COLLEGE BASKETBALL NOTES : Are All of These Polls Necessary?

Perhaps the only thing that multiplies as quickly as Division I basketball teams are the polls that rank them.

Just about every major news organization in the United States has a college basketball poll. The results of those polls give cause to wonder just what purpose the rankings serve.

Their accuracy is, at best, mediocre. Of 10 national champions decided by the NCAA tournament in the 1980s, the average pre-tournament Associated Press ranking was No. 6. And that doesn’t count two champions that came from outside the poll.

Only one team that won it all (1982 North Carolina) was rated No. 1 entering the tournament. Five times, the No. 1 team failed to reach the Final Four.

With the ability of teams such as Kansas and Villanova to come from nowhere to win the NCAAs, it would figure voters might be more willing to consider the achievements of teams other than the traditional powers and reward them with high rankings.

And yet Connecticut (18-3) remains outside the Top 10, despite being tied for first place in the Big East Conference and having beaten Syracuse, Georgetown and St. John’s in succession during an eight-game winning streak.

Purdue is 16-2 and 8-0 in the Big Ten Conference after a 91-73 victory over Michigan Wednesday. But the Boilermakers did not make the Top 10 until this week. Michigan, with three conferences losses, is rated four spots above Purdue.

La Salle has beaten Villanova, Temple, DePaul and Notre Dame, all strong programs having off-peak seasons, and has the third-best record in the country at 15-1. Despite a strong cast led by 6-6 forward Lionel Simmons, the Explorers can’t get past No. 15.

Need further proof of the polls’ folly? Then here: Pitt received five points in this week’s AP poll. The Panthers have been under .500 since the third week of the season.

Generally, the one fair way to select an all-American team is by position, so guards are compared to guards and forwards to forwards. That might not be fair this season, though, because it is unlikely to represent the five best players.

The problem is at center. The guy acknowledged before the season as college basketball’s best center, Alonzo Mourning, is playing power forward. The one acknowledged to be second-best, Arizona’s Brian Williams, isn’t close. Williams is averaging 10.8 points a game and didn’t get a rebound against Pitt Saturday.

So who are you going to call All-American?

There are a number of good centers, among them Arkansas’ Mario Credit (10.4 ppg, 57.5 percent shooting) and Louisville’s Felton Spencer (14 ppg, 9.3 rpg).

The only one flirting with excellence, though, is Duke’s 6-11 Christian Laettner, who is averaging 16.8 points and 9.2 rebounds and has 33 steals. He is shooting 53.6% from the field and a league-leading 86.4% from the free-throw line. He has had five double-doubles in eight Atlantic Coast Conference games. Laettner outplayed Mourning in their only meeting, in last season’s NCAA tournament.

Illinois Coach Lou Henson gave Iowa’s Tom Davis a half-hearted handshake before their game Monday night, not bothering to look Davis in the eye after Davis offered his hand.

Their programs have been feuding since Iowa assistant Bruce Pearl taped a conversation with Illinois recruit Deon Thomas. Pearl said the tape, in the hands of the NCAA, includes a Thomas statement that Illinois offered him money and a car. Thomas, who is not playing this season, denies he was offered anything.

The tape is expected to be part of an investigation into Illinois basketball recruiting, with statements by Notre Dame’s LaPhonso Ellis that he was offered inducements to attend Illinois.

Pearl insists Iowa did not turn in Illinois to the NCAA. Iowa did, however, beat Illinois on Les Jepsen’s last-second layup.

“We’re doing the best we can with the people we have,” Henson said.

California center Brian Hendrick’s father is former Cardinals/Pirates outfielder George Hendrick. The freshman averages 16.8 points and 8.1 rebounds. With the nation’s seventh-best field-goal percentage (64.7), Hendrick is on course to match the NCAA record for freshmen (66%)

St. John’s Coach Lou Carnesecca hates the way his team plays zone defense, but sticking primarily with man-to-man is one big reason the Redmen have lost seven of their past eight against Syracuse.

Providence finds a way to lose close games. Three of the Friars’ five losses have been by a basket, as opposed to two of its 12 victories.