magine how much La Salle would beat Cincinnati by?

Try to keep up with this loony logic: Cincy is the No. 1 team in the country right now. Xavier beat Cincy. La Salle clobbered Xavier. Rhode Island beat La Salle and UMass pounded Rhody. Is there a case here to make Southern Illinois (which beat UMass) the No. 1 team in the nation?

It's been a head scratcher of a season in the Atlantic 10, and no team is screwier than Xavier. Somehow the Musketeers beat the Bearcats. In a great game worthy of the rivalry in arguably the best college hoops city in America, the Musketeers pulled out a 66-64 win.

Xavier's pretty good then, right?

Not if you ask La Salle. The Explorers smacked, walloped - pick any destruction verb you like - Xavier, 80-49.

La Salle, mind you, is not a good team. Not good at all. These are the same Explorers who lost to Rhode Island (also a lousy team). The same Explorers who scored 36 points - 36 points - against Butler (also not a good team. See a pattern here?).

But somehow it happened.

"If you ask me what happened, I have no clue," La Salle coach Speedy Morris told the Associated Press. "I'm not smart enough to figure out what happened. If you saw us play the last few times out, you couldn't explain what happened today."

Don't worry, Speedy. You're not alone. When most college basketball fans saw the score, they figured it was a misprint.

Xavier isn't alone among the unexplainable. How does Fordham beat St. Bonaventure, which previously was unbeaten in league play? This is the same Fordham that lost to UMass by 30.

The final result could be a pretty interesting Atlantic 10 Tournament in March, where an unlikely team could find itself going to the Big Dance.

* * *

If SirValiant Brown's scoring numbers look impressive, look a little closer.

Brown has never met a shot he wouldn't take. In fact, this guy will take shots that former UMass mad bomber Mike Williams would pass up.

His 24.9 points per game have taken him 403 shots to attain, an average of nearly 24 shots per game, well over a third of the shots taken by George Washington as a team.

* * *

The expected matchup of top recruits Raheim Lamb and Scott Hazelton didn't materialize Sunday, as the Connecticut-bound Hazelton was sidelined with a broken foot. But Lamb put on a show in his absence.

UMass-bound Lamb had 31 points with future coach Bruiser Flint in attendance, including 15 in the final nine minutes of Boston English's 88-79 win over Central Catholic of Lawrence.

Flint also was spotted in Connecticut watching the Winchendon School play Cheshire Academy. Winchendon isn't lacking for Division I talent and 6-foot-3 shooting guard Donell Allick was believed to be interested in UMass.

Allick, who is a good outside shooter, would fill a significant void in that department for the Minutemen. Boston College and George Washington are among others interested.

* * *

Many onlookers will refer to Worcester Academy's 6-8 forward as simply "that French kid."

They do this largely because Liberto Tetimandingar isn't easy to pronounce. While his name is a mouthful to say, he can be a handful to guard and is attracting the attention of several Atlantic Coast Conference Schools as well as UMass.

In addition to Jackie Rogers, the high-scoring power forward at Barton County Community College, the Minutemen are exploring other junior college avenues as well.

Cameron Stephens plays both forward positions for Vincennes Junior College and is averaging 17 points and 13 rebounds. The 6-foot-7 forward played at Purdue as a freshman and is being recruited by Oklahoma, Ball State, UNC-Charlotte, Xavier, and Kentucky, among others.

* * *

Hey Red Sox fans, looking for a good omen? Syracuse hasn't been 16-0 since 1918.