THE ELEVATOR

Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2006 | 7:12 a.m.

GOING UP

UNLV's GPA

According to the latest NCAA figures, 54 percent of UNLV student-athletes who entered school in 1999-00 graduated, compared with just 30 percent in 1995-96 and 33 percent in 1996-97. But the football team still stinks.

Wink Adams' jump shot

During last week's Legends game, Thomas & Mack public address announcer Dick Calvert told the crowd that ex-Rebel Reggie Manuel never met a 3-point shot he didn't like. I think he had Manuel confused with Wink Adams. Three nights later, the current UNLV point guard launched a jump shot from Whiskey Pete's in Mesquite with more than 20 seconds showing on the shot clock. It went in. And Adams was fouled. His 4-point play broke a tie and put the Rebels ahead to stay against Hawaii.

Betting odds on the new NBA ball

At Intertops.com, you can wager on whether the NBA keeps its slick (literal) new ball (1-to-3) made of composite material or dumps it for old-school leather (2-to-1). More important, you can get 31-to-1 on K-Fed being granted spousal support and sole custody of his and Britney's rug rats.

GOING DOWN

New Arco Arena

A funding plan for a new basketball arena in Sacramento failed so spectacularly - eight of 10 voters rejected it - that pundits are wondering whether the Maloof brothers, who own the NBA Kings, purposefully sabotaged the election because they prefer a new arena be built somewhere else. Like in the parking lot of the Palms, for instance. "We've said all along that we wanted to stay here," Gavin Maloof told the Sacramento Bee, supposedly without winking or crossing his fingers behind his back.

CSTV

In his remarks before Saturday's Air Force-Notre Dame football game, CSTV's Trev Alberts referred to Notre Dame quarterback Brady Quinn as Tom Brady. That's OK, Trev, it was only CSTV. Nobody in Las Vegas, San Diego or South Bend saw it.

Time of possession

It's too bad the Air Force-Notre Dame game wasn't available in Las Vegas, San Diego or South Bend because then football fans in those cities could see what an overrated statistic time of possession truly is. The Falcons had the ball for nearly 39 minutes to the Irish's 21. During one sequence, Air Force ran 34 consecutive plays. Notre Dame won, 39-17.