I 'Page Eight- THE MICHIGAN DAILY Friday, January ' , ..',",...',, ,.,..,.,, . .'..,....,,.9 t4 S' Yo .....t -,., 3 <; , !'< :.: _ Pretenders battle for court crown By A. Z. SHACKELFORD See for you BUSIN ESS ST A this (never, tut, tut) you might find this As February draws near, all true basketball fans will gather to- gether and discuss that ultimate question: Who gonna win the NCAA title this year? The fact that UCLA is undefeat- ed, the winner of three straight national championships and num- ber one in both wire service polls should hint at the answer to this question. For those who have doubts about UCLA's invincibility, here is a roundup of those who will challenge for the NCAA title this year. KENTUCKY IS currently on top in the rugged SEC and looks like the class of the league, even with- 'out guard Mike Casey (out with a broken-leg). This could be old Coach Adolph Rupp's last year if the Wildcats take the NCAA, but a weakness at guard could ruin any title hopes Kentucky has. All- American Dan Issel and Mike Pratt can shoot rings around any- one in the conference, however, A half-game behind the Wild- cats in the SEC is Georgia, spark- ed by high-scoring center B o b Lienhard, and farther back Au- burn, but neither looks capable. of taking the conference crown which Kentucky practically owns any- way. Another fine Kentucky squad, this one from Bowling Green, is the Hilltoppers of Western Ken- tucky, who are the Ohio Valley Conference leaders with a 5-0 mark. Frantic battles for t h e championship are characteristic of the OVC, and this year should be no exception. Western's m a I n :; Help I'm a Rock Help I'm a Woman Help I'm a Black HNelp I'm a CANDIDATE FOR CITY COUNCIL challenge will' come from 1 a s t year's champ Murray State, 4-2 in league play, and 5-1 East Tennes- see. SOUTH CAROLINA, the na- I ton's 4th ranked team, is ahead in the ACC with a 5-0 mark, but that league race is just a warm- up for the conference tournament. Frank McGuire has two sharp- shooters from Manhattan, J o h n Roche and 6'10 Tom Owens, who have been playing together for seven years, plus a front line that averages 6'9". South Carolina will have to play like crazy to get to the NCAA, con- sidering its competition. N o r t h Carolina, North Carolina State, Duke, and Wake Forest, all have the stuff to win the NCAA nod at the ACC tournament, and North Carolina has perhaps the finest player in the country in Charlie Scott. Scott is especially good at popping in acrobatic jumpers to beat people with a few seconds left. FORGET ABOUT the Southern, Conference race. Everyone knew before the season started t h a t Davidson would win and there they are, at 7-0, in front of every- one. The Wildcats beat Michigan 91-85 early in the season and have a veteran, tournament-tested team. Mike Maloy, Jerry Kroll a n d Doug Cook are the core of a squad that could go a long way this year, maybe as far as the NCAA finals against UCLA or whoever might topple the Bruins. The Mid-American title should go to Ohio University, which leads Bowling Green by a half-game, but nobody frqm the Mid-Amer- ican is going to win the NCAA anyhow. Now we come to the Big Ten, which hasn't had much luck in the NCAA lately. Purdue, the sacri- ficial offering to UCLA in 1 a s t year's finals, is screwing around this year (just ask Rick Mount) and so it looks as if it will be Illinois and Iowa down to the wire. Iowa seems to have the stronger and more balanced team, judging from their personnel and respective performances of the two teams against Michigan this year. Neither is strong enough to keep John Wooden or Adolph Rupp awake at night. THE IVY LEAGUE has a pair of fine teams in Columbia and Penn, both 4-0 in league play. Columbia boasts All-American Jim McMillian and Rhodes scholar Heywood Dotson while Penn has lots of depth and the personnel from their 21-0 frosh team of last year; Columbia's experience gives it the edge. Drake is the early-season lead- er at 7-0 in the tough Missouri Valley Conference, with pre-sea- son favorite Louisville and North Texas State trailing at 4-1. Drake whipped Louisville in their show- down last week, but the Cardinals have much-traveled star Mike Grosso and the conference race has a long way to go. Kansas State is the surprise leader in the Big Eight thanks to the unexpectedly bad play of Col- orado, which was picked to win the title. K-State is ranked 19th in the latest AP poll, and is a half-game up on Missouri in the conference. The Big Eight looks weak this year, though, and should not make any waves in the NCAA. WEBER STATE, that perennial little powerhouse, has Willie So- journer and flashy guard Sessions Harlan back and leads the Big Sky Conference race by half a game over Idaho State and the nation's seventh leader scorer, Willie Humes. Pacific is leading favored Santa Clara in the Pa- cific Athletic Conference In a race which will determine which team gets creamed by UCLA in the NCAA. UTAH AND UTEP are both po- tential NCAA threats; the Utes have the conference's best play- er of last year in Mike Newlin while the Miners have All-Amer- ican guard Nate Archibald and a history which includes that me- morable NCAA championship vic- tory in 1966 over Kentucky. -Daily-Thomas R. Copi Bruins batter the boards (ooh Ia-Ia)a That brings us to the Pacific Eight and the UCLA Bruins. TheI Bruins have great outside shoot- ing, three fine big men, an ade- quate bench, and a great coach in John Wooden. They have also won t h r e e straight national championships and are the lead- ing contenders for a fourth; in their conference only Southern Cal poses a threat. PERHAPS THE BRUIN'S big- gest threat in the NCAA tourna- ment will come from a flock of fine independent teams. Among the best are: -Jacksonville, beaten only by Florida State, the proud owners of a front line averaging 7'O" and a damn good backcourt to boot., They play a laughable schedule, but who cares? -St. Bonaventure, number three in the nation, has the best offen4 sive center around in Bob Lanier but lost 64-62 to Villanova on Wednesday night for its first loss of the season. -New Mexico State, Houston, and Utah State from the West are all great teams, with the Lobos having the best shot at overthrow ing the Bruin Empire. -Marquette and Niagara from this side of the Mississippi, b o t h with super small men in D e a n Meminger and Calvin Murphy. Of coursehthere are other fine teams in the country who could put on a late-season surge to car., ry them into the NCAA's and may- be even to the title. No matter how you look at this year's college season and the NCAA, however, the word is still UCLA Bruins. S rill 'is! rs=elf Maravich sets sights on all-time scoring record *, tuit FF See Schulz ::; .:::.:. :.:::..: ..::..: .:.:::.a ::: :. .....................: r: is is r::i.....::.i'::: r:: .::: " tib: iiYi:":::.ii"::: .. ...::::.:..........v::::::.:5.ii :,:%.-i:ifjin::::: i+ :: }: : iiiii: i: vi. nv: ....::::::.:::. :: i ..................r. :::::.:... "iv: :::..::::.:::::: °:: iiii.: : iii: ri :.., :::: ".i: iiili;{.;. . ....... ...::.r .. ;......... :::::... ....._. . ............ ............... ....::i W.}... : :":::::::....:.:: i.......... ........... Right on for LOIS OWENS 1201 E. University 10:30 on Sal morning Subscribe to The Michigan Daily 769-5935 764-8696 NEW YORK (P) - Everything is being set up to enthrone Pistol1 Pete Maravich of Louisiana State as the all-time college basketball career scorer in Baton R o u g e Saturday night. The weekly statistics released by the National Collegiate S p o r t s Services show Pistol Pete rolling along in his customary No. 1 spot with an average of 47.6 points per game through last Saturday. He needs only 40 points against Mississippi on Saturday to sur- pass the 2,973 career record high posted by Oscar Robertson at the University of Cincinnati in 1958- 59-60. Pistol Pete is far ahead of run- ner up Austin Carr of N o t r e Dame. Carr has a 34.8 average. Dan Issel of Kentucky is third at 32.7 while Calvin Murphy of Niagara and Bob Lanier of St. Bonaventure each boast a 32.0 average. Michigan's Rudy Tomjanovich continues to hold eighth place irt the listings with a 29.7 average. Tomjanovich, who also rates as the top rebounder in the Big Ten, trails Michigan State's Ralph Simpson by less than one point per game. Pro Standings FT HL East Division ii New York Montreal Boston Detroit Chicago Toronto St. Louis Philadelphia Minnesota Pittsburgh Oakland Los Angeles W L 26 10 F 23 14' 22 17 + 18 19 West Division T l0 6 8 Pt. GF 62 161 60 158 6i0 171 53 135 50 127 44 133 GA 110 11 100 135 -Daily-Thomas R. Copi Pistol Pete drives for the hoop """"" m .1 SUNDAY AFTERNOON Sun., Feb.l-Maria Meirelles, Pianist Sun., Feb. 8-Orlando Gora, Pianist Sun., Feb. 15-Metro Kozaz, Violinist Sun., Feb. 22-Edgar Taylor, Vocalist 3 P.M.-MICHIGAN UNION BALLROOM Admission Complimentary g fg 1. Pete Maravich LSU' 13 231 2. Austin Carr NotrOeDame 16 227 3. Dan issel -O> Kentucky 14 175 4. Calvin Murphy Niagara 15 177 5. Bob Lanier St. Bonev're 12 157 6. Rick Mount Purdue 10 124 7. Ralph Simpson Mich. State 14 168 8. Rudy Tomjanovich Michigan 14 160 9. Willie Humes Idaho State 13 151 10. Rich Yankus Georgia Tech 15 180 ft 157 103 108 126 Pts. Avg. 619 47.6 557 34.8 458 32.7 480 32.0 23 12 10 13 12 9 Yesterday's Results Boston 6, Minnesota 5 Detroit 4, Philadelphia 3 St. Louis at Los Angeles, inc. 70 384 32.Q 15 7 18 17 21 14 24 8 27 8 31 5 63 93 96 82 311 429 416 31.1' 30.6 29.7 53 41 34 34 32 23 NBA Eastern Division W L New York 43 11 Milwaukee 37 17 Baltimore 33 21 Philadelphia 29 25 Cincinnati 25 30 Boston 21 31 Detroit 20 34 Westeirn Division Pet. .796 .685 .611 .537 .455 .404 .370 GB 6 10. 14 18% 21 23 384 29.5 76 436 29.1 SPEEDY Copy and Duplicating Ceter Typing-Printing Xerox Copies 100 COPIES-$1.95 601 E. William 1nextto Mark's) 761-3596 Atlanta 31 23 .574 - Los Angeles 28 24 .538 2 Chicago 25 30 .455 6 Phoenix 23 31 .426 8 San Francisco 22 30 "423 $ Seattle 19 34 .358 11 ' San Diego 18 33 .355 11 Yesterday's Results New York 127, Detroit 106 Atlanta at Phoenix, inc. San Francisco at Seattle, inc. 144 108 124 138 127 150 104 146 101 159 100 x7G6 the mini ad with MAXI power! For $3.10 we will run a 3-line classified ad for you for 3 days. Fill out the coupon below and enclose your check for $3.10. (checks payable to the Michigan Daily) I send to: Lucy Papp Classifieds, Michigan 420 Maynard Daily at Oakland University GORDON LIGHTFOOT -in concert- . . i w Ann Arbor, Michigan 48104 a U N El. .I.