College Basketball

DECISIONS, DECISIONS

Pity poor Arnie Ferrin. As chairman of the NCAA's nine-member men's basketball committee, Ferrin is the key man when it comes to deciding which 34 teams will receive at-large bids to the national tournament. (Thirty conference champions receive automatic bids.) Everywhere he goes, Ferrin is assaulted by self-proclaimed experts. During a car trip from Palm Springs, Calif., to St. George, Utah, last week he got an earful. First he stopped at a gas station where the attendant recognized Ferrin by the name on his credit card. "The guy proceeded to tell me what's wrong with the tournament selection process," says Ferrin. Subsequent stops at a drugstore, his mother's rest home in St. George and a nearby restaurant all produced pontificating partisans. "Palm Springs to St. George, and I've had four experts," laughs Ferrin. "We gather the information from every source we can."

He can use the help. In this season of parity, the committee's task will be more difficult than ever. "All that I'm certain of is that there will be more quality teams on the bubble [those on the brink of being good enough to get a tournament berth] than ever," says Ferrin. "The system may never be tested more than it will be this year." He can also be sure that when the selections have been completed, at least a dozen angry teams will be claiming that they got burned.

By March 13, when the bids are announced, Ferrin's crew will have had to consider these complicating factors:

•The St. Mary's vs. Maryland quandary. Just how seriously will the committee take the resurgence of the West? Will teams like Maryland in the ACC, Ohio State in the Big Ten, Iowa State in the Big Eight, and Seton Hall and St. John's in the Big East—fifth-or sixth-place finishers in their conferences and possessors of mediocre records—be chosen ahead of second-or third-place finishers like St. Mary's or Santa Clara in the WCAC, or Utah State in the PCAA? And what about the suddenly potent WAC? Will the committee go four or five deep in that conference to select Utah and New Mexico in addition to BYU, Wyoming and UTEP? Says Lobos coach Gary Colson, "Our conference is awfully good this year, better than I've ever seen it. I think we'll end up with 20 or 21 wins, but I don't know if that's going to be enough."

•The good record-bad opponents syndrome. Strong teams in weak leagues probably have only one route to the NCAAs: win their conference postseason tournament and collect an automatic bid. North Carolina A & T, which at week's end was 24-2, Boise State (22-4), Richmond (21-6) and UNC Charlotte (19-8) are all teams whose records will likely prove meaningless without a league title.

•The dilemma of independent thinking. Will both DePaul and Notre Dame be selected from the ranks of the independents, even after undistinguished seasons? "We've established that we're among the top 64 teams in the country," says Blue Demon coach Joey Meyer. "Instead of worrying about that [the tournament], we have to get it together for a strong finish." If the committee decides to take only one independent, look for DePaul to make the cut because the Demons have defeated the Irish twice.

Believe it or not, Ferrin has enjoyed the topsy-turvy season. "It's just fascinating," he says. "It's been the type of year when it's fun to get up every day and see what happened."

SHARK BITES BACK

The battle between the NCAA and UNLV coach Jerry Tarkanian has finally reached the court of last resort. Last week the U.S. Supreme Court announced its decision to hear the NCAA's appeal of a Nevada Supreme Court ruling that had voided the NCAA's suspension of Tarkanian for alleged recruiting violations in the mid-1970s. If the brethren rule in favor of the NCAA—a decision is not expected until late this year or early in 1989—Tarkanian might have to serve the two-year suspension from coaching at UNLV that has hung over his head since '77.