College Basketball: Who's No. 2?

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"Let's face it," one Eastern coach sighed last week. "There are two classes in college basketball this season: best and second best. U.C.L.A. is in a class all by itself. All the rest of us are fighting to be No. 2."

Even so, it is quite a fight. At the start of last week, no fewer than 13 teams besides U.C.L.A. were unbeaten. By week's end the number was down to seven—and some of the survivors were on the critical list. No. 2-ranked Louisville had all it could do to squeeze past Syracuse, 75-71, at the Quaker City Tournament in Philadelphia; and the 8-0 record of No. 6 Cincinnati included three overtimes, four victory margins of two points or less.

Still, survival was honor enough. Consider the chagrin of Texas Western's Miners, the defending N.C.A.A. champs:

in the first round of the Sun Carnival Tournament at El Paso, they were beaten 59-54 by Southern Illinois—a school that does not even class as a major college. At Manhattan's Holiday Festival Tournament, the local favorite—No. 8-ranked St. John's—was eliminated in an opening-round upset; and New Yorkers had to satisfy their partisan appetites with the shooting of Jim Walker, a 6-ft.

3-in. guard from Providence. Walker scored 75 points in two games, led the Friars to victories over Duquesne (85-55) and Northwestern (91-79).

It remained for Southern California to suffer the crudest fate of all. All the Trojans did was win—edging Arkansas 70-67 and Illinois 73-72 in the Los Angeles Basketball Classic. And what did that earn them? A berth in the finals against Lew Alcindor (TIME, Dec. 16) and his No. 1-ranked U.C.L.A. Bruins.

Against Wisconsin, 7-ft. Hin. Sophomore Alcindor scored 24 points; against Georgia Tech, he hit a season low of 18 points, but U.C.L.A. still boosted its record to 7-0. Southern Cal's Trojans have already seen all they want to of Alcindor: he scored 56 against them in the opening game of the season.