Ask any coach, and they'll tell you there are no easy games ever. Any team can beat another team on any given night, no matter their records.

So, as the San Bernardino Valley College men's basketball team heads to West Hills College in Lemoore for the Elite Eight, the Wolverines know that every team alive is capable of walking out of the gym Sunday with the State Championship. The eight teams that have reached this stage have proved their mettle this season, posting a combined record of 216 wins and 24 losses in the 2022-23 season. Seven of the top eight seeds from both regions are in the final eight, with the north's No. 5 seed West Valley College the only outlier.

But all those wins, losses, and seeds will matter when all eight teams take the floor Thursday to see who advances to Saturday's Final Four.

SBVC (27-3), the No. 4 seed from the South, will start its part of the journey at 5 p.m. Thursday, as it takes on the No. 1 seed from the North, City College of San Francisco (27-3). The game will be broadcast on the Bay Area Online Sports Network (BAOSN). Tickets can be pre-purchased online through Hometown Ticketing.

The Rams are the defending state champions, and they have remained tough to stop in the 2022-23 season. The team enters the game averaging 97.9 points per game, while holding opponents to 66.5 points per game. Their three losses include one to the South's No. 1-seed, Fullerton (in overtime), undefeated North Idaho College, and conference foe Chabot College, which was seeded No. 7 in the north, and lost to San Jose City College on Saturday.

CCSF has five players who finished the season scoring in double figures, led by Te'Jon Sawyer, who posted 15 points per game. Jamir Thomas, in a support role off the bench, averaged 12.1 points per game, while Mezziah Oakman posted 11.5 points per game. As a team, they have made 52.1 percent of their shots from the field, hitting 35.9 percent from beyond the arc.

On the other side, the Wolverines' defense has been just as strong this season, limiting opponents to only 61.3 points per game. Two of SBVC's three losses came during the team's season-opening home tournament, falling to South No. 3-seed East Los Angeles, and Saddleback College in the Alvin Hunter Classic. The only other loss came to Salt Lake College, ranked No. 9 in the country in one poll, at the Fiesta Bowl Classic in Arizona.

SBVC's offense is led by sophomore Dominique Daniels. Daniels has averaged a state-best 26.2 points per game in the 2022-23 season, while adding 6.5 assists per game. His fellow co-captain Armon Muldrew has been right there with Daniels all season, averaging 18.7 points per game. The duo, who have made the most three-pointers in school history, have shot better than 40 percent from beyond the arc this season. The team's other sophomore, Sebastian Mendoza, has added 13.7 points and 7.0 rebounds per game.

The winner of Thursday's game will advance to Saturday's semifinals against the winner of South No. 2 Citrus College against North No. 3 College of the Sequoias.