to Pomona but Seasider wins would pack Cal Poly off to La'ie for tonight's Sweet 16 matchup.

You might be surprised by the number of Broncos who apparently had little problem forsaking the home-court advantage for the trip here. And maybe not for the reason you might imagine, either.

The idyllic North Shore setting? A stop at the shrimp trucks? A visit to the Polynesian Cultural Center?

No, the respite from quarterly exams, which started today on the Cal Poly campus, apparently made the trip here even more palatable for some.

But while kinesiology, political science, geology and the like are on hold for the moment, the 22-7 Broncos do not lack for tests here. In the Cannon Activities Center tonight, where the Seasiders are unbeaten this year, the Broncos will likely find a more exacting challenge than what awaits them in the classrooms back home.

Chemistry final or guarding Lucas Alves? Philosophy or keeping Nathan Sims off the boards? Physics or thwarting Virgil Buensuceso's passes? Step up and pick your challenge.

To be sure, the trials abound for the unranked Broncos, especially when they are all that stand in the way of the No. 3-ranked Seasiders and a trip to the Elite Eight next week. At this point Springfield, Mass., site of the Elite Eight and beyond, must seem as close as the free-throw line to the 27-1 Seasiders after their remarkable endurance run.

BYUH hasn't lost since mid-December, winning 24 games in a row, and, with one more, can go further than any local team in Division II membership, both in terms of success and mileage.

While the Seasiders have momentum, they also have a large and loud following rooting them on in the form of the Cannon crowd. The force of which the Broncos have not encountered in these NCAA playoffs. When sub-division host Western Washington was eliminated, the Broncos played before maybe a few hundred in punching their ticket here.

Winners of 13 of their last 14 games, the Broncos have gotten here on much more than just luck and pluck. But as much as they might have gotten what they wanted by postponing exams, sometimes getting what you wish for can be more daunting.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8044.