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Texas A&M basketball schedules
Men
November
16 Red Army*
28 Bucknell
December
1 Kansas State (Prime-TV)
6 Montana State
8 Nevada-Las Vegas
18 Nothwestem
20 Texas Southern
22 Seton Hail (Prime-TV)
30 Loyola Marymount
Januaru
3 Soutn Alabama
5 Northern lUinois
12 Texas
16 Rice (ESPN2)
19 Houston
22 Siena
25 TCU (Prime-TV)
29 SMU (Raycom-TV)
February
2 Baylor
5 Texas Tech (Raycom-TV)
9 Oral Roberts
12 Texas (Raycom-TV)
16 Houston
20 Rice (ESPN2)
23 TCU
27 SMU (ESPN2)
March
1 Baylor (Prime-TV)
5 Texas Tech
10-12 SWC Postseason Classic
(Prime, Raycom, ESPN-TV)
*Pre-season game
Women
November
18 VSS Kosice Slavakia*
20 Houston Flight*
27 Arizona State
30 Texas Southern
December
4-5 Lady Aggie Invitational
(U. of Portland, Cincinnati
and Missouri-Kansas City)
7 Lamar
18 Oklahoma
21 Califomia-Irvine
29 Louisiana State
31 Tulane
January
3 Oklahoma State
11 Texas
15 Rice
19 Houston
23 Sacramento State
26 TCU
29 SMU
February
2 Baylor
5 Texas Tech (Prime-TV)
9 Texas
12 Rice (Prime-TV)
16 Houston
18 Oral Roberts
23 TCU
26 SMU
March
2 Baylor
5 Texas Tech
11-13 SWC Tournament
— Bold letters denote home games
ITS COMMA BE A GREAT YEAR
TC.ftOUlE/
Southwest Conference
Coaches
Men
1. Texas
2. Texas A&M
3. Baylor
4. Houston
5. Texas Tech
6. Rice
7. TCU
8. SMU
Women
1. Texas Tech
2. Texas
3. SMU
Texas A&M
5. Houston
6. Baylor
7. Rice
TCU
Associated Press
National
Men
1. North Carolina (61)*
2. Kentucky (3)
3. Arkansas
4. Duke
5. Michigan
6. California
7. Louisville
8. Temple
9. Kansas (1)
10. Minnesota
11. Oklahoma State
12. Indiana
13. UCLA
14. Georgia Tech
15. Georgetown
16. Virginia
17. Illinois
18. Arizona
19. Cincinnati
20. Syracuse
21. Purdue
22. Massachusetts
23. Vanderbilt
24. George Washington
25. Florida State
Women
1. Tennessee (34)
2. Vanderbilt (34)
3. Iowa (2)
4. Louisiana Tech (1)
5. Auburn
6. Stanford
7. Penn State
8. Ohio State
9. North Carolina
10. Virginia
11. Southern Cal
12. Colorado
13. Western Kentucky
14. Texas Tech
15. Stephen F. Austin
16. Kansas
17. Georgia
18. Connecticut
19. Alabama
20. SW Missouri State
21. George Washington
22. Mississippi
23. Maryland
24. Oklahoma State
25. Purdue
Others receiving votes:
Wisconsin, Marquette, Northwestern, Texas,
Xavier, Ohio State, Texas Washington, Clemson
* parenthesis denotes first place votes
College hoops hype begins bevy of basketball
Y es, folks, it's that time of the
sports year again. In gyms
across the country, players are
running wind sprints, practicing their
turnaround jumpers, shooting free
throws and
working on the
pick-and-roll.
Broadcasters
Dick Vitale and
Billy Packer are
filling out their
All-American
teams and ex
changing hair
growth tonics.
As of October
31, the 1993-94
college basket
ball season has
begun.
When we last
checked in on
the college bas
ketball front,
North Carolina won a dramatic 77-71
championship game over Michigan to
take the men's title, while Texas Tech
rode the shoulders of Sheryl Swoopes
to an 84-82 win over Ohio State in the
women's championship. Whether or
not either team can repeat is subject to
debate, but that sort of conjecture is
what the preseason is for.
During the off-season, there were
two little-publicized but very impor
tant rule changes made in men's col
lege basketball.
The shot clock has been reduced
from 45 to 35 seconds per possession,
which should mean an extra 15 to 20
shots per game. Any way you cut it,
the men's game is going to be played
at a faster pace this year because of the
shortened clock. Bench strength and
speed will be even more important
than they already are. Teams that
have quality depth to back up the
starters will also benefit from this
change.
The change would immediately
seem to favor teams which play a up
tempo, pressure-oriented style, a la
Kentucky, UNLV and Arkansas. An
other change from last season, one that
will also affect the women's game, is
that in the last minute of the game, the
clock will be stopped after a made bas
ket and restarted when the ball is in-
bounded.
Previously, a team with no timeouts
at the end of a game was at a serious
disadvantage because the other team
could hold the ball out of bounds
while the clock continued to run. This
will no longer be the case. This change
will give each team more possessions
at the end of a game, which in turn
could lead to more buzzer-beating fin
ishes. These endings are college bas
ketball's lifeblood.
Each season, there seems to be one
team that is head and shoulders above
the rest and the others spend all sea
son trying to knock this Goliath off.
This year. North Carolina appears to
be that team. Four starters return from
last year's champions, including center
Eric Montross and guards Derrick
Phelps and Donald Williams. The Tar
Heels also have quality depth at every
position and brought in a fantastic
freshman class.
All of the pieces are in place for a
second straight title, but the great
thing about college basketball is that
nothing ever goes as planned.
Who could have forecast N.C. State
winning it all in 1983? Or Villanova in
1985? All it takes is for a team to come
together at the right time and anything
can happen.
However, in basketball more so
than any other team sport, one player
can mean the difference between
mediocrity and excellence.
Sheryl Swoopes was a perfect ex
ample of this. Her ability to score, re
bound and pass forced the opposition
to double-team Swoopes constantly,
which left teammates open for easy
scoring chances. Without Swoopes,
Texas Tech would have been a good
team, but not NCAA champions. The
Red Raiders will find out exactly how
much they'll miss her this season.
Perhaps the one thing that sepa
rates college basketball from college
football in popularity is the post-sea-
son NCAA Tournament. It gives
teams which may not have had great
regular seasons a chance to prove just
how good they are.
Unlike football, the basketball tour
nament forgives early season stumbles
and rewards a team that plays a diffi
cult schedule with a shot at the title,
assuming the team has a somewhat
decent record. It also gives teams from
small conferences the opportunity,
however slim it may be, to win a na
tional title.
More often than not, these smaller
schools get beaten in the first round,
but the excitement that is generated by
a Santa Clara beating Arizona in last
season's March Madness is what
makes the tournament great.
Beginning on November 17 with
the preseason NIT and ending on
April 3 and 4 with the women's and
men's title games, this college basket
ball season promises to be a great one.
With the rule changes that have
been implemented, it should be differ
ent from any season in recent years.
Can North Carolina and Texas Tech
repeat? Will Michigan finish second
for a third straight year? Will Dick Vi
tale shut up long enough to take a
deep breath?
These questions and many others
will be answered in the months to i
come. Let the games begin.
WILLIE
CORRINGTON
Sportswriter