DANVILLE, Ca--I thought I'd post this edition of the "West of the Rocky Mountain Top-10" in a little differnt way. The ten teams will still be listed as usual, but in addition there'll be a brief description of the team's accomplishments that warrants their lofty position. Got it?
OK, here goes:
1. BYU. (20-1; 5-0) The Cougars seem to have it all going for them...good scoring and leadership from Fredette. Strong rebounding and solid defense. They have already beaten each of their strongest rivals for the conference crown.
2. Gonzaga. (16-3; 5-0) Speaking of beating key rivals, that is just what the Gonzags did in the first week of conference play. They beat Portland by three, and St. Mary's by six, then polished off San Diego, Pepperdine, and LMU since then. Matt Boulding and Elias Harris are the real deal.
3. St. Mary's. (17-3; 4-1) It is too bad that Bay Area rivals don't play each other every year because it would be great to see Cal and St. Mary's square off. The Gaels have Omar Samhan, and a wealth of talent behind him in Aussies Matthew Dellavedova, Ben Allen, and Clint Steindl. "Aussie, Aussie, Aussie! Oi, Oi, Oi!"
4. California. (13-6; 5-2) Because of Jerome Randle and Patrick Christopher, Cal is going to be a contender for the Pac-10. Right now, they are the conference leader with no less than five teams one game back with 4-3 marks. This weekend they took care of business against the Oregon schools.
5. New Mexico. (18-3; 4-2) The Lobos have dropped two conference games and some (those myopic Easterners) think the Lobos are slipping. Not so! After two losses to open conference play, they have ripped off 4 straight and are right behind BYU. The team's strength is in its forwards lead by Darington Hobson.
6. UNLV. (16-4; 4-2) Tied with the Lobos for second place in the rugged Mountain West are the Runnin' Rebels of UNLV. The Rebs knocked off two solid MW teams this last week...Colorado State and Texas Christian.
7. Arizona State. (14-6; 4-3). The Sun Devils is one of those five Pac-10 schools tied for second at 4-3. But the Devils are probably the best of those five. They own the Northwest having beaten all four of those Pac-10 schools.
8. Louisiana Tech. (18-3; 6-1). When a team goes on a five time zone, two game, road trip and earns a split it has done a remarkable job. The Bulldogs lost Thursday night to a hot shooting San Jose State team, then flew 3,000 more miles to defeat Hawaii on Saturday. Adding to the lustre of the team is Magnum Rolle and Kyle Gibson, both of whom are getting plenty of NBA scout notices.
9. Pacific. (12-6; 5-1). It is hard to talk about the Tigers without mentioning their head coach, Bob Thomason. The head man has got the Tigers playing at a very high level, and would be undefeated in league play if it weren't for some very questionable officiating at the end of the UCSB game. Demetrece Young seems to have been the solution to the point guard deficencies, plus they are getting consistent and productive play from Terrell Smith and Michael Nunnally. Thomason's system works.
10. Northern Colorado. (17-4; 6-2). Even though the Greeley team is second to Weber State in the Big Sky, the WOTRM pollsters rank the Bears slightly ahead of the Wildcats. Will Figures and Devon Bietzel continue to play superb ball and the team took out Sacramento State and Eastern Washington. Will the Bears be able to overcome the Wildcats? There'll be a showdown February 13 in Ogden.
The next two: Utah State and Weber State.
