Columnist Steve Carp: Cupcakes not so sweet for New Mexico’s Bliss

Steve Carp

Friday, Dec. 4, 1998 | 10:52 a.m.

Steve Carp's college basketball notebook appears Friday. reach him at carp@lasvegassun.com or 259-4087.

So, you think it's easy to put a college basketball schedule together?

Play too many tough games and you'll pay dearly come March when Selection Sunday rolls around. Despite a decent Ratings Percentage Index, your record's 16-13 and you're NIT-bound.

Play too many cupcakes and you get crucified by the fans and media alike. Your RPI is bogus and you, too, are in the NIT with a 20-9 record. And heaven forbid you should trip and fall against one of those easy touches on your slate. People are looking for a rope to hang you.

Ask Eddie Sutton, who figured he had a gimmee the other night when Oklahoma State hosted Florida Atlantic, which sounds like a subsidiary of AT&T. Or Memphis' Tic Price, who had to believe he had a "W" locked up when the Tigers met Gonzaga. And certainly, Michigan's Brian Ellerbee wasn't expecting a season-opening ambush when the Wolverines played Florida International.

But those easy marks turned out to be bitter pills to swallow. Which proves there are no locks, though it's safe to say there are more results like UNLV burying Sacred Heart than Florida Atlantic nipping Oklahoma State.

Which brings us to Albuquerque and New Mexico's Dave Bliss. The veteran coach is without his best player, senior center Kenny Thomas. So Bliss did some major juggling to the Lobos' schedule, opting to take on the tougher foes later in the season when Thomas returns to the court in two weeks, instead of the traditional route of getting the tough games out of the way first.

New Mexico will play Washington Dec. 24 and Arizona Jan. 16 as well as the annual home-and-home with New Mexico State Jan. 2 at The Pit and Jan. 19 at the Pan American Center.

But it's the games against Cornell, Arkansas-Pine Bluff and McNeese State that have some Lobos fans rankled. Henry "Kiki" Saavedra, a New Mexico state representative and a staunch supporter of UNM, recently ripped Bliss and the university for the weak schedule. Other politicians have chimed in and there has been open criticism of Bliss.

Bliss defends himself by saying this was all pre-arranged to accommodate Thomas, who is sitting out the first six games in a deal he made with the NCAA over his freshman eligibility.

So the Lobos are undefeated at 5-0. But it's with a caveat. It's more akin to Air Force's caliber of competition than Utah's.

Made for TV

One way to improve a schedule is to get involved with a televised doubleheader such as the just-concluded Great Eight from Chicago. This weekend happens to feature two such events -- the doubleheader at America West Arena which features UNLV vs. Arizona State and Wyoming against Arizona and the John Wooden Classic at the Pond in Anaheim which has UCLA meeting Oklahoma State and Kansas against Pepperdine.

The problem is even with a growing number of such events, there aren't enough to satisfy the demands of programs that need to be hooked up in RPI-builder contests.

So if you are Iowa State and you get a chance to play Arizona on national TV, you take it, even if it means coming to Las Vegas to do it. The Cyclones and Wildcats meet in the first half of the third Las Vegas Shootout next Saturday with UNLV meeting Cincinnati in the nightcap on ESPN.

Evans not rushing

When Rob Evans left the successful program at Mississippi to rebuild Arizona State, he knew it wouldn't come without some growing pains.

Sure enough, the Sun Devils are 2-4 headed into Saturday's game with UNLV. Two of the losses have come to Utah and Kansas State while the others were to underrated Northern Arizona and most recently, to New Orleans on Tuesday, 53-47 on the Sun Devils' home court, Wells Fargo Arena.

Evans said he has no secret formula for putting his stamp on a program that overachieved at 18-14 last year while still trying to cleanse itself of the stench of a federal point-shaving probe going back five seasons.

"It's a two-way street," he said. "I'm pretty straightforward to figure out."

Evans, who posted an 86-81 record in six seasons at Ole Miss, said there are similarities between the two programs.

"At both places, we were dealing with limited experience when we first got there," he said. "The players were down.

"But it's a new challenge -- to rebuild the image of the university and the program. The thing that's impressed me is the commitment, not just to basketball, but to athletics.

"There is some talent here at ASU. And with the facilities and support, it gives you a chance to compete."

There is talent. But not all of it is on the floor at the moment. The Sun Devils are struggling in part due to the absence of 6-foot-8 senior forward Mike Batiste, their best player, who is not eligible until Dec. 19. It means forward Bobby Lazor has to take on more of the burden along with guard Eddie House.

"We have limited experience. Mike's not being here is huge," Evans said. "But one of the challenges is how we can get our guys to compete. I tell my kids, 'You can't be Michael Jordan. But you can play and practice as hard as Michael Jordan.' "

The Fraud Five

Please welcome Oklahoma State to this week's Fraud Five. And say goodbye, begrudgingly and for the moment, to Tennessee, which managed to eke out a win over Memphis.

1. Temple (4-2) -- Losing to Penn is bad enough. But to Penn State, too?

2. Oklahoma State (4-1) -- Next time, Eddie Sutton should pass on the cupcakes.

3. Massachusetts (1-2) -- Maybe Minutemen can beat Marshall Saturday.

4. UCLA (3-2) -- Can Baron Davis jump-start the Bruins?

5. Air Force (5-0) -- They beat Regis. Where's Kathie Lee?

Hoop du jour

The Atlantic Coast Conference loves to boast that it leads the nation. But isn't starting the league schedule the first week of December a bit extreme? Virginia already lost to Florida State and Duke meets North Carolina State Saturday. ... After losing to Rhode Island Wednesday, Utah is sitting at 3-3. The Utes lost only four games all of last year. Think Rick Majerus doesn't miss Michael Doleac and Drew Hansen? ... WAC Game of the Week -- Colorado State vs. Utah State Saturday in Logan. Stew Morrill, who has the Aggies undefeated at 5-0, goes up against his old school, CSU. ... Finally, from the "Who Cares?" Department, Rollie Massimino earned his 450th career coaching victory Tuesday when Cleveland State beat Brown, 84-54. Maybe His Rollieness can use some of that thousand bucks a day UNLV's paying him to throw himself a party in Cleveland's Little Italy.