TRUTH HURTS ABOUT BIG TEN.

Byline: BRIAN DOHN

Illinois has balanced scoring in its starting lineup - its starters average between 9.6 and 16.3 points per game - and a fundamental approach that is short on flash but certainly built for the long season.

Those qualities helped the Illini vault to No. 1 in the polls, and for the first time in school history put them in the top spot for a second consecutive week.

But not all is perfect, mostly because Illinois is playing in a Big Ten Conference lagging behind so many others, like Conference USA and arguably the West Coast Conference. And the Big Ten's stature on the national landscape caused Illini coach Bruce Weber to spend more time this week defending his conference than talking about his team.

``We have to do a better job promoting,'' Weber said. ``We've hit a little bit of a down cycle as far as last year. There's still a little bit of a myth that we're a physical, big, bulky league (stressing) inside play.

``Everyone talks about the Pac-10 being down and we just played Oregon and got (83) points and I didn't think we played great and hold them in the 60s. Michigan State plays Stanford and gets 78 and holds them to 53. So who's the fast-breaking league?''

It's hard to find anyone to stick up for the Pac-10 these days, but there is more behind Weber's stumping than just frustration. It has a lot to do with the way voters - writers and coaches alike - caved in response to Texas football coach Mack Brown's pleas to get into the BCS mix.

Last season, the Big Ten got only three of its 11 members into the NCAA tournament, which was a brutal hit for a conference expected to be one of the best in the nation. Weber is planting the seed early in the minds of the NCAA selection committee that the Big Ten may be tougher than anyone wants to believe.

``We've got to get some people into the networks (working as analysts),'' Weber said. ``ESPN definitely has an ACC bias, and right now (the ACC) is hot, so it's even added fuel to the fire.''

But the truth is the Big Ten isn't very good right now. It should be mentioned in the same breath as the Pac-10 and WCC and below Conference USA, the Big 12, the Big East and the SEC. The ACC clearly is superior to any other league right now.

The Big Ten is top-heavy with Illinois, but Iowa, Michigan State and Wisconsin must prove they are anything but middle-of-the-road teams benefiting from being in a weak conference.

The bigger issue for the Big Ten is the big-name schools of the past are not very good right now. Like it or not, that destroys credibility. Indiana is 2-4 and Purdue is 2-5. Ohio State is 6-2, but fattening up on patsies and submerged in scandal, while Michigan is trying to pull itself away from past scandal and use the title of defending NIT champ to move back into relevance on the national stage.

``I think the one thing we do in our league is we prepare and we guard, and I'm not sure a lot of leagues do as good a job as that,'' Weber said. ``Maybe that's why we get the negativity toward the league of being a slow, physical league.''

--Can't wait 'til '05: Now that Rick Majerus is USC's coach, can the season end soon enough for the Trojans so he can take them over?

In Majerus, the Trojans have a guy who brings instant credibility, a career 422-147 record and an ability to recruit and teach the game. In interim USC coach Jim Saia, the Trojans have a guy who was part of the UCLA downfall and wasn't involved in college coaching the last year.

--Nice sanctions: Ohio State's and St. John's self-imposed sanctions will keep each of the respective schools out of this year's NCAA tournament because of violations that led to the dismissal of both its coaches.

CAPTION(S):

photo, 2 boxes

Photo:

Bruce Weber, coach of top-ranked Illinois, thinks the Big Ten Conference has been underrated this year and should get more national exposure.

Jeff Roberson/Associated Press

Box:

(1) FAST BREAK

(2) DAILY NEWS/CBS 2/KCAL 9 SPORTS CENTRAL POWER RANKINGS

- Brian Dohn