Three Out of (Pac) 10 Isn’t Looking Too Bad These Days

If not for the tag team of Arizona and Arizona State, the Pacific 10 Conference might have been reduced to rattling tin cups come March 14, the day the nine-member NCAA Basketball Committee issues 64 precious tournament invitations.

Instead, the Pac-10 can probably count on three of its teams--the Wildcats, the Sun Devils and UCLA--earning bids, which is one, maybe even two more than the league could have hoped for a few weeks ago.

Ridicule the Big East and Southwest conferences all you’d like--and we have--but the Pac-10 belongs in the same mediocre company this season. With the exception of No. 4-ranked Arizona, UCLA and surging Arizona State, this league is the Trans America Athletic Conference in disguise.

Oregon and Stanford? Put it this way: Pac-10 PR officials quit sending information to the NCAA selection committee on these two teams weeks ago.

Washington and USC? Nothing special. Out of habit, the people at the Pac-10 still pass along Husky and Trojan updates to the committee, but their hearts aren’t really in it.

California? Doomed by the evil Lou Campanelli--or so thought Golden Bear Athletic Director Bob Bockrath.

Oregon State? The great underachiever.

Washington State? Reduced to praying for an NIT bid.

And it could have been worse. Still might.

The good news: Arizona, a winner over Cincinnati on Sunday, is an NCAA lock and is the front-runner for a No. 1 seeding in the West Regional.

The rest of the news: UCLA, on the bubble until it beat Stanford and Cal on the road last week, is probably in. Two victories in their last six games--no sure thing, considering their schedule (USC, at Duke, Washington State, Washington, at Arizona State, at Arizona)--would all but guarantee the Bruins a place in the tournament.

And then there is surprising Arizona State, whose players seemingly spent more time in court than on it during the off-season. Left with a roster depleted by injuries, dismissals and suspensions, Bill Frieder has brought the Sun Devils to the brink of March Madness. Who said he couldn’t coach?

A quality victory Sunday over Memphis State was a huge help. It also doesn’t hurt that Arizona State Athletic Director Charles Harris is a member of the selection committee. He can’t vote for the Sun Devils, but he can lobby.

Tom Butters, NCAA Basketball Committee chairman, meets the press: On parity--”I don’t think I’ve ever seen a year quite like this one. There are teams that are one player away from being dominant. Yet, those same teams are one key injury away from .500. Parity no doubt has occurred.”

On whether conferences without postseason tournaments, such as the Pac-10, are penalized because their teams play fewer games and thus have fewer chances to impress: “I think what is looked at by the committee . . . is not the number of games that have been played, but how those teams have done against those teams (on the schedule).”

On the likelihood of teams with sub-.500 conference records receiving bids--”I don’t anticipate there will be a great number this year.” He later added: “I would prefer a team has to be at least .500 in the conference.”

Butters, vice president and athletic director at Duke, also made clear that 20 victories doesn’t ensure a team a place in the tournament. When determining who receives one of the 34 at-large invitations, Butters said the committee considers, in order, the following criteria:

The advisory rankings of the National Assn. of Basketball Coaches, a team’s Division I record, a team’s place in the ratings percentage index, a team’s nonconference record and its nonconference ratings percentage index, a team’s conference record and its conference ratings percentage index, a team’s road record, a team’s record in the last 10 games of the season, a team’s record against the top 25, 26-50, 51-100, 101-150 and 150-plus teams in the ratings percentage index, a team’s record vs. NCAA-selected tournament teams, a team’s record vs. other teams under NCAA tournament consideration, a team’s injury situation.

Oklahoma Coach Billy Tubbs, chutzpah king of the Big Eight, might now think twice about issuing guarantees of victory.

Angry after a one-point loss to Kansas State earlier this month, Tubbs predicted that Oklahoma would “beat the hell” out of the Wildcats in Tuesday night’s rematch. By game time, Tubbs had revised the declaration to include an apology of sorts.

“I think that was not a good statement on my part,” Tubbs said.

Still, given the chance hours before tipoff to retract the prediction, Tubbs declined. Bad idea.

“Yeah, I think we’ll win,” he said. “I’ll have to ask my team to back me up.”

Kansas State, sufficiently motivated by Tubbs’ kind words, delivered another upset, this time on Oklahoma’s home court, 67-63.

It was the second consecutive loss for the Sooners (17-9), who were upset by Big Eight cellar dweller Colorado last Saturday. Before that, Oklahoma had beaten Kansas at Lawrence, Iowa State and Missouri. An NCAA tournament bid seemed a sure thing. Now Tubbs is going to have to sweat it out.

Aside from the pride factor, conferences such as the Pac-10 have more tangible interests in mind when it comes to the NCAA tournament. You guessed it: money. According to the NCAA formula, a team earns $250,000 for each round of the tournament. Three Pac-10 bids means $750,000--and counting--for the conference. . . . Sad fact: Barring a handful of upsets, such as the one Tennessee delivered against Kentucky on Wednesday night, Allan Houston of the Volunteers will have gone his entire career without an NCAA appearance. And good luck trying to guess the future of embattled Tennessee Coach Wade Houston, whose job status is considered shaky, even with a contract extension signed a few months ago. “At this time, the conversation (with the school’s administration) is between us,” he said. “It’s nothing negative. I feel good about where I am. My contract goes through 1996, so obviously I’ve done enough things right to get that extension.” Memo to Wade: Call Campanelli and ask about the power of extensions. . . . With Indiana sophomore center Alan Henderson (injured knee ligament) now out for what--weeks? the rest of the season?--the Hoosiers are down to nine players. That’s death come NCAA tournament time. In Indiana’s favor: no Big Ten tournament and only four regular-season games in the next 17 days, thus giving the Hoosiers a chance to rest, Henderson a chance to heal and Coach Bob Knight a chance to scheme.

After Wednesday night’s victory over Florida State, Duke sophomore center Cherokee Parks of Huntington Beach Marina High has scored in double figures in nine of his last 11 games, recorded three consecutive double-doubles and moved into fifth place on the school’s all-time blocked shots list. . . . Even with the overtime loss to Ohio State, the Hoosiers would be seeded first in the Midwest Regional if the tournament started today. Kentucky would be No. 1 in the Southeast, North Carolina No. 1 in the East and Arizona No. 1 in the West. . . . Gone, but not forgotten, the Campanelli firing remains a touchy subject with Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski, who has been known to unleash a few four-letter-word postgame tirades in his day. “I’m starting to look over my shoulder (to see) if anyone is looking at me,” he said. “I’m going to make sure my locker room isn’t bugged.” . . . Did you happen to notice who savored Ohio State’s victory against Indiana the most? None other than forward Lawrence Funderburke, whose celebrated transfer from Bloomington to Columbus made him enemy No. 1 of Hoosier followers. Until Tuesday’s victory, Funderburke was 0-3 against Indiana.

Said Coach Dean Smith before the Tar Heels played Notre Dame on Tuesday night: “We must take them seriously.” Why? Beaten handily by the Tar Heels, Notre Dame is 9-15. So ordinary are the Irish, that people are picking on twin brothers Joe and Jon Ross, who mean well but aren’t the finest players ever to wear Notre Dame uniforms. Said one broadcaster after watching the Rosses play: “Thank God, there weren’t triplets.” . . . When cancer-stricken Jim Valvano took part in a pregame ceremony honoring his 1983 North Carolina State national championship team, it was his first appearance at Reynolds Coliseum since he was fired after the 1989-90 season. Despite his grave illness, Valvano delivered a stirring speech that North Carolina State Coach Les Robinson said he will never forget. “Everyone that was there was touched,” Robinson said. As usual, the Wolfpack was beaten, this time by Duke. “But I don’t think there’s ever been a game in Reynolds Coliseum where the Wolfpack lost and everybody left feeling good,” Robinson said. . . . Colorado Coach Joe Harrington was sorry to see his parents conclude their recent visit to Boulder. During their stay, the Buffaloes beat Kansas State and Oklahoma for their first two conference victories. “I’m going to bring them in for the Big Eight tournament,” Harrington said. . . . Brigham Young isn’t the only school expected to request that its team, because of religious obligations, not play an NCAA tournament game on a day of worship. Northeast Louisiana, favored to earn an automatic bid, also plans to petition the NCAA Sports Committee and request that it be put in a bracket that wouldn’t require play from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday. The request will be made on behalf of forward Ryan Stuart, a member of the Worldwide Church of God who happens to average 21.1 points and 9.6 rebounds. . . . An update: Utah Coach Rick Majerus said last week that he would love to play UCLA, but has never received an answer to his annual letter asking for a home-and-home scheduling arrangement. UCLA says there’s a reason for that: It has no record of receiving Majerus’ letter.

Top 10

As selected by staff writer Gene Wojciechowski

No. Team Record 1. North Carolina 23-3 2. Michigan 21-4 3. Arizona 19-2 4. Indiana 24-3 5. Kentucky 20-3 6. Duke 21-5 7. Vanderbilt 22-4 8. Cincinnati 20-3 9. Florida State 21-7 10. Utah 21-3

Waiting list: Wake Forest (17-6), Seton Hall (21-6), Arkansas (17-6), Nevada Las Vegas (17-4), Iowa (18-6)