Two Teams Pursuing Perfection Differently

And still, there are two.

What once seemed impossible has become merely improbable and is inching toward imminent.

Two undefeated teams remain -- top-ranked Stanford and No. 2 Saint Joseph’s -- and the number of games between them and perfection is shrinking fast.

Stanford (21-0) steps into one of the potential minefields left on its schedule when the Cardinal plays unpredictable USC at the Sports Arena tonight, facing a team that led Stanford by six at halftime before losing in Palo Alto last month.

St. Joe’s (23-0) has nothing more threatening left before the Atlantic-10 tournament than a game against 12-10 Temple, one of the Hawks’ Philadelphia rivals, Saturday at the Palestra.

Stanford and St. Joe’s might soon share a piece of history if they manage to become the first teams to begin the NCAA tournament without a loss since Nevada Las Vegas in 1991. (In that case, they would be the first pair of unbeatens in the same season since Indiana and Rutgers in 1976, when Rutgers reached the Final Four and Indiana became the most recent undefeated NCAA champion.)

Other than that, they have little more in common than the zeroes at the end of their records.

Consider this: The endowment at Saint Joseph’s is $80 million. Stanford, with its Silicon Valley connections, has an endowment of $7.6 billion.

Stanford’s team is known for its size, depth and strength. Even point guard Chris Hernandez bench-presses 315 pounds.

St. Joe’s is known for a 5-foot-11 dynamo named Jameer Nelson and a 3,200-seat gym that can hold all but 650 students at the university.

Then there are the ways the teams are approaching the swirl of publicity that accompanies an unbeaten record in February.

Stanford has its eyes on the prize.

St. Joe’s has its eyes on the ride.

You could practically hear Stanford Coach Mike Montgomery groan when the talk in the Bay Area started to turn to Stanford’s undefeated record.

To his thinking, going undefeated was not only unlikely, it was irrelevant.

“I just try to make sense of the nonsense,” he said.

Stanford’s goals are to win the Pacific 10 Conference title, earn a good NCAA tournament seeding and try to take this team as far as it’s capable of going, which is clearly the Final Four.

His team wasn’t trying to go undefeated, Montgomery kept insisting; it just didn’t want to lose the next game that is perpetually ahead.

As the victories piled up, that attitude made it seem as if people were thinking a little too hard in Palo Alto.

“I’ve kind of had to change my tune with the guys,” Montgomery told reporters after defeating Cal last weekend. “We’re not afraid to win every game, and that was starting to creep in like it was a bad thing, and it’s not a bad thing. We’re trying to win every game.”

At St. Joe’s, by contrast, everyone seems a little more free to enjoy the moment.

That’s probably because the Hawks, as good as they are, probably aren’t national championship contenders, and they’re where they are because of Nelson, a player the likes of which St. Joe’s might not see again any time soon.

For Nelson to land on the cover of Sports Illustrated last week was hardly seen as a jinx: It was heaven on Hawk Hill. (As Coach Phil Martelli pointed out, those swimsuit models that land on the cover sure don’t seem jinxed.)

“At each level we’ve gotten to, we’ve talked about these expectations and the added responsibility that comes with this adulation and enjoying this as a group, because you may never pass this way again,” Martelli said.

“I tell them, ‘Make sure that you share this.’ This group does a really good job of sharing this.

“The words I use for them is, I hope they’re happy with what we’ve done so far, but I hope they’re not satisfied.”

From across the country, Stanford has begun to pay attention to St. Joe’s, Martelli has noticed.

“It brings a little twinkle to your eye to know that after they beat Arizona, the players asked the media, ‘Hey, did St. Joe’s play today?’ ” he said.

“Those kids from Stanford don’t know St. Joe’s from St. John’s from San Jose State. [Granted, they certainly know San Jose State.] All of a sudden, they’re asking how we did, and I read a quote where they all watched us play Villanova and they were rooting for Villanova. I think that’s great.”

Martelli noticed how Stanford came from 19 points down to beat Oregon, and it might have impressed him even more than Nick Robinson’s buzzer beater against Arizona, or the Cardinal’s ability to win without Josh Childress when he was injured and now, Justin Davis.

“From afar, I would say Stanford must have a great team, because they were knocked down at Oregon. And to win like that? That, to me, says that you’re great. You’re really great.

“My thing would be, the great ones all get knocked down, and they pick themselves up, whether they be a team or an individual, and they get on to the next task.”

Somebody might yet knock down Stanford, if not in the six remaining regular-season games, then in one of the three games it would take to win the Pac-10 tournament -- an event Stanford hasn’t shown much interest in before this season.

Someone could beat St. Joe’s, perhaps in the A-10 tournament at Dayton, Ohio, but it seems less likely.

“I think they’re clearly the best team in that conference,” Montgomery said. “I think they’re going to get into the [NCAA] tournament pretty much unblemished.”

The only sure thing is, every victory is one step closer.

“The further you go in the season, obviously, the more probable it becomes,” Montgomery said.

“If there’s one game left in our season and we’re undefeated, then I like our chances.”

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THE TIMES’ RANKINGS

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ROBYN NORWOOD’S RANKINGS AND COMMENTS:

*--* Rk School (Rec.) Comment 1 STANFORD (21-0) No more debate about No. 1 for now. 2 SAINT JOSEPH’S (23-0) This ranking is not a predictor of postseason finish. 3 PITTSBURGH (23-2) Panthers’ record in their arena remains perfect with UConn win. 4 DUKE (21-3) Record in competitive ACC remains truly impressive. 5 MISSISSIPPI STATE (21-1) Only a one-point loss from the company of Stanford and St. Joe’s. 6 OKLAHOMA STATE (20-2) Mature starting five holds promise for March. 7 CONNECTICUT (20-5) Free-throw percentage will make Huskies a dicey pick in March. 8 GONZAGA (22-2) Wake us up for the WCC tournament, please. 9 KENTUCKY (18-4) Wildcats recovered from Georgia loss by beating Arkansas. 10 WAKE FOREST (16-6) Freshman Chris Paul put on a show against Duke. 11 ARIZONA (16-6) Hint: Don’t run with the Wildcats. 12 TEXAS (18-4) Sizable slip-up against Iowa State. 13 NORTH CAROLINA STATE (16-6) Clemson loss a blow to reputation. 14 GEORGIA TECH (18-6) Only one game separates third and seventh in ACC standings. 15 NORTH CAROLINA (15-7) Tar Heels still a game under .500 in conference games. 16 LOUISVILLE (17-5) Cardinals are suddenly reeling. 17 WISCONSIN (17-5) Michigan State overtaking Badgers in Big Ten race. 18 KANSAS (16-6) Jayhawks are only supposed to lose to Nebraska in football. 19 SOUTH CAROLINA (20-5) But some people think the Chicken Curse still lives. 20 TEXAS TECH (17-7) Nothing but trouble since the shout-out at the salad bar. 21 SOUTHERN ILLINOIS (21-2) No bubble here with No. 23 RPI. 22 PROVIDENCE (17-5) A player like Ryan Gomes means anything can happen. 23 MEMPHIS (18-4) Calipari’s team has won nine in a row, including one over Marquette. 24 CINCINNATI (17-5) Bearcat losses are piling up fast. 25 FLORIDA (14-7) Latest loss: Christian Drejer takes the money, leaves for Spain.

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