AYAMON, Puerto Rico — It used to be a big deal, beating the University of Massachusetts men's basketball team — or even just playing it.

The Minutemen would come into other teams' cities like gunslingers, complete with a swagger that caused one writer to say "they're hard to like, but they can play." Those days ended long before Tuesday's startling 65-63 Puerto Rico Holiday Classic loss to Southern Illinois, a team that plays very hard to make up for a complete absence of star power.

But one fascinating if deflating byproduct of UMass basketball these days is that opponents still talk about what a big deal it is to beat the Minutemen, when you know they secretly don't mean it. Two coaches have already let the cat out of the bag this year.

"We don't consider this an upset," Marshall's Greg White said after his team's 65-55 road victory Nov. 29. This came one year after Marshall's 86-66 win over UMass had its players talking about what a significant night it had been for Marshall, beating a nationally known power and all.

And Tuesday, Southern Illinois coach Bruce Weber admitted in his own way that the more you know about basketball, the less surprised you might be.

"I would have traded this one for a win against Southwest Missouri State," said Weber, whose Salukis lost 80-73 to their Missouri Valley Conference rival last week. "That's a league opponent.

"But our fans know UMass has been on ESPN twice this year, and it's a name team," he said. "Some told me to forget about Southwest Missouri, but just get UMass."

The Salukis did. So did Marshall and Detroit this year, and several teams last year.

Just for the record, UMass has not been on ESPN this year, but on ESPN2. We are not what we were, even if teams still graciously say they circle UMass on their schedule — as Detroit guard Rashad Phillips said two weeks ago, when calling the Minutemen "a giant national program."

What many people don't realize is that teams like Detroit and Marshall are better than we think, and the only reason more people don't know it is because they're rarely on TV. It may not be embarrassing to lose to them, but many UMass fans, and fans around the nation, still think it is.

It's not the same as playing Boston College, which UMass meets today. BC is rebuilding, but it's a name team from a name conference. And American University of Puerto Rico, which UMass routed 102-65 yesterday, was approximately of American junior college level and doesn't count, either.

Southern Illinois, though, is among the countless teams across America we never see or hear about. They're not bad, just ordinary or a slight cut above. And right now, so is UMass.

It's become an ongoing theme, losing to teams people think UMass should eat for lunch. You can blame Bruiser Flint, as many do, or you can start giving these other teams more credit. Or, you can accept that the mid-1990s glory was lightning in a bottle, not a guarantee that we had a new North Carolina in our midst.

Just before it went really big, UMass was a team the nation still knew little about, but one that could beat anybody. It's now one everyone has heard about, but one that also can lose to anybody. The opposition is on to this, even if many fans still aren't.

Until teams like Southern Illinois stop beating UMass, ours is just another ordinary program or a slight cut above. The nation is filled with scores and scores of such programs. UMass may be different in perception, but not in what's been happening on the court.