UTAH STATE ISN'T EXPECTED TO REPEAT AS TOURNEY CHAMP

Welcome to another edition of the Big West Conference post-season basketball tournament, where the league's 10 teams gather together annually like one big happy family to conclude another soap opera of a season.

Did we say soap opera? Let's see, Fullerton's head coach, George McQuarn, quit just before the start of the season for personal reasons.That was nothing. A couple of months later 10 San Jose State players quit theteam, charging Coach Bill Berry with cruelty. Berry proceded to assemble a team of football players and walk-ons that wasn't half bad.

Meanwhile, New Mexico State got in an automobile accident, proving that life on the road really is tough and inhospitable.

Just ask Jerry Tarkanian. He took his Nevada-Las Vegas team to Logan, where USU coach Kohn Smith, suffering from a brief lapse of sanity, calmly ripped the Rebel program, questioning its integrity. This was the hoops equivalent of tugging on Christopher Reeve's cape. A few hours later Vegas crushed the Aggies. Afterward, Tarkanian told Smith their friendship was over, and he later refused a telephoned apology from Smith.

See, just one big happy family.

Things were a little more predictable on the court. The Rebels won their seventh championship in as many years, despite being "the skinniest team in the country," according to Tark, and totally inept at the foul line, which star StaceyAugmon blamed on the media.

This week the Big West gets down to the business of tournament play at the Long Beach Sports Arena. The first round, involving only the bottom four teams in the standings, began Wednesday; the second round will be Thursday.

Favorites? The Rebels, of course, but last year they actually failed to win the tournament. The championship went to Utah State, which, given its current state of affairs, isn't likely to repeat. Some observers like New Mexico State, which lost to UNLV by two last weekend after missing 14 free throws. Others like Long Beach State, with its home-court advantage, although Coach Joe Harrington isn't buying it.

"That's ridiculous," says Harrington. "We have no bigger advantage here than anyone else. We've played two games here (this season)." Still, a lot of people are betting 49er fans will manage to find the place.