The Kansas City Times from Kansas City, Missouri • 35

I Wednesday January a i8i The Kanaas City Times D-3 DECADE firestone SERVICE SPECIAL tUWEEK former UCLA coach feels the major independents particularly Notre Dame and Marquette benefit from being able to arrange their schedule He was not pleased that six independent programs were ranked in the Top 20 by The Times Marquette and Notre Dame were ranked second and fourth respectively The two Catholic universities each had six first-round draft selections tying them with Indiana for the third most Another independent program South Carolina was next with five No 1 picks can see how Marquette and Notre Dame are up there but I'm not sure they should be ahead of some of these other Wooden said many times has Notre Dame been in the Final Four? Just once that I know of "The independent gets in (NCAA Tournament) on overall record so they juggle their schedule A1 McGuire who coached Mar quette to the 1976-77 national championship maintains there are equal advantages to playing in a conference "Being an independent coach sure I cupcaked my said McGuire "But I have a chance to play the worst teams in my conference either You get to play the basket cases twice "Now I believe Notre Dame could mickey-mouse its schedule anymore than UCLA They (UCLA) used to want us out there in December but they wouldn't agree to come back here (Milwaukee)" McGuire gets an argument from Packer his television broadcasting associate with NBC "It really valid to say an independent has an extreme advantage" Packer said you look closely notice that A1 would always schedule his toughest opponent away from home on the day after the (NCAA) selections were made independents programmed to play everybody Even if you look at DePaul now they only have three or four games that really are going to test them" If the major independents namely Notre Dame DePaul South Carolina and Marquette were considered a conference they would have easily finished ahead of the ACC You always have schools like Long Beach State and Southwest Louisiana what one coach termed in the pan" scoring well enough to place in the Top 20 Also scoring well were Jacksonville Memphis State and North Carolina -Charlotte "1 call them jet jobs" said McGuire great through the sound barrier (20-game-winning sea sons) They have a couple first-rounders but when they graduate they go back into limbo for a couple years "The funny-thing is a lot of schools that break through usually end up on probation a couple years later Look at Long Beach and these other places What do they have now Continued from Page D-l with ID In team competition Marquette wai the runner-up to UCLA with 94 points North Carolina was close behind with 32 points followed by Notre Dame with 30 Indiana with 27 and Kentucky with 23 Kansas had 13 points and finished in the Top 20 Word that the ACC had been judged the top conference did not set well with several coaches Wooden for one had the ACC ranked third on his list "1 think the Atlantic Coast does a tremendous job of said Wooden personally believe and gotten some of those people angry in the past the ACC is a little overrated It shows when you get in class competition like the NCAA Big 10 is a strong conference Now they also do a good job of promoting themselves but they get ridiculous about everything For the best conference I'd really have to go with the Big 10 or You might expect Billy Packer to jump out of his skin at such remarks But Packer a former player and assistant coach in the ACC acknowledges that the conference is well-publicized He even went so far as to rank the Big 10 ahead of the ACC "I would have a tendency to agree in one respect" said Packer an announcer for NBC-TV and the regional network that carries ACC games ACC is established in such a small geographic area that basically the only subject of discussion in the media "You have no professional influence between Atlanta and Washington I would also agree they have done an excellent job of promoting themselves but they also have a quality product think for a long time the Atlantic Coast Conference was the real darling But now the Big 10 has come through with such fine postseason performances that they deserve to be No What do the professionals think? Marty Blake operator of a scouting service favors the ACC He also points out at least this year the Big Eight has two potential No 1 draft picks in Rolando Blackman of Kansas State and Darnell Valentine of Kan- MS "I think (ACC) probably the strongest conference" said Blake certainly the strongest this year Out of all those clubs you really only have one weak link (Georgia Tech key is that everybody in professional basketball makes it a point to see every team in the SEC every player in the Big 10 and the ACC You also want to make a point of seeing the top independent teams Independents The mere mention of the non-affiliated schools almost launches Wooden into orbit The firestone FRONT DISC OR REAR DRUM BRAKE OVERHAUL I SHI INCLUDES: New linings or pad new 1 i front seals rebuilt cylinder or calipers IWFwk resurf nee drum or rotors repeck bear- ingm new spring kit inspect master cylinder bleed system road test Offer ends Saturday 131 AUTOMOTIVE SERVICE SPECIAL PRICE GOOD THRU SATURDAY 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use as long as vou own your car or Firestone will replace them on proof of purchase charging only for installation A All American cars except Chevrolets and compact with front wheel drive- andor MecPherson suspension Plus each Installation I firestone 36 Battery Transmission service SggRR New economically priced bettery backed in writing Great for normal service use -i cart with light to avg electrical needs Includes Well install a new transmission filter replace the pan gasket clean and inspec the oil reser voir add transmission fluid and road test your car Automatic transmission onlv FRONT WHEEL DRIVE EXTRA Maintenance Free Big Eight has had fewer No 1 draft picks fewer All-Americas and fewer teams ranked in the Top 10 During the decade the Big Eight produced just five first-team All-Americas on one team or another Kansas (three times) and Kansas State were the only teams to be ranked in the final Top 10 The most telling clue to Big Eight talent may be the NBA draft where the Big Eight was tapped for just eight first-round selections By comparison the Big 10 produced 33 first-rounders The ACC and Pac-10 accounted for 24 and 23 respectively It is also worth noting that Bob Boozer of Kansas State class of SO was the last consensus All-America According to the 1961 NCAA Basketball Records four Big Eight teams Missouri Nebraska Colorado and Iowa State have never had a consensus All-America this speculation does us no good" said Kansas State Coach Jack Hartman a can t-win situation I know what Big Eight basketball is as good as any basketball in the country "I'm not just blowing our own horn been around long enough to know have great coaches I still think the most underrated coach in the country is Hartman but basketball is really a city game" said former Marquette coach A1 McGuire now a television announcer might have a break because of St Louis But when you take those eight schools location is a problem cant recall recruiting the area You just have enough thoroughbreds in that area to feed that many IMAGE Continued from Page D-l they advanced to the National Collegiate Athletic Association Final Four think there have been conferences with more talented players" said Kansas Coach Ted Owens no question that we produced like some conferences but a conference that plays very fundamental basketball think since all the new arenas have come into the conference (five in the past decade) and what seems like a commitment from the universities our talent level has improved So at thia point we the best conference but we can still be competitive with most" There are others who contend it is just an image problem They blame the media for representing the Big Eight as simply a football conference Others point to the Big Eight region and the fact that it includes few popu lation centers In many instances the talent must be recruited from outside the conference boundaries overcoming that (image problem) a said Missouri Coach Norm Stewart 1 gave up fighting all that eight years ago If somebody doesn't think we have a good team no aense in arguing about it "What gets me is people talk about us as a football conference Well I always thought the Big Ten and SEC played pretty fair football all a question of image Everyone talks so glowingly of the ACC but they've done a nice job of promoting their best Still the Big Eight is statistically behind many major conferences The firesfone STEEL BELTED RADIAL WHITEWALLS All prices plus tax and two old tires p-iM Chosen for many of finest new cars! 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