You can phrase the question several ways, trying to offer an original view that might produce a unique reply. Never happens.

The truth is too obvious when discussing why Stanford basketball is so consistently good.

	When healthy, Julius Barnes has had plenty to smile about.

"Mike and his staff always do such a great job recruiting and on the floor," said Arizona coach Lute Olson. "They do not beat themselves. They are always so fundamentally sound. Certainly, a tremendous amount of credit should go to that coaching staff."

The Pac-10 season is just past its mid-way point and one of the more impressive runs to date belongs to the Cardinal. Mike Montgomery is in his 17th season as head coach and it's difficult to remember his team playing better when faced with so many obstacles.

Arizona has re-assumed the nation's No. 1 ranking and sits atop the league at 18-2 overall and 10-1 in conference entering the week. Cal, led by one of the country's more underrated coaches in Ben Braun, has also played awfully well to be 16-4 and 9-2.

But then you get to third-place Stanford (17-6, 8-3) and realize it remains in the race despite losing its two best players (Casey Jacobsen and Curtis Borchardt) early to the NBA and suffering the kind of injuries that might wreck the season of a lesser program.

The Cardinal lost point guard Chris Hernandez (foot) for the year after just two games and has suffered through the pains of junior forward Justin Davis (9.7 ppg, 7.7 rpg), who has missed five games. Stanford is getting consistent production from several names, notably senior guard Julius Barnes (14.9 ppg, 3.5 apg) and sophomore forward Josh Childress (14.2 ppg, 8.0 rpg).

"It really has been a resilient bunch and a fun team to coach," Montgomery said. "They really like each other and enjoy playing. We know we're not a great basketball team that has veteran, skilled players. But if we can keep squeezing out some wins, hopefully it will be enough to get us in the NCAA Tournament. That will be quite a coup for this group of kids."

Montomgery's peers will tell you he is underselling the product, that Stanford owns similar ability to past years. Jacobsen and Borchardt might have made the Cardinal a top-five team, but few in the Pac-10 are questioning the current talent.

"Those are all highly recruited kids," Olson said. "We tried to recruit a number of the Stanford players, and I think we go after the best. This is what happens when you have so many good recruiting years. You might lose a key player or two, but you have others ready to step in and do the job."

It is a conference that should send five teams to the NCAAs, one which has seen several young players on different rosters develop as the season unfolds. There is a definite gap between the top five (Arizona, Cal, Stanford, Arizona State and Oregon) and those below, but that's not to say teams like ASU or even Oregon can afford several more stumbles.

"People labeled the Pac-10 as 'down' to start the season," Oregon coach Ernie Kent said. "But as a lot of those young players have matured, you're seeing some very good teams right now. All that negative stuff that was out there early is being blown out the window."

Said ASU coach Rob Evans: "I don't hear people saying the SEC or the Big Ten is down because some of their premier teams are losing games. All I hear about them is getting five or six or seven teams in the (NCAAs). The (Pac-10) will never be down. There are too many good players and too many good coaches."

One of those programs, as usual, is coached by Montgomery.

"Coaching, hard work and continuity," said Kent of Stanford. "They know how to win and what it takes to get it done."

No matter who leaves early or gets hurt.

Games of the Week

USC at Arizona State Thursday This is an important Pac-10 game for both teams. The Trojans have won three straight, but are still 10-9 overall and 5-5 in conference. Each win is precious in terms of fighting for a post-season bid and decent conference tournament seed. ASU has the look of an NCAA Tournament team, but can't afford second-half home losses to teams it should defeat. UC Irvine at Utah State Thursday There is little breathing room in the Big West Conference, where the Aggies and UC Santa Barbara are tied for first at 8-3 and UCI sits one game back. Desmond Penigar averages a team-high 15.4 points for Utah State, while UCI is paced by Jordan Harris (11.6 ppg). UCI won the earlier meeting 75-73 in overtime. BYU at Nevada-Las Vegas Friday The second half of Mountain West play begins with the Cougars trying to stay even with Utah atop the conference standings. BYU senior wing Travis Hansen (16.4 ppg) is among the leaders for MWC Player of the Year honors. UNLV, just two days after being embarrassed at home by 25 against USC, routed host San Diego State on Tuesday. SMU at Fresno State Saturday The Bulldogs are alone atop the WAC with others in close pursuit. SMU -- led by senior Quinton Ross (20.3 ppg) -- is one of those teams. The teams met earlier this season in Dallas, with Fresno State escaping 75-73. That night, Ross missed a 3-pointer with one second remaining that would have won it for SMU.

Buzzing Atop The Mountain
The first half of Mountain West play is complete and there is no question which teams have proved themselves the best: Look to the Beehive state.

Utah and BYU enter the week tied for first with 6-1 league records, two games ahead of Wyoming and three in front of Colorado State, Nevada-Las Vegas and San Diego State.

It's an interesting dilemma for the conference, which has spent the season sitting between Nos. 6 and 8 in power ratings, often ahead of the Pac-10. Six of the league's eight teams have RPIs in the top 100 and four are in the top 60.

But should either the Cougars (RPI of 14) or Utes (RPI of 19) win the league tournament in Las Vegas, could that mean only two NCAA bids?

"In that scenario, I think it would behoove Wyoming and UNLV to finish strong and maintain RPIs in the 50s or better to make a strong case for an at-large bid," said MWC commissioner Craig Thompson. "I also think the (NCAA selection committee) might look at how those teams fare against Utah and BYU. Being ranked among the top six or seven conferences is a very good thing, but I think (at-large NCAA bids) will have more to do with individual RPIs."

Translation: To again secure three NCAA spots, the conference likely needs a repeat of last year, when fifth-place SDSU won three tournament games and the automatic bid.

Crazy things are happening in the conference. For one, road teams are 13-15 in a league whose best record by teams on opposing conference floors is 19-37 in 2000. Overall, the fourth-year conference is 52-116 in league road affairs.

What does it mean? A wild second half.

"BYU and Utah are in the NCAA Tournament unless either has a major collapse," said New Mexico coach Ritchie McKay. "And they have too many good players and their coaching is too good for that to happen. So now it is up to everyone else to try and figure out ways to compete with them."

WAC's Top Dogs
Keith Richard says you can forget about conference tournament seedings and specific matchups and this team and that team and so on. It won't matter.

"This league is too balanced," said the Louisiana Tech coach. "Regardless of who you are playing, home or away, no score is surprising. But you really have to give Fresno State a lot of credit. Everybody keeps waiting for them to slip up, and it hasn't happened.

"There's a reason for that. They're very good."

The Bulldogs have indeed proved to be the WAC's best so far, sitting alone in first with a record of 17-4 overall and 10-2 in conference. Nevada -- winner of five straight entering the week -- is in second at 13-8 and 8-3.

But like the Mountain West, earning more than two NCAA seeds could be tricky for the WAC. The league has only three teams in the top 100 of RPI this week and its leading representative (Fresno State) is at 58.

"In looking at the top 10 conferences, it has become more and more difficult for any team to run the table," said WAC commissioner Karl Benson. "Kentucky is unbeaten in conference, but that's it among the top 10 leagues.

"With six to eight games remaining, our race is still in the hands of seven teams. That makes for a great last month of the season and a very, very unpredictable conference tournament. It's not unreasonable to think the WAC champion could have four or five losses."

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