A full house is expected Saturday night at the VC Sportsplex, when No. 2 Ventura (3-0) opens Northern Conference play by hosting No. 11 Bakersfield (2-1) in a matchup of perhaps the two SCFA schools with the biggest followings.

Bakersfield (3,052) and Ventura (2,326) finished 1-2 in Southern California in paid attendance last fall.

There will certainly be a packed house in the Sportsplex press boxes. SoCalCollegeSports.com is webcasting the game. KERN (1180 AM) Bakersfield is broadcasting the game.

The unbeaten start pushed Ventura to No. 5 and No. 9 in the CCCFCA state and JCFootball.com national polls this week.

The Ventura College basketball community took a hit this week when one of the Pirates' most loyal fans, Larry Whiting, died of cancer.

In his motorized chair, beside his wife Mary, Whiting, 75, was a fixture at VC basketball games, both home and away.

"There's going to be a rather significant void between the bench and the scorer's table," said Ventura women's basketball coach Ned Mircetic. "He was a fixture at our games and we were blessed to have a person like him come and attend our games.

"He's going to be dearly missed."

Services will be held today at 2 p.m. at Ted Mayr funeral home in Ventura.

Longtime Ventura College fans Ron Roberts and Sal Vargas added to the championship game atmosphere Sunday afternoon at Cal Lutheran's Gilbert Center.

Roberts had some orange towels that matched the decor of his church, Bible Fellowship in Ventura.

"I thought, 'Hey, this would be a perfect rally towel,' " said Roberts.

Roberts brought a few to Saturday's semifinal win over City College of San Francisco and they were gone in seconds.

"We brought 96 today and they were gone in minutes," said Roberts. "I should have brought 200.

"I hope this gets us the one or two points we need to get over the top."

There may not be a tomorrow for either of these two teams, but there's always a next season for Ventura fans.

"I'm going to have to home and buy out Sam's Club," said Roberts, "so I'll be ready for next fall."