Conference USA's divisions have always been more lopsided than Quasimodo. The American is the power, the National is the pigeon.

It's been that way since the league evolved from three divisions to two in 1997, and it will finally lead to the league to a single division next year. But first, we have a last season with Tower of Pisa tilt.

Maybe the most unbalanced ever -- which saying something, considering that in 1998-99 the American went 27-9 against the National.

	Leonard Stokes is a new go-to guy at Cincy, but the Bearcats are in a familiar spot atop C-USA.

There have been 10 interdivisional games so far this year. The American has won nine of them. The National's one shining moment has been a victory by Houston over American cellar-dweller Saint Louis.

Given Memphis' recent fainting spell and the failure of any other team to assert itself among C-USA's southern half, it's time to focus on the league's power structure.

This is a three-team conference, all located on the American side: Louisville, Marquette and Cincinnati.

Let the round-robin between them begin.

None has played each other yet, but they can avoid it no longer. The Golden Eagles (14-3, 6-1) visit the Bearcats (13-4, 6-1) Saturday in a resumption of the most physical rivalry in the league. (Keep an eye in particular on how the Eagles interact with Cincy strongman Jason Maxiell, who engaged in some cheap tactics against Marquette last year in the league tournament championship game.)

"It's been one of the premier rivalries in a league that has quite a few," said Marquette coach Tom Crean. "Each team knows the other is going to bring their best effort."

After that test of wills, Cincinnati heads 100 miles down Interstate 71 next Wednesday to play hot-as-blazes Louisville (15-1, 6-0). The Cardinals complete Round One of the showdown series Feb. 15 at Marquette.

Then they'll all do it again in the season's final three weeks to decide the league crown before reporting to the conference tournament in Louisville.

The Bearcats are perhaps the most surprising member of the Big Three, despite having at least shared the C-USA title in each of the seven years of its existence. With a team that was far too easy to defend, Cincy looked especially vulnerable during the pre-conference season in losses to Dayton, Xavier and Clemson.

But the Cincinnati signature under Bob Huggins has always been grinding defense, and this team is living up to the rep by holding opponents to less than 58 points per game and 39 percent shooting. That will make up for a multitude of sins, among them weak interior production and the absence of a point guard that can break down a defense.

"They play hard," Huggins said. "To say they play the way I want them to play is a stretch. But they are playing hard."

The Bearcats have been aided by a merciful early schedule, playing seve C-USA opponents with a combined 12-25 league record. But the next four games include two on the road (Louisville and Charlotte) and two rough ones at home (No. 16 Marquette and No. 11 Oklahoma State).

If Cincy hasn't lost at least a couple of those by mid-February, Huggins might be on his way to Coach of the Year honors -- especially given his near-death experience last fall.

But to get there he'll need something from a group of post players that has failed to produce alongside Maxiell. Huggins has whipped five different guys into the middle to see if they can alleviate the pressure on slasher Leonard Stokes, spot-up shooter Field Williams and athletic power forward Maxiell. Each has been met with limited success.

"You keep throwing guys out there until somebody does something positive," Huggins said. "... All of them have had moments.

"The honest to God truth is, they're not good enough to be receivers at this level. They've got to be pitchers instead of catchers. They've got to get it to our better players."

At point guard, Huggins has at least seemed to make his peace with senior Taron Barker as his guy. Barker is something of a low-risk/low-reward player, unable to zip through a defense, but also a fairly solid protector of the rock. Other than a one-game blip against Oregon (29 points), much-touted junior-college transfer Tony Bobbitt has shot miserably (6.7 ppg, 37.4 percent). Freshman Chadd Moore has likewise had a moment or two that hints at his potential, but not enough of them.

For Marquette, the challenge may be less about Cincinnati than Life After Cincinnati.

Crean has put the bullseye on the Bearcats as the team for his program to aspire to beat. It has worked impressively, but also had its drawbacks.

Marquette is a very respectable 3-4 against Cincy under Crean, becoming the first C-USA program ever to hang three straight losses on the Bearcats. But the Eagles also have turned in four fatally flat performance in the game after The Game.

In 2000, Marquette followed a 12-point loss to Cincy with a 15-point loss to Saint Louis. In 2001 it followed a huge win over Cincy with a 30-point loss to North Carolina.

Last year Marquette lost to the Bearcats by a point in C-USA's Game of the Year in Cincinnati -- then followed with an upset loss at East Carolina. And after that heated C-USA tourney-title loss, the Eagles were upset in the NCAA Tournament's first round by Tulsa.

This time around, the Golden Eagles would definitely appear to have the talent advantage. Sophomore shooter Todd Townsend hit four of five 3s in a defeat of DePaul on Saturday, signalling that he might be ready to give Crean a fifth reliable piece of the puzzle.

The other four have been pretty solid: center Robert Jackson is the low-post offensive presence, power forward Scott Merritt is increasing his assertiveness, point guard Travis Diener is shooting less and enjoying it more, and Dwyane Wade is Dwyane Wade.

"There's not any question he's the best player in our league," Huggins said of Wade, "and probably one of the best players ever in our league."

Wade has been good enough to start receiving serious consideration for the wide-open national player of the year race. The 6-5 junior is the league's leading scorer at 23.2 ppg, but he's also averaging 2.2 steals per game. He had a personal-best seven against DePaul, which Crean adored.

"That just makes him that much more of an elite player, because of the hustle and effort at both ends of the floor," Crean said.

Wade's only competition for Player of the Year in conference is Louisville's Reece Gaines, whose switch from shooting guard to point guard earlier this season has triggered the Cardinals' burst into the top 10. Gaines isn't scoring quite as much as last year, but that's because of Marvin Stone's presence and the change in his own job description.

"Reece went from being one of the nation's best scoring guards to changing his whole mental approach to the game," Louisville head coach Rick Pitino said. "He had to become a point and get other people their shots. .... When I did that, we became a better team."

Pitino made the move to Gaines after he realized that none of the three point guards on his roster were nearly as good as the 6-6 senior. He not only put his best player at the point, but the move freed up more minutes on the wings for outstanding freshmen Taquan Dean and Francisco Garcia.

He likened it to his decision two games into the 1995-96 season at Kentucky to move Tony Delk to shooting guard and insert Anthony Epps at point. That team tore off 27 consecutive wins on its way to a dominating national title run.

So far Louisville's win streak is 14. But the round-robin games that will decide Conference USA are just coming up.

Games of the Week

Marquette at Cincinnati Saturday Three Toughman contests between these two teams were the highlight of last year's C-USA season. They'll have a lot to do with the title chase this year, too. Indiana at Louisville Saturday Two teams going in opposite directions at this point. Hoosiers have been banged up and shut down on the perimeter. If Bracey Wright isn't ready to go, the Hoosiers will face a very difficult task. Southern Miss at Memphis Saturday Rematch of the game that began the Tigers' slide, a shocking 17-point loss in Hattiesburg. Florida at Kentucky Feb. 4 Game of the Year so far in the SEC and the renewal of the league's marquee rivalry in recent years. Winner takes a step toward the league title and strengthens its early argument for a No. 1 NCAA seed.

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