__________________________________________________________________ The Mercury Communications Group, Inc Presents... -= David Letterman's Top10 From 3/12/98 =- __________________________________________________________________ -= Top Ten Signs Your Team is Not Going To Win The NCAA Championship =- 10. Power forward was featured on Ricki Lake's "Too Fat to Love?" episode 9. Whenever someone does a lay-up, he burns his arm on his cigarette 8. Players always show up at away games exhausted from all the hitchhiking 7. The Las Vegas odds against your team involve the sign for infinity 6. Your center won't stand during the national anthem because he's too drunk 5. The only thing Dick Vitale can say about them is, "These guys got a good grade point average, baby!" 4. Players refuse to guard other team because they're all "sticky and sweaty" 3. Jesse Jackson is protesting against team for being "too white" 2. They pointedly inform interviewers that the correct term is "little people," not "midgets" 1. Starting Center: Roger Ebert

everyone's got a top ten list nowadays... (this was cute Paul)

It is a new season and I have just met the new UHHilo Basketball team. What a great bunch of guys! For the first time in years and years we have 14 guys I would like to bring home with me...sociable, polite, no attitude problems, and they helped clean up after the steak fry was over. This is a definite change from the personality problems we have had in the past from the inner-city bad-attitude players who came to play for us. It is gonna be a good season, whether or not we win many games...*happy smi e*

UT is going to be having their "Midnight Madness" basketball kickoff pretty soon. They have a potential All America center this year in Chris Mimm, the 7'er.

Ours is this Friday, October 15th. None of our UHH players are in your league, but perhape Penn State might be...hope....hope. Thanks for creating Volleyball for me, Terry *hugs*

Everybody's is Oct. 15. That is the date the NCAA sets for the first "official" practice.

I suspected as much, but ours starts at 9:30pm (way late for us)... do we get some dispensation for being in the last time zone in the USA? (Other than Guam, that is)...or will we have to wait until midnight our time, as the rest did?

There seem to be many teams in my immediate life which stinketh like the proverbial goatherd: Hawaii, Penn State and the unknown and unmentioned on Yahoo Sports or NCAA, UHHilo Vulcans. It is gonna be one of those seasons! No one has even heard of the PacWest conference. Pathetic!

The 10th annual Big Island Invitational Basketball Tournament (BIIBT) will be held this coming week Friday thru Sunday at the Hilo Civic Auditorium (also known as the Afook-Chinen). Cincinnati and U of Arkansas will be playing and their games will be televised on Fox Sports West on Saturday and on all Fox Sports nationally on Sunday 5pm our time (9pm Austin time). Maybe I will be on National TV since my place to sell T-shirts is just inside the foyer from the playing floor and I stand against the archwa to watch on occasion. I have seen myself on replays. Watch if you dare, but it is your chance to see where I hang out for the Basketball season. You will most certainly not see the UH-Hilo Vulcans play. We are not in their (Cincinnati's or Arkansas') bracket and the NCAA only allows a few exhibition games... But you will see my friends. I know just about every local who attends by name!

What's the Saturday game time?

I'll let you know as soon as I know...I think it is the 5:30 HST (9:30 Austin Time)game which will be televised on Fox Sports West...and Sunday's championship game (almost certainly a match between Arkansas and Cincinnati) will be at 4:30pm HST (8:30 Austin Time)will also be televised on all Fox networks.

Oh, and John will be calling the games. Yippee!!! He is excellent.

Great!

John called his first (self-acknowledged) Championship game between two basketball powerhouses, Cincinnati and Iowa State at the conclusion of The Big Island Invitational. It was televised nationally by Fox Sports Network (a first for Hilo) The house was packed and the fans were into the game and the officiating. Cincinnati won 75-60. Arkansas defeated Santa Clara to claim 3rd place. Consolation went to Rhode Island who beat Mercer 65-59. In the earlier game for last place, UHHilo claimed the baseme t honors by losing to Cleveland State 74-77.

Horns sink against Hawaii Brown scores 25 for Texas, but Rainbows take 78-74 victory in tournament final From news reports Posted: Nov. 29, 1999 Game box score HONOLULU -- Hawaii made six straight free throws in the final 57 seconds to hold off the University of Texas 78-74 Sunday night in the championship game of the Asahi Rainbow Wahine Classic, a women's basketball tournament played on the Hawaii campus. Forwards Raylene Howard and Kylie Galloway each scored 24 points for Hawaii (4-2). Texas (3-2) was led by senior guard Edwina Brown, the tournament's most valuable player. Brown scored 25 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, and she averaged 23 points in the three-game tournament. She also recorded 19 assists. ``We are way too reliant on Edwina Brown,'' said Texas Coach Jody Conradt. ``She put on a 'super woman' performance at this tournament, but we have to diversify and find our scoring punch inside." Texas trailed 72-60 with 3 minutes and 54 seconds to play, but scored nine unanswered points in a minute and a half. Sophomore guard Asha Hill sank two three-pointers in the run, and the second pulled the Horns within 72-69 with 2:19 to play. With about a minute to play, Hill fouled Hawaii guard Kyla Evers on a drive. Evers, an 85.5 percent free-throw shooter, missed both of her attempts, but she grabbed the rebound of her second miss and drew another foul. This time, Evers stepped to the line and sank both of her free throws to push Hawaii's lead to five points at 74-69. On UT's next possession, Brown hit a jumper and was fouled on the play, but could not make the free throw. Texas trailed by three, 74-71, with 49 seconds left. Evers drew another foul hit both free throws for a 76-71 lead with 33 seconds to play. Texas pulled within two, 76-74, with 25 seconds to go when Hill hit her fourth three-pointer of the game. UT then fouled Galloway with seven seconds left, and she made both shots for the final margin. The game's finish was in direct opposition to the Longhorns' semifinal victory on Saturday when UT used a 10-for-12 shooting effort from the foul line in the final 2:21 en route to its 78-73 win over Virginia. Hawaii became the first of Texas' five opponents to lead at halftime, as the Wahine enjoyed a 42-32 lead at intermission, thanks to a five-for-nine performance from 3-point range. Galloway had 15 first half points, including three three-pointers. ``We saw tonight how important it is to have 40 minutes of defensive intensity,'' noted Texas head coach Jody Conradt. ``Our young team still does not always understand that you create your offense off your defensive play, especially when you are struggling on the offensive side of the floor like we were tonight. We are way too reliant on Edwina Brown. She put on a ``superwomen'' performance at this tournament, but we have to diversify and find our scoring punch inside, something which is missing right now. Give credit to Hawaii, however. They are an extremely smart, heady team. We allowed them to set the pace in the game, and then Galloway and Howard really exploited us.'' Texas advanced to Sunday's Wahine Classic championship game with the decision over Virginia in the semifinals after defeating Long Beach State, 75-44, in Friday's opening round of action. Hawaii (4-2) reached the finals of its own tournament by upending Washington, 73-59 in Saturday's other semifinal contest in the eight-team tourney. The Rainbow Wahine won their own Classic for the fourth time in the tourney;'s 21-year history. The Longhorns finished the game shooting 41.7 percent from the floor (30-of-72), while Hawaii connected on 47.4 percent of its field goals (27-of-57). The Rainbow Wahine out-rebounded UT, 39-35. Texas was led by Brown's game-high tying 10 rebounds. Hawaii went to the free throw line 22 times, hitting 17 of them, while the Longhorns finished 9-for-14 from the foul line. Joining Brown in double-figure scoring for the Longhorns were Hill (a season-high 16 points) and junior forward JoRuth Woods (Cedar Hill, Texas./Cedar Hill HS) who had 11. Texas will return to action on Wednesday, December 1 when it hosts Southwest Texas State in a 7:00 p.m. game at the Frank Erwin Center in Austin. That game will be broadcast live on FOX Sports Southwest TV, will air live on 1300 the Sports Zone (KVET 1300 AM), and also will be broadcast on the internet at www.TexasSports.com.

Unfortunately, for Marci spotting, I missed the game live on Sunday night because I went to a party. I would have loved to have caught more of this awesome Hawaiian basketball action. And Tivo didnt' record the final game even though I though I programmed it.

Bummer - I made sure I was obvious and the security staff helped me as much as possible...oh well...next time. There will be a Big Island Invitational next year and we well go through the same exercises...

USA Today/ESPN Top 25 College Basketball Coaches' Poll The USA TODAY/ESPN Coaches Top 25 college basketball coaches' poll, with number of first-place votes and record in parentheses, total points and previous ranking: (Records through November 28, 1999) TEAM PTS PVS ---- --- --- 1. Cincinnati (27) (3-0) 764 1 2. North Carolina (3) (3-0) 696 6 3. Stanford (1) (5-0) 685 7 4. Arizona (4-0) 648 9 5. Auburn (2-1) 610 3 6. Kansas (4-0) 585 11 7. Michigan St (3-1) 564 2 8. Connecticut (3-1) 534 7 9. Temple (1-1) 473 4 10. Florida (3-1) 445 5 11. Texas (4-0) 416 20 12. Kentucky (3-1) 413 10 13. UCLA (2-0) 391 12 14. Syracuse (3-0) 350 13 15. Duke (3-2) 318 15 16. Illinois (2-0) 281 16 17. Ohio St (0-1) 266 14 18. Tennessee (3-0) 220 18 19. Utah (1-1) 215 17 20. Depaul (3-1) 210 19 21. Purdue (2-1) 208 21 22. Oklahoma St (4-0) 196 23 23. Maryland (4-1) 147 22 24. Indiana (2-0) 119 NR 25. Miami Fla (2-0) 71 24 Dropped Out: No. 25 Gonzaga Others Receiving Votes: Gonzaga 64, Oklahoma 53, St Johns 39, Wake Forest 33, Tulsa 10, Xavier 10, Georgia Tech 6, Detroit Mercy 5, Mississippi 5, Delaware 4, Siena 4, California 3, Dayton 3, Georgetown 2, Murray St 2, No Carolina St 2, Kent 1, Louisville 1, NC Charlotte 1, Notre Dame 1, Samford 1.

That poll makes no sense to me at all. Ohio State at(0-1) outranks Oklahoma State(4-0) by 4 places?! How does that work?!

Texas just lost a close game to Arizona, they may slip.

I will post the rankings for this week as soon as they are updated. BTW, Nancy Thorpe has not fled from our midst - she is visiting relatives on the Mainland and will join us here to talk about her father (under Sports/Olympics I think...) as soon as she gets home in mid-December and signs up with my ISP rather than AOL who kept cutting her off. I am presently working on John, as well.

UT dropped just two spots, it's FL State and that other team in the final showdown.

...in Basketball? Bummer!

Women's Basketball rankings (Look for 3 out of four of us at the bottom): ssociated Press Top 25 Women's College Basketball Poll The Associated Press Top 25 women's college basketball poll, with number of first-place votes and records in parentheses, total points and previous ranking: (Records through December 5, 1999) TEAM PTS PVS ---- --- --- 1. Connecticut (41) (6-0) 1,097 1 2. Tennessee (2) (5-1) 1,045 3 3. Louisiana Tech (1) (5-1) 1,005 4 4. No Carolina St (7-0) 908 6 5. Georgia (9-1) 897 2 6. Auburn (5-0) 836 8 7. Notre Dame (4-1) 785 11 8. UCLA (2-2) 777 5 9. Iowa St (4-1) 694 12 10. Oregon (5-0) 648 13 11. North Carolina (5-2) 579 9 12. Texas Tech (5-0) 514 16 13. Rutgers (3-2) 496 7 14. Kansas (5-0) 481 18 15. LSU (5-1) 441 23 16. Penn St (4-2) 440 14 17. Illinois (5-3) 394 10 18. Purdue (5-1) 352 17 19. Arizona (5-0) 344 21 20. Duke (6-1) 304 22 21. Old Dominion (4-1) 291 19 22. Stanford (2-1) 258 20 23. Santa Barbara (4-3) 196 15 24. Virginia Tech (5-2) 130 25 25. Mississippi St (6-0) 77 NR Dropped Out: No. 24 Boston College, No. 25 Wisconsin Others Receiving Votes: Texas 67, Wisconsin 62, Tulane 34, Boston College 26, Geo Washington 22, Arkansas 15, Marquette 12, Michigan 12, Kentucky 11, Michigan St 9, Florida 7,Texas A&M 7, Virginia 6, St Louis 5, Xavier 5, Arkansas St 3, Nebraska 3, Hawaii 2, Santa Clara 2, Colorado St 1. updated at Mon Dec 6 04:01:38 1999 PT

*Coconut Coast Classic* : UHHilo will host this 5th Annual AmeriSports Tournament on December19 through December 21 at the Civic. The Tournament begins on Sunday with three women's games: 10am = North Dakota vs Huntingdon. Noon = Southwest State vs Ashland. 2 pm = Augustana vs Gannon. Men's competition begins at 4pm with Ashland vs Truman State. 7pm = North Dakota vs UHHilo. Monday's games with the women's games first are: 9 am = North Dakota vs Ashland. 11 am = Southwest State vs Gannon. 1 pm = Huntingdon vs Augustana. Men's games follow at 3 pm = North Dakota vs Ashland. 5 pm = Nebraska-Omaha vs UHHilo. The Tournament ends with a single game on Tuesday 4 pm = Nebraska-Omaha vs Truman State. All Vulcan home games and those within the state of Hawaii will be carried on KPUA 670 AM radio with John Burnett calling the games. John will also be calling the games for Augustana during the upcoming Coconut Coast Classic Basketball Tournament via the Internet http://www.ksfs.com

When does the Great Alaska Shootout take place?

I think it was around Thanksgiving that the Great Alaska Shootout was held - or around Christmas - New Years. The Associated Press Top 25 college basketball poll, with number of first-place votes and record in parentheses, total points and previous ranking: (Records through January 17, 2000) TEAM PTS PVS ---- --- --- 1. Cincinnati (61) (16-1) 1,738 1 2. Arizona (4) (15-2) 1,657 2 3. Stanford (1) (14-1) 1,584 3 4. Auburn (3) (15-1) 1,543 4 5. Duke (13-2) 1,446 6 6. Syracuse (1) (14-0) 1,422 7 7. Kansas (14-2) 1,305 8 8. Connecticut (12-3) 1,177 5 9. Florida (13-2) 1,154 10 10. Michigan St (12-4) 1,137 11 11. Indiana (13-2) 1,061 9 12. Oklahoma St (13-1) 949 14 13. Ohio St (11-3) 822 17 14. Texas (11-4) 763 15 15. Tulsa (16-1) 751 19 16. Tennessee (15-2) 747 12 17. Oklahoma (14-2) 550 16 18. Kentucky (11-5) 471 20 19. St Johns (12-2) 455 NR 20. Vanderbilt (12-2) 317 NR 21. North Carolina (11-6) 272 13 22. Utah (13-3) 263 NR 23. Depaul (12-4) 200 21 24. Maryland (11-5) 186 18 25. UCLA (10-4) 166 NR Dropped Out: No. 22 Illinois, No. 23 Temple, No. 24 LSU, No. 25 Louisville Others Receiving Votes: No Carolina St 158, Temple 102, Michigan 68, Iowa St 56, St Bonaventure 49, LSU 30, Marquette 27, Gonzaga 22, Wake Forest 20, Kent 14, Purdue 13, USC 12, Illinois 9, Oregon 9, Dayton 8, Arizona St 5, Louisville 4, San Francisco 3, New Mexico St 2, Seton Hall 2, Bowling Green 1. No mention of Penn State (surprise...), Texas A&M, nor Hawaii. I put Cincinnati in bold for Darlene who better come post here again soon... No mention of FSU or UAA either... Let me know if anyone else is rooting for a team I should be making bold. Terry is a huge Texas fan, I am of Texas A&M (don't ask), and Illinois is for Terry (who is an alum) and for John, who should have but we got him instead *grin*

Women's Collegiate Basketball Standings: ssociated Press Top 25 Women's College Basketball Poll The Associated Press Top 25 women's college basketball poll, with number of first-place votes and records in parentheses, total points and previous ranking: (Records through January 30, 2000) TEAM PTS PVS ---- --- --- 1. Connecticut (44) (19-0) 1,100 1 2. Louisiana Tech (14-2) 1,038 2 3. Georgia (21-2) 1,019 3 4. Tennessee (16-3) 963 4 5. Notre Dame (17-2) 933 5 6. Penn St (18-3) 868 7 7. LSU (16-3) 742 12 8. Iowa St (15-3) 735 6 9. Texas Tech (16-2) 666 14 10. Rutgers (13-4) 633 13 11. No Carolina St (15-4) 623 8 12. Duke (18-3) 615 9 13. (tie) Auburn (16-4) 532 11 13. (tie) Santa Barbara (17-3) 532 15 15. UCLA (12-5) 444 10 16. Old Dominion (14-3) 374 16 17. Purdue (14-5) 370 17 18. Boston College (17-4) 348 19 19. Arizona (16-3) 333 18 20. Mississippi St (16-3) 283 20 21. Tulane (18-2) 273 22 22. Oklahoma (17-3) 208 23 23. Illinois (16-7) 185 21 24. Virginia (16-5) 155 25 25. Kansas (14-5) 89 NR Dropped Out: No. 24 Stanford Others Receiving Votes: Oregon 62, Texas 40, Geo Washington 25, Stanford 25, Marquette 21, Sw Missouri St 21, Kent 9, Xavier 9, St Josephs Pa 8, Michigan 7, Stephen Austin 6, Drake 2, Utah 2, Colorado St 1, Depaul 1.

also considered: Northwestern St 9, Utah 5, Michigan St 4, Vanderbilt 4, SMU 3, Fla Atlantic 2, Grambling 2, Vermont 2, Georgia 1,Hawaii 1, Kent 1.

Women's College Basketball Texas Longhorns Lady Horns on Internet broadcasting today: http://www.broadcast.com/sports/ncaa/texas/womensbasketball/listenpage_13_172_17333.html Texas at Kansas 2/9/00 7:30 PM CT

Look beyond high-profile teams for best coach by Mike DeCourcy You want a good argument next time you're sitting in a sports saloon watching a Big 12 game? Don't bring up the player of the year race. That won't even get you through one cold beverage and the length between TV timeouts. Player of the year? Kenyon Martin. Not much of a discussion. You could go the whole night, though, if you want to debate the identity of college basketball's coach of the year. That'll get you through a Big Monday tripleheader, if you've got that much time. You could include Mike Krzyzewski of Duke, Bob Huggins of Cincinnati, Jim Boeheim of Syracuse and Mike Montgomery of Stanford, who are doing their customary work with extremely gifted teams. But it's a more intriguing discussion if you go past the top few teams in the AP poll and consider the long, long list of candidates that dwell below that level: Tom Amaker, Seton Hall. The idea the Pirates are a year ahead of schedule may be a bit overworked, because really, would it have been reasonable to expect them to be this good next season? They will be younger in 2000-01 than they are now, which is pretty darned young. They lose a four-year point guard starter. Next year's team will have to hustle to match what this year's has accomplished already this season. There aren't many teams that run their offensive attack more crisply than the Pirates. They execute drive-and-kick plays masterfully, beating Syracuse and Rutgers in the space of three nights by drawing in the defense and making big jumpshots. Center Samuel Dalembert may be the most valuable 5-point scorer in the college game because of his shot-blocking and knack for creating extra possessions, but otherwise Seton Hall does not look like an imposing defensive team. By sticking to sound principles, though, the Pirates hold their opponents to .391 from the field. John Brady, LSU. Only a coach who's been around for an NCAA investigation -- which Brady has, even though he was not the coach during the alleged violations -- understands the obstacles an investigation creates. The Tigers were able to bring in guards Torris Bright and Lamont Roland and four other contributors in the past two recruiting classes, even with the threat or existence of NCAA probation looming over the program. More important, Brady has turned his team into a hungry, competitive group that plays with great passion and confidence when challenged. The Tigers' best games have come against some of their best opponents: Auburn and Arizona, which fell by a combined 41 points. Tom Crean, Marquette. In his first year as a head coach, Crean has the Golden Eagles at 13-8 and 6-4 in Conference USA, which may not be the best league in the country but is doubtless the most competitive. You need only to watch Marquette in a layup line to recognize what an amazing accomplishment this is. The Golden Eagles are too slow, not especially agile and not terribly big, but they managed to defeat DePaul and Louisville when they were ranked and also knocked off Xavier, Saint Louis and Southern Mississippi, which stand a combined 16 games over .500. There are six teams in C-USA's American Division, and the only question when predicting in the preseason the Golden Eagles would end up sixth was whether they were that good. Marquette is one of the nation's best defensive rebounding teams and holds opponents to just 61.4 points per game. No coach is getting more out of less than Crean. Larry Eustachy, Iowa State. For the Cyclones to arrive at 20 victories after playing only 23 games is nearly inconceivable. If you saw them walking through the airport, you might figure them for a soccer team. Their starting lineup goes 5-11, 6-1, 6-2, 6-4, 6-8. With that sort of size, they've lost only once since Dec. 1. Eustachy has elicited an All-American type effort from power forward Marcus Fizer and otherwise has structured an attack that makes maximum use of the talents on hand. The Cyclones thrive on Jamaal Tinsley's ability to break down the defense and the 3-point shooting of Michael Nurse (.406) and Kantrail Horton (.493). Their shot selection is so good that even without a true big man, they're shooting .496 from the field. They also defend against the break as well as any team in the nation, and the reason is clear if you watch them closely enough. Next time Horton or Nurse elevates to shoot a three, watch the other two guards immediately sprint back to the opposite foul line and the shooter take off for midcourt. No one's getting easily through such a defense, and that's to Eusatchy's credit. Bob Knight, Indiana. He's finally got a group of players who want to do things his way and -- what do you know? -- his way still works pretty well. Although the Hoosiers only have a few scoring threats -- guard A.J. Guyton and center Kirk Haston -- they manage 80 points a game. Without a true shotblocker, IU permits opponents to shoot just .375 from the floor. Minnesota's Joel Przybilla showed this team has interior defensive weaknesses, but Knight has done an excellent job of disguising those problems through most of the year. Jim O'Brien, Ohio State. The presence of the Buckeyes in the nation's top 10 may not surprise those who watched them in the Final Four last season. Fair enough. But as impressive as it was for them to go from eight victories in 1997-98 to 27 in 1998-99, keeping them on such a plane was probably more difficult. The player losses were not extensive, but did affect the chemistry that made OSU so effective at the end of last season. And there weren't any freshman or transfers added who've made a huge impact. O'Brien has guided guards Scoonie Penn and Michael Redd through shooting slumps and kept them confident enough to continue leading the Buckeyes. And, like Eustachy, he's done a great job devising a scheme to disguise his team's weaknesses. Bill Self, Tulsa. The Golden Hurricane don't have a star. There is no scorer who gets all the points, no rebounding specialist who dominates the boards, not even a point guard who collects the vast majority of assists. Really, now ... a team with four players who average between 2.8 and 3.6 assists? What is this, 1957? What it is, is coaching at its finest. After last season, Self lost big man Michael Ruffin, who was drafted by the Chicago Bulls, but that has Tulsa playing more cohesively and determinedly. Eleven players on the Tulsa roster have gone at least 131 minutes in 24 games. The schedule has not been overly demanding, but when it asked a lot -- as in the meeting against Tennessee -- the Hurricane delivered. The choice? It's still a debate for now. Although we'd probably vote for Eustachy if the season ended today, it doesn't. We'll let three weeks of the season determine the answer.

USA Today/ESPN Top 25 Women's College Basketball Poll The USA Today/ESPN Top 25 women's college basketball coaches' poll, with number of first-place votes and records in parentheses, total points and previous ranking: (Records through February 13, 2000) TEAM PTS PVS ---- --- --- 1. Connecticut (25) (22-1) 977 1 2. Georgia (10) (24-2) 954 2 3. Tennessee (4) (21-3) 927 3 4. Louisiana Tech (1) (19-2) 900 4 5. Notre Dame (21-2) 828 5 6. Penn St (20-3) 795 6 7. No Carolina St (20-4) 721 8 8. Texas Tech (19-3) 653 7 9. (tie) Iowa St (18-4) 594 9 9. (tie) LSU (19-4) 594 10 11. Rutgers (16-5) 573 11 12. Duke (19-4) 568 12 13. Santa Barbara (21-3) 521 13 14. Arizona (20-3) 502 14 15. Auburn (18-5) 436 15 16. Old Dominion (18-4) 429 16 17. Purdue (17-6) 278 19 18. Mississippi St (18-5) 271 17 19. Boston College (19-6) 215 18 20. Oklahoma (20-4) 202 22 21. Tulane (21-3) 183 24 22. Virginia (19-6) 180 21 23. UCLA (13-7) 132 20 24. Kansas (17-6) 85 23 25. Marquette (20-4) 84 NR Dropped Out: No. 25 Illinois Others Receiving Votes: Geo Washington 76, Illinois 55, Michigan 40, Sw Missouri St 37, Stanford 30, Xavier 26, Stephen Austin 20, Drake 17, St Josephs Pa 14, Texas 13, Clemson 11, Kent 9, Oregon 9, Utah 8, Northwestern St 6, Arkansas St 5, Western Mich 5, Colorado St 3, Georgia St 3, Grambling 3,Hawaii 3, SMU 2, Oregon St 1, Vanderbilt 1, Vermont 1.

Wow, Texas Women no where in sight.

The men are, though...Posting that next. Penn State men are no where in sight - not even on the almost category at the bottom of the list. Where os TAMU??!!

Associated Press Top 25 College Basketball Poll - MEN The Associated Press Top 25 college basketball poll, with number of first-place votes and record in parentheses, total points and previous ranking: (Records through February 13, 2000) TEAM PTS PVS ---- --- --- 1. Cincinnati (66) (23-1) 1,768 1 2. Stanford (5) (21-1) 1,707 2 3. Duke (19-3) 1,574 3 4. Arizona (21-4) 1,519 7 5. Tennessee (21-3) 1,461 8 6. Michigan St (18-6) 1,343 6 7. Ohio St (17-4) 1,324 5 8. Oklahoma St (20-2) 1,263 14 9. Syracuse (20-2) 1,221 4 10. Indiana (18-4) 1,023 10 11. Florida (18-5) 984 12 12. Auburn (19-4) 924 9 13. Tulsa (22-2) 902 15 14. Iowa St (21-3) 811 17 15. Temple (18-4) 747 19 16. LSU (19-4) 649 25 17. Texas (17-6) 645 18 18. Connecticut (17-6) 602 13 19. Kentucky (17-7) 543 11 20. Oklahoma (19-4) 528 16 21. Utah (19-4) 359 21 22. Maryland (17-7) 271 23 23. Seton Hall (18-4) 240 NR 24. Kansas (18-6) 216 20 25. Purdue (17-7) 144 NR Dropped Out: No. 22 Vanderbilt, No. 24 Oregon Others Receiving Votes: Oregon 143, Vanderbilt 77, North Carolina 25, UNLV 15, Gonzaga 10, St Johns 7, Dayton 6, Kent 5, Illinois 4, Miami Fla 4, UL Lafayette 2, Navy 2, Utah St 2, Louisville 1, No Carolina St 1, Pepperdine 1, SMU 1, USC 1.

Woo Hoo!!! John's (late)Father's alma mater made it to The Big Dance! Southeast Missouri State University at Cape Girardeau is in the final 64.

Southeast Missouri State earns first NCAA bid SKIP LATT, Associated Press Writer NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Mike Branson scored 21 points to lead Southeast Missouri State to a 67-56 victory over Murray State on Sunday in the championship game of the Ohio Valley Conference tournament and the Indians' first NCAA tournament berth. The loss ended Murray State's three-year run as league champion, including last season's buzzer-beating win over the Indians. The Indians put the clamps on Murray State guard Aubrey Reese, holding the OVC's player of the year to three points on 1-of-18 shooting. It was Reese's last-second shot that handed the Racers the 62-61 win in last year's championship game. Southeast Missouri took control of the game with defense, holding the Racers to six points over the final 8:30. Michael Stokes gave the Indians (24-6) the lead for good, breaking a 50-50 tie with a jumper with 8:02 left to play. Murray State (23-9) closed within 54-52 on a basket by Aaron Page but would add only one more basket and two free throws the rest of the way. A 3-pointer by Branson upped the Southeast Missouri lead to 57-52 with 4:01 remaining. That was the Indians' last field goal, but they converted 10 of 12 free throws in the final minute to seal their NCAA bid. Isaac Spender topped Murray State with 25 points and nine rebounds. Roderick Johnson added 14 points for Southeast Missouri, while Antonio Short had 13 and Stokes 10.

I know no one cares for the NIT but Penn State just beat Sienna 105 - 103 and will play Kent in the semi-finals on Wednesday. I am overjoyed. The Lady Lions are also winners in the Big Ladies Dance (or should that be, the Ladies Big Dance?!)

Penn State 81 Kent 74

http://www.sportingnews.com/voices/mike_decourcy/20000326.html Utes make a point to fill the point by Mike DeCourcy Well-traveled point guard Travis Spivey, previously at Georgia Tech and Iowa State, will take his crack at solving the point guard vacancy that hurt Utah's chances to excel this season. Spivey spent the year at Salt Lake Community College and made a verbal commitment to join the Utes in 2000-01. . . . Iowa State will not get to add 6-11 center Ernest Brown next season. A New York native who played this year at Indian Hills CC in Iowa, he signed a letter of intent in the fall but is not expected to enroll and likely will enter the NBA draft. . . . A member of Georgia Tech point guard Tony Akins' family has made telephone calls to some Division I schools to gauge their interest in accepting Akins as a transfer. He averaged 11.5 points and 3.6 assists as a sophomore this season. . . . Murray State is investigating the possibility of gaining a fourth year of eligibility for star forward Isaac Spencer, who led the Racers to the NCAA Tournament in two of his three seasons. . . . San Diego State has expressed interest in former Georgetown point guard Kenny Brunner, who spent this season at the College of Southern Idaho. . . . Before Naismith Trophy winner Kenyon Martin of Cincinnati broke his leg earlier this month, he planned on competing in the Nike Desert Classic pre-draft event for top seniors, even though it was clear he would be chosen among the first few picks. He obviously did not have an agent when he returned the materials to the NBA Scouting Service indicating his intention to play -- an agent likely would have recommended against it -- but the pro scouts were impressed by his desire to compete. . . . Michigan State does not look like it is going away for a while. While the Spartans were playing Iowa State in the NCAA Midwest Regional final, their two top recruits were playing for state titles. Guard Marcus Taylor led Lansing's Waverly High into the Michigan state title game, and power forward Zach Randolph and Marion High met Bloomington North in the Indiana championship. . . . Center Darius Mancell of Detroit's Pershing High has attracted the attention of Ohio State, which had success turning the similarly built Ken Johnson into a Big Ten star. Mancell might not be ready to contribute immediately at a high-major level.

Marchups for the Mens Final Four Michigan State vs U of North Carolina Florida vs Wisconsin Women's Regional championship game Penn State vs Lousiana Tech Men's NIT Penn State vs Notre Dame North Carolina State vs Wake Forest Women's NIT Championship game Florida vs Wisconsin

Women's Regional championship game Penn State 86 Lousiana Tech 65 Penn State goes to the final four in Philadelphia and plays UConn on Friday.

Boo, I like Leon Barmore's La Tech.

Sorry about that. We played better than they did. From the outset. Why does no one care for Penn State? Have we offended you in some way?

Btw, I am very protective and loyal to those I love.

Nothing agin' Penn State, I just like La Tech because they seem to have a good program year after year, and their coach looks like a caricature of Walter Mathau. Now what better reason could you have than that?

A pretty and articulate lady coach who is not a butch member of the male-haters. She always looks lovely, speaks well, and gets as enthusiastic as any other coach while remaining dignified. You like funny-looking coaches? There are jillions of them in men's basketball (Tarkanian for one). PS has not gotten much press (what else is new) so you have no idea how good the program is or isn't. The have been consistently in the top 10 for years now...and that's about all you hear about them! Check them out...for me, if for nothing else. We won yesterday because we played the better game.

Rene (ReeNee, remember)Portland qualifies as a babe, btw. My opinion, as a woman, but not on my list *grin*

Pat Summit is a great coach. She gets Tenn. in there year after year.

NCAA Approves Rule Changes Indianapolis, IN (Sports Network) - The NCAA Division I board of directors unanimously approved rules changes Thursday, including a rule that would eliminate mens summer recruiting in 2002. Penn State president Graham Spanier, the chairman of the board of directors explained, "The board is eliminating summer basketball environments as we now know it." Spanier continued, "We will scale back in 2001, then we will replace it in 2002." Coaches are currently allowed 24 days of recruiting during the summer, including attending basketball camps sponsored by shoe manufacturers such as Nike and Adidas. The NCAA cant prohibit the camps from happening, but can disallow the coaches from being present. The rule changes have the possibility of being overturned by the membership, but that is not likely. The board of directors also decided to put together a basketball issues committee, headed by Syracuse chancellor Kenneth Shaw. Their first line of business will be to design a new approach for the summer recruiting in 2002. Also approved was a rule that would allow mens and womens basketball recruits to receive scholarships to attend summer school classes before their first semester. The NCAA will provide $3 million per year to provide up to 50-percent of an institutions cost. The board also approved a two-tier system for punishing student athletes engaged in sports gambling. The first tier would be for those who try to influence the outcome of a game, influence a games scoring margin, solicit or accept a bet or take part in any form of gambling involving games played by their school. Violators would permanently lose eligibility in all sports. The second-tier would involve the rest of the gamblers who solicit or accept a bet in any gambling activity involving intercollegiate athletics or professional athletics. The violators will be ineligible for all regular and post-season competition for at least a year and will lose a year of eligibility. The board approved legislation that would not allow midyear transfers to be eligible for competition until the following academic year. This rule includes both two and four year schools.

Indiana Coach Bobby Knight Put on Warning INDIANAPOLIS (Reuters) - Indiana University on Monday punished volatile basketball coach Bob Knight and said he will be fired if he engages in any more ``abusive and embarrassing behavior'' in the aftermath of a taped incident where he appeared to grab a player by the neck. University President Myles Brand said Knight would be suspended for three games in the upcoming 2000-2001 season and docked $30,000 in pay. Knight, 59, has won three national titles and 11 Big Ten crowns during his 29 years at Indiana a career punctuated by a legendary temper that has exploded in verbal locker room scaldings and courtside chair-tossing antics. On March 23 Brand ordered an investigation into allegations by a former player, Neil Reed, that Knight grabbed him by the throat during a practice in 1997. Brand told a news conference that the actions against Knight will send a ``clear message'' that ``abusive and embarrassing behavior will not be tolerated,'' adding that it was a ``zero tolerance'' policy.

The Big Island Invitational Basketball Tournament starts on Firday which means that I get Thanksgiving dinner at the pre-tournament banquet watching half-naked male Hawaiian dancers gyrate just overhead (they sit me next to the stage!) What I won't do for sports!!! Teams participating are Tulane, Oklahoma, Oregon State, Appalachian State, Montana State, San Francisco, and UH Hilo. I am sure we will be gracious hosts and lose to everyone! Happy Thanksgiving all - Hauoli La Ho'omaika'i

Ignorance equals heartache, not bliss by Dave Kindred The best writing provokes thought, not always happy thought. Such a piece of writing appeared last week in the Huntington (W.Va.) Herald-Dispatch. Sports columnist Ernie Salvatore began: "After 30 years, a remarkable juxtaposition has occurred. The Marshall plane crash was reborn this week as a national news story from its old status as an overlooked football footnote. "So, the attention after 360 months of struggle with closure here has been refreshing. Oddly, ESPN's 'Remembering Marshall: Thirty Years Later,' and PBS' 'Ashes to Glory' premiere Sunday at the Keith-Albee Theater, didn't reopen old wounds. Neither did nightmares reoccur. The flashbacks of faces and scenes, locked in the time warp of autumn 1970, were as healing as psychological releases. "Now, the whole world knows, or should, that what the media had been stubbornly ignoring for 360 months -- the Marshall 'mystique' -- wasn't a typical rah-rah college town-and-gown love affair with a football team. Hatched here in The Great Depression, the plane crash gave it a dimension that, only now, is being expanded in its rediscovery. "But it wasn't always thus . . ." Here Salvatore yields his space to a column written six days after the crash by Jay Searcy, then the sports editor of The Chattanooga (Tenn.) Times. Searcy first railed against the absence of national media covering the tragedy. Washington, New York and Chicago had reporters there. "And that's about it," Searcy said. The big-time sports columnists whose presence 30 years ago gave significance to an event weren't there. Searcy named seven of the time's most prominent sportswriters -- all absent. "Sports Illustrated wasn't even there," Searcy wrote. "You know why?" Then he delivered an insight so brilliant it hurts. "Because it was Marshall -- struggling, little-known, unranked, kicked-around Marshall, whose student body stayed up all night celebrating when the team finally ended a losing streak after 27 games. "Do you know when the president of the United States (Richard Nixon) got around to sending a telegram of sympathy to Marshall University? Late Tuesday night (three days after the crash). It was an afterthought. Maybe it doesn't surprise you, but it surprised me that the majority of football-playing colleges in this nation didn't bother to send Marshall a note or anything." The plane crash killed 70 passengers: players, coaches, students, administrators. It remains the greatest tragedy in American athletic history. Yet, when it happened, it was mostly ignored because -- here is the shameful truth made clear by Searcy -- it wasn't Notre Dame going down, it wasn't Alabama, it wasn't the New York Yankees. It was Marshall, which was, in the national media, a nowhere team from a nowhere place, so who cares? That was my first year as a sports columnist. I worked in Louisville, Ky., maybe 125 miles from Huntington. I didn't write a word about the Marshall plane crash. The week of the memorial services, I was on the road with the Kentucky Colonels, a professional basketball team. The things we do when we're young and stupid. Dave Kindred is a contributing writer for The Sporting News.

College Basketball Odds - November 29, 2000 FAVORITE LINE UNDERDOG at Virginia 10 Purdue at Kent 7 1/2 St. Bonaventure at Toledo 4 1/2 Detroit at E. Michigan 8 Wis.-Green Bay at Michigan St. 6 1/2 North Carolina at Providence 5 Fla. International at Dayton 2 Cincinnati at Florida St. Pk Minnesota at Ill.-Chicago 6 N. Illinois at St. Joseph's 12 Old Dominion at Drake 3 Cent. Michigan Indiana 2 at Indiana St. at Saint Louis Pk California Maryland 3 Wisconsin-x SMU 4 at New Mexico St. at N.C. State 5 Penn St. at Arizona 13 1/2 Gonzaga San Diego 3 1/2 at UC Irvine at Nevada 8 1/2 Arkansas St. Washington St. 4 at Idaho at UCLA 19 UC Santa Barbara at San Jose St. 1 1/2 Santa Clara x-at Milwaukee