Columnist Dean Juipe: Pollsters not excited by Rebels

Dean Juipe

Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2000 | 9:56 a.m.

Dean Juipe's column appears Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. His boxing notebook appears Thursday. Reach him at juipe@lasvegassun.com or 259-4084.

It's a matter of perspective.

In Las Vegas, big things are expected this season from the UNLV basketball team.

But elsewhere, arguably in less biased jurisdictions, the Rebels are merely an afterthought.

Look at their position, or lack of it, in the season-opening polls.

The Associated Press ranks 25 teams in its weekly poll but lists all others receiving votes. If its poll included all teams getting votes, UNLV would come in at a lowly No. 57.

The ESPN/USA Today coaches' poll follows a similar format and the Rebels, again receiving only a few votes, are perceived to be only the 50th best team in the nation.

The various basketball magazines have the Rebels settling in at No. 35, give or take.

Any way you look at it, those forecasts are not particularly laudable and they certainly don't mesh with how Las Vegans are approaching the season.

But there's a reason for the outsiders' ambivalence toward the Rebels. Several reasons, in fact, although each with one thing in common.

Quite simply, when UNLV was on the national stage last season it not only lost but lost big. The Rebels may have gone 23-8 and claimed the Mountain West regular-season and tournament championships, yet those outside the league can only recall UNLV's dismal showings against North Carolina, Oklahoma State, Cincinnati and, in the NCAA Tournament, Tulsa.

North Carolina led the Rebels by 13 at the half and won by 24; Oklahoma State rallied from a two-point halftime deficit to win by 14; Cincinnati led by 21 at the half and won by 40; and Tulsa, much to UNLV's collective embarrassment, led by 22 at the half and won by 27.

Factor in one-sided, season-ending losses in 1999 (by 13 to Nebraska in the NIT), in 1998 (by 12 to Princeton in the NCAAs) and in 1997 (by 13 to Arkansas in the NIT) and most people without a Nevada address fail to see any improvements here during the Bill Bayno era.

Even within the conference skeptics remain, as UNLV is tabbed for only a third-place finish in the Mountain West this season.

Yet those in attendance Tuesday night at the Thomas & Mack Center not only saw the Rebels toy with the semipro Delta Jammers, they were anxious for a little reassurance. They wanted to feel there's more of a reason for optimism this season than the rest of the country is letting on.

The small election-night crowd was likely appeased.

The Rebels return four starters, have a very strong front line and a potentially unstoppable -- at least some nights -- center in Kaspars Kambala. There's talent and there's depth.

It's an athletic team with sufficient diversity. It's also strong enough that swingman Lou Kelly, who was trumpeted as the program's savior as recently as a year ago, may serve the team best in a supporting role.

If the Rebels play to their obvious potential, they should find their way into the top 25. Early season tests against Illinois, Oklahoma State and Cincinnati will suffice as a barometer.

As far as the team's fans are concerned, the time has come to win a few of those crucial, national, games.

It's time for the Rebels to do something about their reputation.