WESTERN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE PREVIEW : Race Should Warm Up After Rough Beginning

SAN DIEGO —  After a history-making basketball season in which six of its nine teams made postseason tournaments, maybe the Western Athletic Conference was due for a letdown.

But even the most pessimistic predictors might have had trouble foreseeing some of these early events:

Utah losing to Cal State Fullerton at home . New Mexico losing to the University of San Diego by 9 points in the Pit . Colorado State losing at Wisconsin Green Bay by 15 .

There is more, but no need to belabor the point. The idea is clear: With only a few exceptions, the conference has had a rough 7 weeks of nonconference play.

Maybe that is why the WAC opens its 27th season of conference action at four sites Thursday night with such uncertainty about the number of quality teams.

Maybe that is why SDSU Coach Jim Brandenburg is getting more questions every day about whether his Aztecs will a serious contender in the conference. This for a team that was 5-11 in conference play last season (11-17 overall) and enters the conference season at 6-4, including losses at Texas Tech and Arizona State, teams that are expected to be near the bottom of their conference races.

Yet, despite the struggles of some of the other teams, Brandenburg has not altered his outlook on the conference race.

“It has never changed at all,” Brandenburg said. “You have got UTEP (Texas El Paso) and New Mexico at the top, then Colorado State and Utah in a second group, and Wyoming and BYU in the third wave. And it looks to me like Hawaii is playing well.”

Brandenburg attributed many of the troubles around the conference to changes: a new coach at New Mexico, a new backcourt at Utah and almost a whole new team at Wyoming.

His 10 years in the WAC have taught him not to jump to conclusions.

“People moan and groan here and there in December,” Brandenburg said, “but by mid-January we always have two or three teams in this conference that can play with anybody.” That might have been true last year when Wyoming opened its season on the cover of Sports Illustrated, Brigham Young started the season 17-0 and Colorado State finished in Madison Square Garden with third place in the National Invitation Tournament. But as for what the Aztecs might face during the conference schedule, which begins for SDSU Thursday at home against Colorado State, here is a look at the rest of the WAC.

AIR FORCE

1988-89 Record: 8-3

1987-88 Record: 11-17, 4-12 in conference

1987-88 Conference Finish: Eighth

Air Force’s start equals its best opening 11 games in school history, but one look at the schedule probably tells why. Only four of the Falcons’ victories have come against Division I opponents. Air Force’s strengths and weakness are familiar ones--the shooting of guard Raymond Dudley (26.8 points and 3.6 rebounds per game) and a lack of height. The Falcons start a front line of 6-8 center Chad Kimble (7.4 points and 4.7 rebounds per game) and 6-6 Michael Lockwood (11.5 points and 5.7 rebounds) and 6-5 Mark Slimko (6.3 points and 4.7 rebounds) at the forwards. A foot injury to Sean Giles, a sophomore from University of San Diego High School, has hurt the depth at guard.

BRIGHAM YOUNG

1988-89 Record: 5-4

1987-88 Record: 26-6, 13-3

1987-88 Conference Finish: First

Call Brigham Young the Michael Smith Show. Graduated from last year’s championship team are Jeff Chatman, Jim Usevitch and Brian Taylor, the team’s Nos. 2 through 4 scorers. Nathan Call, a key reserve guard, is on a church mission. Marty Haws (14.1 points per game) is back at guard and Andy Toolson (16 points per game, team-leading 8.2 rebounds per game) has moved to forward from guard, but the bulk of the work has been left to Smith. He leads the team in scoring (25 points per game) and is second in rebounding (7.4 per game). The Cougars are thin all over. Kevin Santiago (3.7 points per game), a walk-on from Utah Valley Community College, is starting at point guard.

COLORADO STATE

1988-89 Record: 7-4

1987-88 Record: 22-13, 8-8

1987-88 Conference Finish: Fifth (tied)

Colorado State is doing what it does best under the discipline of Coach Boyd Grant--keeping the games low-scoring (excepting an uncharacteristic 102-89 victory over Oral Roberts). But with losses already to North Texas State, Wisconsin Green Bay and Texas Tech, the Rams have shown that they have some work to do. Pat Durham, a 6-8 senior forward, appears headed for another all-conference season, leading the team in scoring (19.7 points per game) and rebounding (9 per game). But the Rams have only one other player averaging in double figures, Joe Tribblehorn (12.5 points), a senior transfer from Fort Lewis College.

HAWAII

1988-89 Record: 7-4

1987-88 Record: 4-25, 2-14

1987-88 Conference Finish: Ninth

Hawaii already has as many victories as in any of the past 3 seasons and is off to its best start since the 1982-83 team opened 9-3. The Rainbows’ second-place finish to third-ranked Illinois in the Rainbow tournament marked their first appearance in the tournament final since 1983. Bulky center Reggie Cross provides the inside muscle and sharp-shooting guard Chris Gaines (16.6 points per game) provides the outside threat. Cross, a 6-8, 243-pound senior, leads the team in scoring (19.1 points per game) and rebounding (8.3 per game). Coach Riley Wallace has a group of strong junior college transfers, led by starting forwards Terry Houston (12.3 points and 7.3 rebounds per game) and Vincent Smalls (9.8 points and 6.2 rebounds per game).

NEW MEXICO

1988-89 Record: 5-4

1987-88 Record: 22-14, 8-8

1987-88 Conference Finish: Fifth (tied)

After 8 seasons at Southern Methodist, Dave Bliss has replaced Gary Colson as coach. New Mexico has won three in a row after a rough start. Enthusiasm is high in Albuquerque, where attendance at the University Arena, commonly known as The Pit, is averaging 17,693. Luc Longley, a 7-foot sophomore from Australia, has deposed senior Rob Loeffel as the starting center. Senior forward Charlie Thomas leads the team in scoring (17.6 points per game) and rebounding (9.1 per game). Point guard Darrell McGee is averaging 9.1 assists per game, and sophomore Rob Robbins (16 points per game) is the designated shooter. Willie Banks, a freshman from Albuquerque, is the top reserve, averaging 10.6 points.

TEXAS EL PASO

1988-89 Record: 11-1

1987-88 Record: 23-10, 10-6

1987-88 Conference Finish: Fourth

Texas El Paso is off to the best start in the conference, with its only loss at Indiana, 81-63. For the most part, however, the Miners’ early-season schedule has been weak--including Fort Lewis, Texas Southern and South Carolina State. But the Miners might have to forfeit 3 of those victories because of the use of Francis Ezenwa, a sophomore guard from Nigeria. Ezenwa was declared ineligible by the National Collegiate Athletic Assn. after playing in 3 games because he took college courses as a teen-ager in Nigeria. The Miners are spreading the ball around, with six players averaging at least 9 points. Senior guard Tim Hardaway (19.8 points per game) is the only double-figure scorer back from last year’s team. Greg Foster (11.4 points and 6 rebounds per game), a 7-foot transfer from UCLA, has taken over as the starting center after recently becoming eligible.

UTAH

1988-89 Record: 9-6

1987-88 Record: 19-11, 11-5

1987-88 Conference Finish: Second (tied)

After a 1-5 start, Utah has won 8 of its past 9 games, the only loss a 95-53 drubbing at Purdue. Senior forward Mitch Smith once again leads in scoring (14.9 points per game, 10.1 rebounds per game). The Utes have been hurt by the temporary loss of senior center Watkins Singletary, their second leading scorer and rebounder last season, who has been out 3 weeks after undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery. He is listed as questionable for the Utes’ conference opener Thursday at UTEP. But the biggest problem is at guard. Tommy Connors, expected to start at point guard, is out for the season after back surgery. That has left the Utes to start two junior college transfers at guard--Van Gray (6.6 points per game) and Mark Lenoir (8.3 points per game).

WYOMING

1988-89 Record: 7-5

1987-88 Record: 26-6, 11-5

1987-88 Conference Finish: Second (tied)

Fenis Dembo and Eric Leckner are off to the National Basketball Assn. and most of the rest of Wyoming’s winningest team since 1951-52 are gone, leaving the Cowboys to rebuild around three returning players. With no strong post player, Coach Benny Dees has gone to a three-guard lineup of seniors Robyn Davis (19.2 points per game) and Reggie Fox (17.5 points per game), and junior transfer point guard Kenny Smith (12.6 points per game). Clauzell Williams and Reggie Slater, a freshman from Houston, are starting on the front line. Slater appears to be a freshman of impact, leading the team in rebounding (9.2 per game).