RPI: COULD IT BE INITIALLY IMPORTANT?

Byline: BILLY WITZ

Cleaning out the notebook and clearing the plate before Selection Sunday

As the NCAA Tournament selection committee is so fond of reminding everyone, the RPI (Ratings Percentage Index) is merely a tool for choosing the field of 65, not a formula.

That notion will be put to the test Sunday when the committee decides what to do with Georgia. The Bulldogs are 16-13 but armed with a No. 18 RPI entering the SEC tournament. No team ever has made the tournament as an at-large team with 14 losses - the worst record, 17-13, belonged to Michigan in '95 and Florida State in '98. Conversely, no team with an RPI rating higher than 30 ever has been left out.

At the other end of the spectrum, New Mexico, with a No. 74 RPI in 1999, is the lowest RPI to earn an at-large bid. This is bad news for No. 75 Detroit and not altogether good news for No. 57 Hofstra (24-4 vs. D-I opponents) or No. 61 UC Irvine (21-3) if they fail to win their conference tournaments.

--More numbers: In the last decade, 87 percent of teams with RPIs between 31 and 40 have earned bids (at large or automatic). For the teams between 41 and 50, 64 percent have gotten in and for teams between 51 and 60, 43 percent get in.

With those numbers in mind, keep an eye on No. 31 Penn State (17-10), No. 32 Mississippi State (16-11) and No. 37 Iowa (18-11).

--Familiar foes? ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi has UCLA penciled in as the No. 4 seed in the South, opening with Western Kentucky. The top three seeds in his South are North Carolina, Kentucky and Kansas, all of whom have played the Bruins this season.

Lunardi has USC as the No. 9 seed in the East playing Arkansas, with the winner meeting Duke. He also has No. 14 Cal State Northridge (presuming they win the Big Sky tournament) facing No. 3 Mississippi in the West, which also has No. 12 UC Irvine vs. No. 5 Notre Dame and No. 13 Gonzaga vs. No. 4 Maryland.

--The Walton gang: If the selection committee knows a good story, you'll see Arizona sent to the East as a No. 2 seed matched against No. 15 Princeton, meaning Bill Walton can see his sons, Luke, a forward for Arizona, and Nate, a center who leads Princeton in scoring.

--Reunion of sorts: If the selection committee has a sense of humor, you'll see UCLA as a No. 2 or 3 with a second-round game against Georgia, led by former Bruins coach Jim Herrick, as a No. 10 or 11. Gentlemen, start your notepads.

--Head east: If the Pac-10 gets five teams in the tournament, is it possible for another to join No. 1-seeded Stanford in the West? No. A little-known rule states that a No. 1 seed can have no other teams from its conference in the same regional.

--And the winners are: If the All-Pac-10 team were just five players and not the politically correct dozen or so, my picks would be: Stanford center Jason Collins, Arizona State forward Awvee Storey, Cal forward Sean Lampley, UCLA guard Earl Watson and Arizona guard Gilbert Arenas.

Player of the year: Lampley. Coach of the year: Stanford's Mike Montgomery. Freshman of the year: Washington State guard Marcus Moore. Most improved: UCLA forward Matt Barnes. Most unappreciated: Stanford guard Michael McDonald.

--Bear necessities: If Cal can upset Arizona on Saturday, it would help dispel the notion that the Bears can't beat good teams. If Georgia doesn't qualify for the NCAA Tournament, Cal has a 1-8 record against teams in the field of 65.

--Roll the presses: The two most memorable quotes of the year - UCLA athletic director Pete Dalis calling Dick Vitale a bootlicker and USC assistant coach Dave Miller's rant about the Bruins - both were accompanied by the command: ``And you can print that.''

--Good karma: If UCLA's Watson and Barnes aren't always nice guys on the court, they proved they can be off it. Watson gave his jersey to a sobbing Oregon State ball boy who was scolded by officials at the end of UCLA's overtime win in Corvallis, and Barnes gave up his spot in the lineup against DePaul so freshman T.J. Cummings could start in his hometown of Chicago.

--A real Lou-Lou: Does anyone else find it ironic that former coach Lou Campanelli, whose temper helped cost him his job at Cal, is now the Pac-10's coordinator of officials?

--Kings of the road: The most impressive aspect of Stanford's 27-1 season is how well the Cardinal has played on the road. It is 16-0 away from Maples Pavilion, including 11-0 on opponents' home courts.

Stanford's 85-79 win over UCLA at Pauley Pavilion on Saturday allowed it to become the first team to go undefeated on the road in the Pac-10 since No. 1-ranked Oregon State in 1980-81.

``We play tougher on the road,'' Casey Jacobsen told the San Jose Mercury News. ``I don't know if that's a good thing. Will it help in the tournament? You better believe it. We're road warriors.''

--Voice of reason: The NCAA recently allowed Arizona State's Justin Allen, who is sitting out this season while he undergoes treatment for Hodgkin's disease, to establish a benefit fund to help pay for costs related to his illness.

It's good to see the NCAA, which has a habit of turning appeals such as this into Kafka-esque dramas, got one right.

--The loneliest number: Since Indiana's undefeated season in 1976, only four teams that were ranked No. 1 in the final Associated Press poll won the title: Kentucky in '78, North Carolina in '82, Duke in '92 and UCLA in '95.

--Scary flashback: When Santa Clara guard Jason Morrissette was hospitalized with an irregular, rapid heartbeat late Saturday night, it didn't take him long to think of Hank Gathers. In an eerie coincidence, Morrissette was stricken on the 11th anniversary of Gathers' death and both attacks occurred at the West Coast Conference tournament.

Morrissette, a freshman from Fairfax High in Los Angeles, was in his hotel room with teammate Andre Bobbit when ``all of a sudden my heart started jolting like I had a lot of people tap-dancing on my heart. It felt really weird.''

Morrissette, who has no history of heart trouble, was taken to Scripps Hospital where doctors put him under general anesthetic and electronically shocked his heart to restore a normal heartbeat. Morrissette is expected to resume activity by the end of the month.

--Food for thought: Saint Mary's coach Dave Bollwinkel has one year left on his contract, but whether he'll be back is in doubt.

The Gaels were 2-27 this season, the worst in school history, and have won just three of their past 40 games. Moreover, their average attendance of 776 (including students who get in free) was the worst in the Western United States.

It's interesting to note that Utah coach Rick Majerus has said publicly on more than one occasion that Saint Mary's is just the type of school where he wouldn't mind finishing his career.

--House of horrors: Oregon coach Ernie Kent and his wife recently filed a $5 million lawsuit against the contractors who built their house, charging that because of construction errors it has become rife with several types of toxic molds.

The suit said the fungi has caused the family respiratory problems, rashes, eye irritation and fatigue. Kent, his wife and three children moved out of the house in December.

--Woeful Washington: This week's stat on how bad Washington is: In coach Bob Bender's first season in 1993-94, when the Huskies were just 5-22 and 3-15 in the Pac-10, they lost their 15 conference games by an average of 12.6 points.

This season, the Huskies are 3-13 in the Pac-10, but the average margin of the losses has been 19.8. If they lose to USC and UCLA this week, they'll finish last for the first time since 1991.

UCLA vs. WASHINGTON STATE

Tipoff: 7 p.m., at Friel Court

TV/Radio: None; 1150-AM

UCLA (20-7, 13-3) update: The Bruins have won 16 in a row against Washington State, but this could be dangerous. The Bruins, who haven't swept the trip to Washington since 1997, are primed for a letdown after putting so much emphasis on the Stanford game. Also, the Cougars are much improved. That said, UCLA won the first meeting comfortably 75-57. Said UCLA coach Steve Lavin: ``If you can't get excited about playing basketball at this time of year, it's time to check for a pulse or a heartbeat.'' ... Guard Ray Young has a fractured right pinkie, X-rays revealed, but he will be able to play with it taped. Off the court, he will have it in a splint.

Washington State (12-14, 5-11) update: The Cougars are 10-2 in Pullman this season, with the only losses coming in overtime to Cal and by 11 to Stanford. Guard Mike Bush, who leads the Cougars with 16.7 points and also averages 5.3 rebounds, is expected to return after missing the last three games with an Achilles tendon injury. Point guard Marcus Moore, a freshman from Compton Dominguez High, has been excellent lately, netting 18 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and five turnovers in Saturday's 79-61 win over Washington.

- Billy Witz

USC vs. WASHINGTON

Tipoff: 7 p.m., at Bank of America Arena

TV/Radio: No TV; 690-AM

USC (19-9, 9-7) update: Since the Trojans are playing the worst team in the Pac-10, they are expected to clinch an NCAA bid tonight. ``Everyone knows we've got to win, but we can't walk on the court and expect them to lie down for us,'' forward Sam Clancy said. This will be an emotional game for senior center Brian Scalabrine, who grew up in nearby Enumclaw and will have a large family contingent at the game.

Washington (9-19, 3-13) update: The Huskies have lost seven in a row haven't won a game since Feb. 3, when they defeated Washington State. But they could stand between USC and an NCAA Tournament berth and have beaten the Trojans three of the past four times in Seattle. Four years ago, the Huskies beat USC in Seattle on the final day of the regular season, which forced the Trojans to sweat it out before being picked for the NCAA Tournament the next day.

-Scott Wolf

CAPTION(S):

2 boxes

Box: (1) UCLA vs. WASHINGTON STATE (see text)

(2) USC vs. WASHINGTON (see text)