No. 1 Bearcats Have Reason to Worry

While Cincinnati cannot even hock T-shirts touting it as the best team in the Queen City--Xavier handed Cincinnati its lone defeat Dec. 18--Bob Huggins’ Bearcats have correctly been identified as the school to beat in next month’s NCAA tournament.

“If you look at the top five in today’s poll, that’s a great group of five,” DePaul Coach Pat Kennedy said this week. “From Stanford, to Michigan State, to Duke, but right now Cincinnati seems to be playing above that.”

Kennedy’s right.

DePaul found out Sunday.

Clyde Drexler, the second-year Houston coach, discovers tonight as Cincinnati (23-1, 11-0) comes to Texas seeking to clinch its fifth Conference USA title in as many years.

Bearcat center Kenyon Martin is so far and away the top player in the country, John Wooden can start a rough draft on his presentation speech.

“In my opinion, he’s the first pick in the whole [NBA] draft, that’s how good I think Kenyon Martin is,” Drexler says.

This is Huggins’ clearest shot to a national title since his 1992 squad lost in the national semifinals to Michigan’s Fab Five.

Cincinnati is strong, deep and talented.

The Bearcats rank among the nation’s leaders in field-goal percentage offense and defense.

Sunday, defensive ace Pete Mickeal put a hammerlock on DePaul star Quentin Richardson, holding the future NBA pick to seven points on three-of-13 shooting.

Cincinnati has been No. 1 in both polls for six weeks, won 42 consecutive home games and likely will end up the No. 1-seeded team in the Midwest Region with travel-friendly sites at Cleveland and Auburn Hills, Mich.

The Bearcats have an aura, but this is not about aura.

“I’ve been on some great teams,” says Drexler, the former Houston and NBA star. “The reason there’s an aura of invincibility is because they’re good. Substitute those players with other team’s players, I guarantee you all that invincibility goes away.”

Some argue Cincinnati can’t go all the way with Kenny Satterfield, a freshman point guard.

Drexler say that’s a load of Phi Slama Phooey.

In 1983, if not for a miracle last-second shot by North Carolina State, Drexler’s Houston squad would have won the national title with freshman guard Alvin Franklin at the point.

Yet, uneasy rests the head that wears the crown.

Cincinnati may be the best team, but that doesn’t mean it’s a cinch to win the title.

In fact, history suggests otherwise.

The last team ranked No. 1 in mid-February to win the NCAA title?

Arkansas in 1994.

Since, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Kansas, North Carolina and Duke have failed to close the deal.

Here’s a look at the schools with the best chance of knocking off Cincinnati:

* Stanford. The Cardinal can match Cincinnati muscle inside and, in freshman swingman Casey Jacobsen, has a scoring dynamo.

Concern: Stanford’s backcourt.

* Michigan State. Spartans have the power to match Cincinnati inside, plus a tournament-tested point guard in Mateen Cleaves.

Concern: That December loss to Wright State.

* Temple. A tournament nightmare. The Owls knocked Cincinnati out of last season’s NCAA tournament with a 10-point, second-round win, and they play the Bearcats again on Sunday. Only two of Temple’s last nine opponents have scored more than 50 points. Sunday, the Owls forced 27 turnovers against Maryland.

Concern: Temple shoots 39.7% from the field.

* Indiana. What psychologist wouldn’t pay to see the duel between Huggins and Bob Knight? Even if their coach is not, the Hoosiers are fundamentally sound, and superstar guard A.J. Guyton is capable of leading an NCAA tournament run.

Concern: Knight blows a gasket.

LATEST ON LAV

In a Chicago Tribune story this week on UCLA, Bruin Coach Steve Lavin says he will not lash at his growing legion of critics.

“Maybe that means I’m not cut out to be at a place like UCLA,” Lavin tells the paper. “I don’t know any other way. Maybe there’s some Hall of Fame coaches who would be more effective or please the boosters.”

Lavin’s job is not believed to be in jeopardy, yet he says he is ready to accept his fate.

“If it ends this year or next, I’d be fine,” Lavin says. “I’m not trying to paint a Pollyanna picture. It’s just my nature to try and move forward.”

The story also quotes Wooden, who says of Lavin:

“I think in many respects, Steve was thrown into the job. And it wasn’t just UCLA; he might not have been as well-prepared no matter where he had been. You’re going to be over your head a little bit, but at UCLA you’re going to be in the limelight.”

UCLA is a young team, starting three sophomores and a freshman, but Wooden says the Bruins are not alone.

“There’s very few younger teams in the country than Duke,” Wooden tells the Tribune, “and they seem to be doing OK.”

MORE ON UCLA

Three words that should boost the Bruins’ NCAA tournament hopes.

Not . . . dead . . . yet.

Since the tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985, 21 schools have received at-large berths with sub-.500 conference records.

Purdue qualified last year with a 7-9 record in the Big Ten, while Florida State made the field in 1988 after going 6-10 in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

The ACC has advanced 10 schools with losing conference records to the NCAA tournament since 1985, followed by the Big East (four), Big Ten and Big Eight (three), and the Southeastern (one).

However, no Pacific 10 Conference school with a sub-.500 record has ever made the field of 64.

UCLA could be the first.

The Bruins (13-9, 4-6) could conceivably split their final eight Pac-10 games, finish 8-10 in conference, and make the tournament at 17-13.

Don’t underestimate UCLA’s brand name, the Pac-10’s strength this season and a weak crop of at-large alternatives.

Also note: In 1991, Georgetown made the tournament despite a 14-10 record against Division I competition.

FINDING A HOME

Mark Gottfried, an assistant under Jim Harrick on UCLA’s 1995 national title team, turned in one of the season’s great coaching jobs Saturday when his Alabama squad upset No. 22 Vanderbilt, 77-63, in Tuscaloosa.

Ravaged by injury, Alabama, 11-11 entering the week, played the game with eight players, among them five freshmen and two walk-ons.

Alabama’s NCAA hopes were wrecked in December when starting center Jeremy Hays was sidelined for the season because of a knee injury.

Hays’ injury, though, hastened the development of Schea Cotton, the former Southern California prep phenom who finally has cracked a Division I lineup.

Cotton sat out the Vanderbilt game because of a severe blister on his foot, but his 16.4 scoring average leads the Crimson Tide.

“He’s had a nice first year,” Gottfried said of Cotton. “You have to remember it’s his first year of Division I basketball, but he’s improved from the beginning.”

You’ve almost needed a trip-ticker to keep track of Cotton.

Since leading Santa Ana Mater Dei to the 1995 state championship, he has: transferred to Bellflower St. John Bosco; committed early to Long Beach State before backing out; was headed to UCLA before his SAT score was ruled invalid; attended a year of prep school in Oakdale, Conn. and last year played at Long Beach City College.

Cotton, a 6-foot-5 guard, has two more years of eligibility at Alabama.

“It was a big adjustment at first,” Cotton said recently of living in Tuscaloosa. “I’m a city guy, and I’m used to the hustle and bustle. The pace is a lot slower here.”

LOOSE ENDS

* Remember when Notre Dame was a symbol of class and excellence?

During Saturday’s upset win over Connecticut in South Bend, some Irish fans taunted point guard Khalid El-Amin about his Islamic faith.

“What does Allah think of bastard children?” one fan screamed at El-Amin.

El-Amin had a child out of wedlock, but is now married to the woman.

Big East Commissioner Mike Tranghese described the taunts of El-Amin as “way over the top” and directed an edict this week to all member schools about their crowd-control responsibilities. Amen.

* Funny how things work out. John Brady, coach of Louisiana State’ resurgent program--No. 16 in this week’s poll-- would still be toting a clipboard at Samford had Rob Evans taken the LSU job he was offered in 1997 in the wake of Dale Brown’s departure.

Evans ended up leaving Mississippi for Arizona State.

“I remember at the Final Four that year I went up and thanked Rob Evans for not taking the [LSU] job,” Brady says. “He laughed, but that’s exactly how I felt. Him not taking this job opened up an opportunity for me, and up to this point, it’s kind of worked out.”

* Reaction to Minnesota center Joel Przybilla’s suspension this week for academic failures: Hey, this kind of stuff never happened when Jan Gangelhoff was in charge of the schoolwork.

* St. John’s guard Erick Barkley, still miffed at the NCAA inquiry that cost him two games last week, scrawled “Free at Last” and “Only God can judge me” on his sneakers during Saturday’s game against Villanova. Barkley may be “free” for now, yet the NCAA continues its probe into the program.