COLLEGES:

The UC Irvine men’s water polo team is ranked No. 5 in the nation, but the Anteaters are also the No. 5 seed in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Tournament, Friday through Sunday at Cal.

So, it is not only accurate to call the Anteaters an underdog heading into their opening-round game of the eight-team event, it might even be an understatement.

“For us to win, we would have to beat [No. 3-ranked] UCLA, then probably [top-ranked Cal], then probably either [No. 2-ranked] USC or [No. 4-ranked] Stanford,” UCI senior All-American Colin Mello said Monday, after pairings were announced. [Winning those three games] would be the Cinderella story of all time, as far as water polo goes.”

Mello and the Anteaters, however, also have reason to hope.

They played into overtime in losses to UCLA, Cal and Stanford, and dropped a 9-7 decision to USC in their regular-season finale.

Coach Marc Hunt’s squad (12-10), however, is 0-6 against the four programs it will likely need to run through to earn the tournament crown and the guaranteed NCAA Tournament berth that goes along with it.

UCI meets UCLA Friday at 3:30 p.m. in the last of the first-round, quarterfinal clashes. If victorious, it would meet the Cal-Long Beach State winner in a 2 p.m. semifinal Saturday.

The title game is scheduled for 4 p.m. Sunday, with the third-place game slated for 2 p.m.

 In addition to Mello, the ’Eaters are led by senior two-meter man Tim Hutten, who leads all MPSF players with 3.71 goals per game this season (63 scores in 17 contests).

Mello has seen Hutten beat consistently concentrated defensive focus all season long.

“Tim is the man,” Mello said. “Tim is easily the best player in the country this year. There are guys who have had success, but he’s double- and triple-teamed every game. When teams scout us, the first three things on their list are: Stop Tim; Stop Tim; Stop Tim.”

 The final score of the NAIA women’s basketball showdown between No. 1-ranked Union of Tennessee and No. 2 Vanguard will have to wait.

The two teams were scheduled to meet Saturday night in the Rotary Classic on the Union campus, but a power outage on campus caused first a 90-minute delay, then cancellation of the game, which was about 13 minutes into the first half.

Union was ahead, 33-26, before the outage, which was not repaired until 7:30 p.m. Sunday, shut the two teams down.

Union Sports Information Director Steven Aldridge said the 2,200-seat gymnasium was just more than half full at tipoff. When the decision was made to cancel 90 minutes later, there were still about 500 die-hard fans ready to see things resume, Aldridge said.

Vanguard returns from the tournament 1-1, having defeated No. 11-ranked Lambuth (Tenn.), the defending NAIA champion, but losing to No. 8-ranked Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.).

 The Orange Coast College football team ended its season Friday night by winning its second straight game. But the Pirates will lose the services of Jim Carnett, the team’s public-address announcer the last 21 seasons.

Carnett, the head of the school’s community relations department, will retire after 35 years at the school.

In addition to football, Carnett, at various times, worked the microphone for men’s and women’s basketball, baseball, track and field and numerous rowing regattas.

 The new basketball floor at the Bren Events Center includes the words Eater Nation printed along the sideline in front of the scorer’s table.

UCI’s white home uniforms also have Eaters spelled out across each player’s chest.

The new floor also has Bren Events Center displayed on both sides of the half-court line.

BARRY FAULKNER may be reached at (714) 966-4615 or at barry.faulkner@latimes.com.