Who's No. 2?

"Let's face it," one Eastern coach sighed last week. "There are two classes in college basketball this season: best and second best. U.C.L.A. is in a class all by itself. All the rest of us are fighting to be No. 2."

Even so, it is quite a fight. At the start of last week, no fewer than 13 teams besides U.C.L.A. were unbeaten. By week's end the number was down to seven--and some of the survivors were on the critical list. No. 2-ranked Louisville had all it could do to squeeze past Syracuse, 75-71, at the Quaker City Tournament in Philadelphia; and the 8-0 record of No. 6 Cincinnati included three overtimes, four victory margins of two points or less.

Still, survival was honor enough. Consider the chagrin of Texas Western's Miners, the defending N.C.A.A. champs:

in the first round of the Sun Carnival Tournament at El Paso, they were beaten 59-54 by Southern Illinois--a school that does not even class as a major college. At Manhattan's Holiday Festival Tournament, the local favorite--No. 8-ranked St. John's--was eliminated in an opening-round upset; and New Yorkers had to satisfy their partisan appetites with the shooting of Jim Walker, a 6-ft.

3-in. guard from Providence. Walker scored 75 points in two games, led the Friars to victories over Duquesne (85-55) and Northwestern (91-79).

It remained for Southern California to suffer the crudest fate of all. All the Trojans did was win--edging Arkansas 70-67 and Illinois 73-72 in the Los Angeles Basketball Classic. And what did that earn them? A berth in the finals against Lew Alcindor (TIME, Dec. 16) and his No. 1-ranked U.C.L.A. Bruins.

Against Wisconsin, 7-ft. Hin. Sophomore Alcindor scored 24 points; against Georgia Tech, he hit a season low of 18 points, but U.C.L.A. still boosted its record to 7-0. Southern Cal's Trojans have already seen all they want to of Alcindor: he scored 56 against them in the opening game of the season.

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