Columnist Ron Kantowski: Pitching Nicholls at the Mack

Wednesday, Nov. 21, 2001 | 10:30 a.m.

Ron Kantowski's column usually appears Thursday. Reach him at ron@lasvegassun.com or 259-4088. Regular columnist Dean Juipe is on vacation.

Midway through the first half of Tuesday's UNLV basketball game against Nicholls State, it occurred to me that had I had worn my Converse All-Stars to the game, Charlie Spoonhour might have put me into it for a couple of minutes.

And I definitely could have launched a couple of 3-pointers for Nicholls State, which brought only eight players -- or at least guys in uniform -- to Tuesday's game, won by the Rebels 97-54.

For years I have waffled over what UNLV's nonconference scheduling philosophy should be.

Fans, of course, would like to watch the Rebels square off against Duke, Michigan State, Kansas and/or any other heavyweight which isn't hooping it up in Hawaii or Alaska this week.

The media falls somewhere in between. Personally, for every Duke or Michigan State UNLV plays, I have allowed it one Nicholls State or Florida Atlantic. But after doing time at Tuesday night's scrimmage, perhaps that should be appended to Baylor or Washington State -- you know, the kind of teams you'll beat easily at home, but at least of which you've heard.

I used to think coaches also strived for a scheduling mix of biggie fries and small potatoes, but now I'm not so sure. After all, how many teams make it into the NCAA Tournament without 20 wins? And coaches who go 22-8 by playing patsies usually last a lot longer than ones who give it the old college try against Duke and Michigan State.

Somewhere, there has to be a middle ground when it comes to making UNLV's nonconference schedule, and I believe the Rebels should take their cue from our local sports books.

UNLV should only be allowed to play schools for which the books have one of those permanent plastic placards that are used on the betting boards. Any schools that must be written in with Magic Marker should be immediately rejected from scheduling consideration.

Goodbye Nicholls State, Georgia Southern, Tennessee State and Florida International.

Wisconsin, Washington and DePaul can stay, of course, along with the two perennial top-25 teams UNLV will face this year, Cincinnati and Texas.

UAB is kind of middle-of-the-road, but I don't have a problem with playing the Blazers. Too bad Gene Bartow retired 20 years ago. Loyola-Marymount, your days are numbered, unless Bo Kimble somehow gains a fifth year of eligibility and Paul Westhead returns to the only place he was liked by his players.

Until last year, when Nevada-Reno embarrassed Bill Bayno's last UNLV team, the series between the in-state rivals seemed to be getting old and tiresome. Now I suppose we're stuck with the Wolf Pack for a while.

Thankfully, Nicholls State has no plans to relocate to Sparks, so the Rebels should be able to get the Colonels off the docket soon. Like tomorrow.

In retrospect, Spoonhour would have gained more by yanking his starters off the floor and totally out of the building by halftime. He could have sent them down to Valley High, where Oklahoma State, Providence, TCU and UTEP were running up and down the court at the blandly named (and played) Las Vegas Tournament, with simple instructions.

"We got next."