Pulling off the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic and the Bracket Buster events for next season was quite remarkable, even though there are some flaws with the latter.

Regardless of who isn't in either event, the format for both should stay the same in what should become annual events during the season. If they don't last, then coaches who squawk about not getting into the NCAA Tournament should check their whining at the door after they lose in their conference tournament. And their survival will be based on whether or not high-profile coaches and programs are willing to play in the CVC and, to some extent, some mid-major programs willing to play a February non-conference game in the Bracket Buster.

	Oklahoma's Hollis Price will be one of the marquee players at the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic.

Road and neutral site games against quality opponents are a must for judging whether or not a team is worthy of the tournament, aside from a strong showing in its respective conference.

The consensus was that the CVC wouldn't happen when Judge Edmund A. Sargus ruled against the CVC's organizer, the Gazelle Group, and its other plaintiffs in their attempt to get a permanent injunction to reverse the 2-in-4 rule last month. If the rule had been reversed, the CVC tournament would have been a four-team event with Texas, Alabama, Syracuse and Marquette -- four teams, two games in two nights at Madison Square Garden and the national stage when no one else is playing. But Texas, Alabama and Marquette were all ineligible to play in an exempted event once the ruling came down. They were only allowed two appearances in four years, something they had already fulfilled in the previous two seasons.

Rick Giles of the Gazelle Group wasn't sure he could convince three other teams, let alone seven, to play one or two games and have the games count against a team's maximum 28 regular-season games. Getting high-profile programs to commit to two games at any time is a reach. Trying to see if they have two open games in late July is implausible.

But just when it seemed that there wasn't any faith in coaches actually taking their teams on the road for neutral site games early in the season to places other than Maui and Alaska, seven coaches (Syracuse was already in the field because it had been grandfathered in) came through for the event and for college basketball.

Would the sport have survived in 2002-03 without an eight-team CVC? Of course. Should these coaches, ADs, schools be given a plaque for this good deed? No. But they at least didn't duck a chance to get challenged at the beginning of the season on a neutral court. A number of programs are under the financial burden of having to play a majority of home games to support other sports at the school. They have to choose their road games carefully and usually aren't willing to take more than two. Sometimes that includes a neutral site game.

"There's a fine line in scheduling, especially in the first semester with exams and trying to balance home and road games,'' Oklahoma coach Kelvin Sampson said. "But most of the coaches going I would think would want to play two games. I'm not thrilled to play one game. I'd rather play two and have a doubleheader atmosphere at the Garden each night.''

And that's why Sampson's teams have been known for being tough. He's willing to take on anyone, at any time. The decision for the Sooners to switch CVC opponents, from Georgia to Alabama, was made at the highest level in the university because of the recruitment of incoming freshman Larry Turner. Turner was originally denied admission at Georgia but was NCAA eligible and will be a freshman at Oklahoma. Turner's test was in question when he came out of high school but he had since earned a qualifying test score. Oklahoma will also play Mississippi State in New Orleans and Michigan State in Oklahoma City, a neutral court but not a neutral site.

The matchup with Alabama is still a marquee event on Nov. 14 with both teams expected to be consensus top-10 teams. The under card that night is hardly a pushover with Syracuse playing Memphis. The Orangemen have two of the nation's most awaited newcomers in Carmelo Anthony and Billy Edelin, while Memphis is trying to recover from losing Dajuan Wagner after one season.

The second night pits Villanova and its heralded newcomer class -- headlined by local favorite Jason Fraser -- against Marquette and returning likely All-American Dwyane Wade. The nightcap is another top-10 matchup with Georgia and Texas. The Bulldogs have the Hayes twins, Jarvis and Jonas, to muscle the Longhorns, while Texas boasts sophomore T.J.Ford, considered by many as the top returning point guard in the nation.

There won't be a third night with four games of winners and losers, but maybe that could be added to the event down the line. Neutral site games mirror the NCAA Tournament, be it in November, December or January. Playing at least one or two should be a necessity for programs to gauge just how good they are and whether or not they've been tested.

Playing true road games is the ultimate barometer and something that a number of mid-majors, for lack of a better word, need against another quality opponent in February.

	“	The hardest thing in college basketball is to win on the road. Hopefully playing competitive games will give (the committee) a real barometer to show how good these teams really are. ”
		— Gonzaga coach Mark Few

The Bracket Buster's intent is to provide a quality non-conference game in the middle of conference season. Teams like Butler can lose power rating points by playing Youngstown State in February. The new event's concept is good, but some of the more recognizable teams, or at least teams that should be bracket busters, are noticeably absent.

This event should be for teams that have a legitimate chance to get in as an at-large team. Not having teams from the America East isn't a problem, considering that league has almost no shot to get a team in as an at-large. Not including teams out of the MAAC or the Northeast wasn't shocking, either. But the Bracket Buster shouldn't have gone four deep in the Missouri Valley or MAC, let alone three deep in the Horizon League -- and that's without Butler.

Teams like Pepperdine, Butler, Penn, Ohio, Wyoming and Dayton, should have been included, and they almost were, to make this event truly live up to its name.

The Bracket Buster wouldn't have happened without the WAC's presence, which gave it at least a high-profile team like Tulsa in the field. Getting Gonzaga in the mix was a must, too, or else it might not have flied. It was easy, at this late stage, to include the already scheduled Tulsa at Gonzaga game. The only hitch was moving the game to February and making accommodations in the WAC and WCC schedules.

The other predetermined home teams are Creighton (MVC), Southern Illinois (MVC), Western Kentucky (Sun Belt), UC Santa Barbara (Big West), Marshall (MAC), Kent State (MAC), Illinois-Chicago (Horizon) and Louisiana Tech (WAC). The road teams joining Tulsa will be Ball State (MAC), Bowling Green (MAC), Northern Iowa (MVC), Illinois State (MVC), Hawaii (WAC), Fresno State (WAC), UW-Milwaukee (Horizon) and Detroit (Horizon).

The rest of the matchups will be determined on Feb. 1 or 3, with a committee made up of the conference commissioners involved and ESPN programming. Obviously, the best matchups will be paired together for the five televised games. And, of course, it is a guessing game at this juncture. But there are simply too many teams from the Valley and Horizon.

Wyoming and BYU were interested in the event had it lost Gonzaga. The Bracket Buster even contacted Xavier, but there was no talk of Dayton or anyone else in the Atlantic 10. No offense, but we'll be shocked if Northern Iowa, UW-Milwaukee, Illinois State, Marshall, Fresno State and Illinois-Chicago get into the 2003 tournament as at-large teams come March.

Pepperdine was contacted but chose not to attend because the Waves didn't want to alter their non-conference schedule, according to WCC commissioner Michael Gilleran.

	For some reason, Penn wasn't considered a "Bracket Buster".

Butler coach Todd Lickliter said the timing was off for the Bulldogs. Butler is already playing at Duke (in the Rainbow Classic in Hawaii), Saint Louis and even Bracket Buster member Ball State. But Lickliter didn't want to add another game in February. Lickliter said he doesn't want to jeopardize his team's chances of winning the Horizon League tournament after failing to get an NCAA bid once the Bulldogs lost in the first round of the 2002 conference tournament.

"I understand the benefits and would like to do it, but I couldn't make it work,'' Lickliter said. "There are too many conflicts and we would have had to move conference games and in our new conference tournament (where the top seeds are protected), seeding is vital.''

Missouri Valley commissioner Doug Elgin said the organizers tried to get "in the ears" of some of the top teams in these leagues to hold a game. He said he considered six or seven MVC teams for the four spots his league garnered. Ohio, a preseason pick to finish in the top two in the MAC, couldn't fit it in its schedule. The Bobcats play host to Virginia Feb. 26, giving them a marquee non-conference game in the middle of the conference season. Their argument is that they didn't need another four days earlier.

Penn wasn't contacted.

"We had no idea and maybe they assumed we weren't good enough or thought the league wouldn't change our dates in our (Ivy) Friday-Saturday schedule,'' Penn coach Fran Dunphy said.

But the Quakers are a borderline top-25 team next season and, coincidentally after scheduling its Big Five games (six with Drexel), Penn State, Lafayette, American, Delaware and road games at Providence and USC, the Quakers still need another game.

"We'll go anywhere,'' Dunphy said.

The event should still be a hit in the middle of February. It's a gamble for teams that will be on the fence if they lose but should give the top teams like Southern Illinois another quality win if it comes against say a team like Hawaii.

"It should be more valuable to play Tulsa, Ball State or Kent State than going .500 or less in the ACC,'' Gonzaga coach Mark Few said. "The hardest thing in college basketball is to win on the road. Hopefully playing competitive games will give (the committee) a real barometer to show how good these teams really are.''

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