College basketball enters conference season

Unlike college football, where a loss on your regular season resume all but kills your national championship chances, the premier collegiate basketball programs regularly play top-25 non-conference opponents before conference play begins. In fact, many coaches use this time to create a battle-tested team that can survive the harsh arena crowds that they will face come March. Early season losses are not only common, but are the norm even for top tier programs.

That's why it is so rare to have two undefeated programs in Division I basketball this late in the season. Both the Stanford Cardinal and the St. Joseph's Hawks have unblemished records, uncommon for teams in major conferences such as the PAC-10 and Atlantic 10.

Stanford plowed right through its early non-conference schedule and has survived the first of its PAC-10 rivals to become the number two team in the country. The Cardinal did much of their damage without their star swingman, junior Josh Childress. Stanford has already beaten the Arizona Wildcats at Arizona, but with Childress back, the boys out west should be an even tougher task for any PAC-10 opponent in the following weeks.

St. Joe's (17-0) hasn't played as challenging a schedule, but even for an A-10 team, an undefeated record is impressive at this point in the season. This streak has been led by a mighty mouse of sorts in All-American Jameer Nelson, whom many proclaim to be the national player of the year. Nelson's backcourt mate, Delonte West, has also been outstanding, and this team has been running up the score on opponents.

Of the two remaining unbeatens, the Hawks have a much easier schedule, with their toughest remaining game being against the Dayton Flyers, who are leading the A-10 West Division.

Despite one loss in November, the Duke Blue Devils (16-1) are at the top of the polls, led by the sharp shooting of sophomore J.J. Reddick and the reemergence of Chris Duhon. Duhon played great against the Texas Longhorns as well as versus key conference rivals, the Wake Forrest Demon Deacons and the Maryland Terrapins, proving himself as one of the premier point guards in the nation.

In addition, the Blue Devils have solidified their usually soft interior play with the shot-blocking defense of Shelden Williams, Shavlik Randolph, and freshmen sensation Luol Deng.

The Louisville Cardinals (15-1) have an impressive record this year as well. But their win/loss ratio shades the bumpy start that is about to get even rougher. Before Louisville's game against the rival Kentucky Wildcats last month, the brother of All-conference guard, Francisco Garcia, was gunned down in New York City. After flying home with coach Rick Pitino for the funeral, Garcia returned against his coach's wishes to put in a gutsy performance in a win over the Wildcats.

Unfortunately, the Cardinals are going to be without their prime-time coach for an indefinite amount of time, as Pitino announced he would be taking a temporary leave of absence on Monday night. Pitino cited extreme pain over the last week as the cause for this departure. He will be going to Minnesota for medical tests but doctors have already ruled out prostate cancer.

Within the next two weeks, Louisville has tough conference games against the Marquette Golden Eagles and the Memphis Tigers that are sure to test the strength of their newly appointed coach and the glue with which Pitino has created this team.

The UConn Huskies (15-3) have been somewhat of a disappointment so far this season. With two losses in the last two weeks, the Huskies have fallen from the top spot in the polls all the way down to number eight. It will be interesting to see how this team reacts to these midseason losses, because no Big East team seems to fear the Huskies. The Providence Friars were able to slow their game down against UConn and keep the Huskies in the 50s point range. If UConn is not careful, it could easily lose three or four more conference games.

Conference play always brings out the best in teams. Despite not having particularly tough schedules, either of the two remaining undefeated teams could lose to an Oregon State (8-9) or a Temple (6-9). While the NCAA Tournament brings the most drama to the masses, February's conference games bring out the best of college rivalries.