ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, February 16, 1997 TAG: 9702180032
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: JACK BOGACZYK
DATELINE: HARRISONBURG
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK
Even for Lefty Driesell, this has been a hair-raising basketball season in the Colonial Athletic Association.
Nothing is easy. At the Convocation Center on Saturday, James Madison took a deep breath after blowing most of a 12-point lead with 1:05 remaining in a 63-60 victory over icy-shooting East Carolina, which was without two starters.
``I'm not sure there's such a thing as an upset in our league anymore,'' Virginia Commonwealth coach Sonny Smith said this past week. ``Anybody can beat anybody, and has.''
JMU coach Driesell, asked about a league race tighter than his tie knot, said, ``I don't care about the other teams. If I did, I'd probably be a basket case. I hope the other eight lose every game.''
Even in the CAA, that's impossible. What is possible is a five-way tie of 10-6 records for the regular-season title.
An inquiring mind at the ``Driesell Dome'' asked young East Carolina coach Joe Dooley who would win the CAA tournament title.
``Put the names in a hat and pick one,'' he answered.
Someone has to win three consecutive games at the Richmond Coliseum in two weekends to get the league's only NCAA Tournament bid. Now, six teams are no worse than one loss off the league lead.
The CAA hasn't gotten an at-large NCAA berth since David Robinson's junior year at then-CAA champ Navy, when Richmond also made the field. It might have happened again this year for a league that has only two NCAA victories in the eight seasons since the Spiders' Dick Tarrant-guided run to the Sweet 16.
The conference's power rating never has been as high as its No.11 in the Ratings Percentage Index two weeks ago (12th this past week).
The CAA members have only hurt one another, however. In the most recent RPI, only ECU (81st) was among the top 110. The Pirates, after losing 6-foot-11 center Jonathan Kerner to a broken left hand in Wednesday's overtime loss to VCU, have that sinking feeling.
In the league's previous 14 seasons - beginning as the ECAC South - no regular-season champ has had more than four defeats. Heading into Saturday night's loss to Richmond, North Carolina-Wilmington (now 15-11 overall, 9-5 conference) owned the CAA lead.
The Seahawks were sixth in the preseason poll. Old Dominion, considered to have the CAA's best talent, is in the middle of the nine-team pack, and in a February funk.
Last-place George Mason has beaten Wilmington. William and Mary swept a pair from Old Dominion. James Madison ripped ODU in January, then two nights later was humbled by eighth-place Richmond.
The gone-soft Monarchs had lost seven of nine before beating VCU on Saturday night in Norfolk. There's talk in the league that coach Jeff Capel has lost his frustrated team.
However, the Monarchs finish the season with four consecutive home games, and in the CAA, only East Carolina (6-5) has a winning record on the road.
``On media day before the season, I said any of the nine teams could win this thing and everybody laughed at me,'' said Smith, who wasn't ripping off one of his many one-liners then. ``Well, seven of them still [have a legitimate chance] in my opinion.''
Ask a Colonist who's going to win the tournament title and most will point to VCU, which took a seven-game winning streak to Norfolk before falling to Old Dominion and has center George Byrd back from a broken left foot. The Rams also get the CAA tournament on their home floor.
JMU's talent ranks second in the league only to that of Old Dominion. The Dukes have the league's most athletic club, but have no perimeter game and are bothered by zone defenses.
American, which has been surprisingly competitive, probably isn't quite good enough to save coach Chris Knoche's job. He's joined on the CAA coaching hot seat by George Mason's Paul Westhead and Richmond's Bill Dooley.
W&M coach Charlie Woollum's inside-out offense - he posts up his guards and has big men shooting 3-pointers to confound zone defenses - can create problems, although the Tribe is hitting less than 40 percent from the field for the season.
Wilmington has no depth and is the league's worst rebounding club, but it controls tempo, plays great defense and has the league's best coach in Jerry Wainwright. If the Seahawks win the CAA tournament, they will be the fifth champ in five years.
JMU still must visit Old Dominion. Wilmington has dates left with VCU and East Carolina. A 10-6 record may get the top seed for the tournament, where only once in 14 years has a team seeded worse than second - No.7 ECU in '93 - won the title.
In the CAA this season, such a recurrence really wouldn't be considered March madness.
LENGTH: Medium: 88 linesby CNB