Southwest Conference

The Cougars feature All-American candidate and quite frankly the best power forward in the country in senior Elvin Hayes.  The Big E defines the back to the basket big man with his signature turn around jump shot and ability to score against just about anyone.  Hayes is also a terrific rebounder and was with fellow senior Don Chaney the first African-American to be recruited to this burgeoning power in this rocket fueled Metropolis.  Coach Guy Lewis is a genius recruiter and though Hayes was the focal point of putting this program on the map Lewis has now surrounded him with the kind of talent that can compete with the elite levels in D-1.  Junior Otis Birdsong is the kind of shooter in the back court that will make other team’s honest but the real coupe is sophomores Hakeem Olajuwon, Clyde Drexler, Michael Young and Rob Williams.  Olajuwon freed up Hayes to play the four last year as this Nigerian Nightmare is a seven-footer with unlimited potential who right now is one of the best defenders in the country. Though his offense is primarily alley oops and putbacks right now he will learn the low post game from one of the best to ever play. Drexler is an ultra-athletic wing who is as good as they come in the open court but can also distribute and will be counted on for more than just high flying dunks this season.  Young is also a wing and can score but Williams might be the key as this team needs somebody to take over the point as that is the Cougs only weakness right now but that will mean this dynamic scorer will have to adjust to being more a set up man and that could be hard.  How good can this team be?  Ask the mighty Bruins of UCLA about that as they upset the Westwood boys last January in what is billed as the game of the century in front of 40,000 at the Astrodome.  Wooden’s team decided they did not want a piece of this team again and took them off their off their schedule even though it would have been played in Pauley Pavilion.  No worries as there are many other elite programs who want a piece of this great front line and unless they fall apart the 14th ranked Cougars will be a major player come March at the Big Dance. 

The Longhorns do not have that kind of talent up front though sophomore LaSalle Thompson is quickly establishing himself as a tank down low and they do have a ridiculous backcourt led by senior point guard Slater Martin.  Martin is a winner who does everything well but score and this roster this is not a problem.  New Coach Rick Barnes has brought in a group of recruits that rival any in the country including a six ten string bean wing from Maryland who supposedly could be the best offensive player to come along in quite some time.  Freshman Kevin Durant chose the Longhorns over the Tar Heels of NC because he will have the opportunity to showcase his amazing talents right away as he will start at the three.  Fellow freshman TJ Ford (another point guard) and Lamarcus Aldridge are studs as well as the Longhorns are ready to run and gun to some glory in their last year of the SWC before they join (or form) the brand new Big 12 next season with legendary programs from the Big 8 (plus Baylor, Texas Tech and of course rival A&M from the remnants of the SWC). Obviously there will be some bad blood from the other four teams so those four games in the Dallas and Houston areas could get a little cantankerous for the Longhorns.  Barnes understands that building a program even with all the resources that the burnt orange have at their disposal takes time but with his recruiting class in the one and done era the time is now in Austin because as tough as it will be to take down superpower Houston taking down the Jayhawks of Kansas will almost be impossible no matter how good you recruit! 

Baylor, Texas A&M and SMU should battle for third place and all three have an outside shot at the BD if everything falls into place.  The Bears from Waco have some high octane scorers in junior Vinnie Johnson, a JC transfer from the Big Apple, and sophomore Terry Teagle but are lacking the inside play to hang with an elite team like Houston.   There are not many of those types of teams here surprisingly and Baylor will score so if they play some defense and rebound than who knows.  The Mustangs would have seemed to be a shoe in a few years back to be included if this league ever joined up with another to from a super conference.  Of course that was before the death sentence assigned to the football program and we all know football is king in Texas so they were left out of the league’s evolution.  Then again it does not look like a coincidence that the four teams left out are from the big cities that UT competes with for recruits.  Still, the hoopsters still have legendary Doc Hayes as coach and an experienced team including senior stud Jim Krebs and sophomore seven footer Jon Koncak (call them the JK’s from now on) up front so they have a chance.  The Aggies have lived in the shadow of their hated rivals since both programs started playing sports over a hundred years ago and the fans of Texas A&M are tired of it.  Of course nothing will change unless they start winning more games in football and basketball and though this Aggie team has experience and potential they are nowhere near the Longhorns in talent.  Of course the Aggies could have decided not to join the Big 12 and could go out on their own or join up with another power conference such as the SEC if they want to establish their own destiny away from the burnt orange.  And if you buy that I got some Ocean Front Property in Arizona…!  They do have one stud to hang on their oversized hats on in senior John Beasley who is an absolute stud on the offensive end.   Long time coach Shelby Metcalf has brought in a recruiting guru names Billy Gillespie and the Aggies have had back to back stellar classes.  It seems the Aggies emphasized specific positions the last two years with the sophomores being post heavy and this new class going after wings.  If Metcalf can find a point guard in the mix this team has a shot at surprising the big two. 

The Owls have the most experience of anyone and that includes the Cougars with which they share a city.  Seniors Kendall Rhine, Bill Henry, Bill Closs and Bob Kinney have formed a formidable front line down in Houston for years but this quartet is nowhere near the talent of athleticism of the intracity rivals and the future of this program is sophomore shooting guard Ricky Pierce.  This wing can flat light it up and never met a shot he didn’t like and if he can get some support in the back court the Owls have a shot.  A long shot to be sure but a shot especially when a program who has been around since the inception of the league gets left out in the cold as they choose newbies from the panhandle to take their place. 

The Red Raiders of Texas Tech were chosen to join the defection probably because this gives the new league a team a team closer to the epicenter of the league though of course it leaves them without a representative in the Houston metro as the Cougars are joining Conference USA next season (they almost left this year and in reality that could still happen) after not getting an invite.  The Red Raider basketball team is green but they do have some talent and Coach Gerald Myers was born and raised in this area and bleeds Raider Red and is here to build a program for the long term. 

The last of the programs are the Texas Christian Horned Frogs and for some reason this historic college was not included in the defection to the Big 12.  TCU has definitely had some down years in both football and basketball but playing in the Dallas metro area should have been a gimme but with intracity rival SMU’s problems the league apparently decided they did not need the audiences from the two biggest cities in Texas.  TCU basketball will struggle this year and the future is not that bright either going into the nomad lands of joining conferences that don’t necessarily want.  But they do have that Dallas/Fort Worth thing going for them and who knows if they find a great young coach in either sport things can change quickly for the Horned Frogs.  The Houston Cougars may be the prohibitive favorites to win the SWC with their primary foe Arkansas joining the SEC as this historic conference has decided to play one more year before it pulls up stakes and joins the brave new world of super conferences.  But this is the Southwest Conference and as the last few years can attest strange things happen in the state of Texas.  The only thing that is for certain is that the Longhorns will not be the most welcome team when they enter the metropolises of Houston and Dallas.  And that, as any Lone Star state kid will tell you, is the way it should be!