The Harder They Fall

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

The way the season is going, tiny (825 male students) Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Wash., has as good a claim as anybody to the country's top college-basketball ranking.

Maybe nobody has heard of Pacific Lutheran, but it beat Seattle Pacific, which beat Seattle, which beat Colorado, which beat Arizona, which beat San Jose State, which beat Stanford, which beat San Francisco, which beat Houston, which beat Providence, which beat New York University, which beat South Carolina, which beat Duke --which, as everybody knows, was the No. 1-ranked team in the nation last week. The Blue Devils weren't taking any chances with their ranking, either: while the rest of the Top Ten were getting knocked off right and left in holiday tournaments, Duke took ten days off to rest up for its New Year's Eve party with Notre Dame -- whose only victories of the season came against Lewis, St. Norbert and Bowling Green.

At the start of last week, no fewer than 13 major-college teams still had unblemished season records. By the time the dust cleared, only two were unbeaten: No. 5-ranked Kentucky and unranked Texas Western. Brigham Young had had every reason to feel tall before the Quaker City Tournament in Philadelphia: with three men 6 ft. 11 in. on the team, and a 6-0 record that included a 103-83 thrashing of Philadelphia's own St. Joseph's, the Cougars had climbed all the way to No. 3 in the ratings. Imagine their surprise when they lost to La Salle 71-69 in the first round and had to settle for fifth place -- while St. Joe's was crushing No. 1-ranked Minnesota 91-66 and previously unbeaten Temple 97-65 to win the championship. New Orleans' Sugar Bowl Tournament proved sour for two undefeated teams: Auburn, which lost to Dayton 85-71, and Dayton, which lost to thrice-beaten Maryland 77-75.

About-Face. It was only four weeks ago that Michigan was battling for the No. 1 spot. Now, at Oregon's Far West Classic, the Wolverines lost to Arizona State 89-87--their third straight defeat. No. 8-ranked Providence managed to get through the week unscathed --but not without a scare. The Friars had to score in the last 3 sec. to edge Illinois in the semifinals of Manhattan's Holiday Festival tournament. The final, by comparison, was a breeze: Guard Jim Walker poured in 50 points and Providence beat Boston College 91-86.

The biggest form reversal occurred in Los Angeles, where No. 2-ranked Vanderbilt had its nine-game winning streak snapped by Southern California 74-72. U.S.C.'s opponent in the final of the Los Angeles Classic was cross-town rival U.C.L.A., which started the season No. 1 and fell all the way out of the Top Ten when Playmaker Freddie Goss was laid up with a mysterious ailment and the Bruins lost three out of four. Last week Goss was back in action, and Coach Johnny Wooden's Bruins were looking more and more like the team that won the N.C.A.A. championship two years running. "We're coming along fast," allowed Wooden, after U.C.L.A. polished off U.S.C. 94-76.

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