Gene Bartow, the former UCLA and UAB coach who died last week, will be missed by all of us. I don’t think Gene knew the word stranger. We became best friends when I was a young high school coach. I solicited advice from Gene when we were both speaking at a coaches clinic in 1971 and it was amazing how gracious he was to spend time with a no-name. This is something that many college coaches simply don’t do.
My wife and I stayed close with the Bartows for over 40 years. We competed against each other yet always maintained our genuine friendship — even though he snookered me out of a point one game! We went in at halftime one point ahead, but when the second half started, the score was tied. When I confronted the official, he said that Gene said one of his baskets was a 3-pointer. When I objected, the official said, “Aw Bill, you know Gene wouldn’t lie about that!” We had many laughs about that over the years.
The First Time Since…
How about Kevin Willard’s Seton Hall squad? The Pirates entered the AP rankings at #24 — the first time they’ve been ranked since January 30th, 2001 when they checked in at #22. Only seven other major conference teams have had longer droughts: Colorado (March 11th, 1997), Oregon State (March 13th, 1990), DePaul (November 21st, 2000), Rutgers (March 13th, 1979), Penn State (March 12th, 1996), Nebraska (January 2nd, 1995) and South Florida, who have NEVER been ranked.
Way Out West
Let’s watch how Oregon State performs on the road this week in the Pac-12 after dropping that four-overtime thriller to Stanford. The Beavers are in Tucson to play Arizona first and then head up the highway to take on Arizona State. Staying in the Pac-12, some experts are saying it’s a one-bid league this year, but I look for at least three teams. Arizona, Cal and Stanford are in right now because of RPI and schedule. In addition, UCLA is capable of winning the Pac-12 Tourney and you shouldn’t count out Washington just yet.
Big Games
There are many big games this week, starting with Baylor (15-0) at Kansas State (12-2) tonight. Frank Martin’s team handed Missouri its first loss of the season last week and are looking to repeat the feat — and the Wildcats are mighty tough to beat in Manhattan. Prior to Martin’s arrival, K-State had not been to the NCAA Tournament since 1996 and had not won a tourney game since 1988. Martin has five wins in the Big Dance in the last three years. Other games to keep an eye on this week: Virginia at Duke on Thursday and UNLV at San Diego State on Saturday.
Final Thought
Pitt has dropped four in a row and hosts streaky Rutgers on Wednesday. It’s a very important game because Marquette, Syracuse and Louisville follow. Good luck to the Panthers.
– Bill Frieder
Former Michigan and Arizona State head coach Bill Frieder is an analyst for Westwood One’s coverage of NCAA Basketball. In his weekly blog Boxed Out, Bill scours the box scores to bring you interesting stories from the world of college basketball.
