By Mike Lopresti
Gannett News Service

Barely three weeks before the NCAA Tournament, and we have here the latest standings. Looks like the dance card might be a little odd this year.

No Maryland? No Indiana? But yes to Air Force?

Only two invitations to the Pac-10, which stretches 1,500 miles and includes 10 schools? Only three to the Big Ten, and none of them seeded as high as Gonzaga?

Each is possible. There have been only two unbeaten teams in the tournament in 27 years. There might be two this March.

Famous names such as Kansas and Kentucky and North Carolina and Arizona and Syracuse won't sniff No. 1 seeds. But Mississippi State might. What to make of Louisville, one minute 16-1 and the next losing five of six?

Or Michigan State, leading the Big Ten, but with nine defeats?

Florida, fighting to survive the bubble, had one of its forwards quit and go to Spain to play for pay, which sent a shudder through coaches who hope it will not become a trend.

Air Force, last seen in the tournament in 1962, has roared into contention with a 19-4 record. But the Falcons also lost to Texas Pan American 37-35, a score that took a wrong turn from the football stadium.

(The military academies all appear to have occasional weaponry problems. Army lost to Bucknell 56-23, and then 75-25. Navy is 3-22).

Time is getting short. And there is much to be settled.

Take Maryland. National champions two years ago, in the tournament every March since 1994. But the Terrapins are 13-10 and 4-8 in the ACC and have lost seven of their last 10 games. And if they don't put together some late victories, their beefy schedule won't save them.

"Our strength of schedule is fourth in the country," Gary Williams was saying Monday. "You're supposed to be rewarded with who you play. We'll see what happens."

Take the Indiana Hoosiers. For that matter, take the whole state of Indiana. The last time the Hoosiers missed the tournament, the Berlin Wall still stood. 1985.

But Indiana is 12-12 and has lost its last four home games by a combined nine points. Mike Davis supposedly has a blue-chip recruiting class arriving next season, which he will need to ride in like the cavalry. Because at the moment, he is trying to explain a .500 season to a place that never sees one.

"Our biggest problem has been finishing teams off," he said. "It's unbelievable how close we were to being in first place (in the Big Ten), yet we're 6-7."

Purdue is trying to claw in as a bubble team, as is Notre Dame. Valparaiso and IUPUI will contend for the Mid-Continent Conference title.

But it is conceivable that the state of Indiana, with arguably the highest hoop-per-driveway percentage in the nation, will have none of its 10 Division I teams invited. At the moment, their combined record is 111-133.

In the Pac-10, six of the teams have losing records. In the Big Ten, nobody after the top three has an airtight case. Both leagues have only three weeks to make friends on the NCAA selection committee.

Stanford and St. Joseph's purr perfectly along, the latter with only three single-digit margins since December. The end is in sight, though both will face genuine danger in the conference tournaments. But if they stay spotless, history has a lollypop. Of the seven unbeaten teams in the NCAA Tournament in the past 31 years, six went to the Final Four.