It’s a psychological principle that I don’t understand: I call it The Inevitable Letdown. A team has a big victory, and then plays horribly in its next contest. It’s getting so I can predict it. Last night, I correctly predicted that UC Riverside’s men’s basketball team, which on Saturday had shocked Pacific to end the Tigers’ 31-game home win streak, would come down hard in its next game, against Cal State Northridge. Sure enough, Riverside missed its first eight field-goal attempts, shot 33 percent from the field and lost 76-62 as Northridge got balanced scoring for the first time against an NCAA Division I team this season (the Matadors had four in double figures in a rout of an NAIA team earlier). What’s more, Riverside’s top player, Rickey Porter, who had scored 40 against Pacific, went scoreless in the first half and finished with just two points against Northridge, although he led his team with five assists. Contrast that with CSUN’s Mike Efevberha, who also went scoreless in the first half but managed 16 points in the second half. True, Efevberha didn’t score anything close to the 39 he put in Saturday night, but 16 is closer to 39 than 2 is to 40.

I’m amazed how often The Inevitable Letdown occurs. I wonder if there is a DSMV-IV diagnosis. It’s getting so predictable, Las Vegas oddsmakers should take it into account when setting lines. A guy sitting next to me Monday said if there had been a line, he would have bet the mortgage on Northridge. Well, Roxborough’s line was 11.5 points, so this guy would have won.

Of course, The Inevitable Letdown doesn’t just happen in basketball. I’m amazed it happens in football. Teams play once a week, yet they let down. How can this be? You celebrate hard for a day, then it’s back to work. By the next Friday, Saturday, or Sunday (depending on the level you play), you should have gotten that win out of your system — especially now that there are countless examples of The Inevitable Letdown. Your favorite team no doubt has suffered through it.