Sutton ready to Cowboy Up

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Let's start with the obvious: Any team coming out of a certified power conference that comes into the Sweet 16 having won 19 of its last 20 games must be regarded as a very serious contender for the national championship.

And if you're a college basketball coach, here is another obvious statement: You look down at the other bench and you see Eddie Sutton, you'd better be bringing your A coaching game, pal. You're gonna need it.

That old "his'n and your'n" business? It wasn't said of this man, but it could have been. Eddie Sutton has won 753 games and has taken four schools to a total of 25 NCAA Tournaments. At 68, he hasn't lost so much as half a mile an hour off his coaching fastball. So when he says he really, really, really likes his team, then serious attention must be paid to Oklahoma State, which plays Pittsburgh tonight in one of this year's marquee matchups.

"This team will always be a special team to me," Sutton says. "I think any coach, what he wants is for the team to represent the institution in a class manner, and a coach wants his team to maximize its God-given talent. This team has done that. We were picked fifth in preseason in the Big 12, and I thought that was accurate. That's where I would have picked us. Yet this ball club has surpassed everything that I thought they could achieve. I just didn't think we'd be this good."

How good? Try 29-3 good. Try champions of the Big 12 good. Try a No. 2 seed good. The Cowboys are balanced and they're experienced.

They're also lucky. Something very bad that happened 500 or so miles south of Stillwater turned out to be extremely beneficial to Oklahoma State. Around the Oklahoma State program, there is no doubt that without junior transfer John Lucas (or a point guard every bit as good as John Lucas), the Cowboys would not be anywhere near 29-3 or would not be playing in the NCAA Tournament round of 16. For at the end of last season, Oklahoma State was in rather desperate need of a point guard, and if there hadn't been a shocking murder and the complete accompanying collapse of the Baylor program, Lucas wouldn't have been available. He'd still be in Waco, Texas.

"It was unfortunate that the tragedy happened at Baylor," says senior guard Tony Allen. "John was just our missing piece to our puzzle. I wouldn't trade him for any point guard in the world."

"It was like Christmas came, early," adds Sutton. "We would not be here today if it wasn't for John Lucas."

Ordinarily, transfers must sit out a year. But the NCAA ruled that, because of the extreme circumstances at Baylor, any player who wished to leave would have instant eligibility at his next stop. Transfers sometimes have adjustment problems, too, but Lucas was not your ordinary transfer.

"I didn't think I was going to have any problems adjusting to a new team because I've been moving my whole life," says Lucas, who is, of course, the son of the ex-Maryland and NBA star of the same name. "I may be in one school for, like, eight weeks and then I have to end up moving, you know, wherever my dad goes. I know how to adjust to situations."

Good thing. No one had told him about the helmets and pads.

Yup, during the preseason Sutton had his team don helmets and pads for two days as he put them through some toughening-up, learn-to-take-the-charge drills. "It polished us," maintains forward Joey Graham. "We grew from that. I think it turned our team into a team that a lot of teams we're going to play respect us for, which is a rebounding and defensive team."

"We didn't want to do it," admitted Allen. "But we did it."

"You know," says Lucas, "I'm a little dude [5 feet 11 inches, 152 pounds], so I wasn't looking forward to it, taking all those charges and stuff. I played football for, like, two days in middle school and quit, so I wasn't looking forward to it."

Is it possible that among Sutton's many coaching attributes is clairvoyance? There could not have been better preparation to play a team like Pittsburgh than donning the helmets and pads. Many a Big East foe wishes it had that type of protection when playing the bruising Panthers.

"I expect this to be one of the most physical games we've ever played," forecasts Graham. "They've got some big guys. We've got our work cut out."

The anticipation cuts both ways, incidentally. "This will probably be the most physical game we played all year," agrees Pitt's Jaron Brown, a rugged swingman who doesn't exactly shy away from scrums. "I hear they had practice with football pads. That was kind of interesting. But I think we are ready for it."

Both are excellent defensive teams who will gang-tackle the glass. The essential difference between the two clubs is that Oklahoma State is quite comfortable playing an uptempo game (16 times breaking 80), while the Panthers have gotten more deliberate as the season has progressed. Pitt only cracked 80 four times this year, and has only done so once in regulation since Nov. 28. So we may have one of those classic battle of wills in which the winner will be the one who controls the tempo.

There is no situation Eddie Sutton hasn't encountered in his 46-year coaching career, save playing for the national championship. His 1978 Arkansas team -- surely you recall the famous "Triplets?" -- and his 1996 Oklahoma State team -- "Big Country" ring a bell? -- each made it to the Final Four, but both teams lost in the semis. Only Bob Knight has won more games among active Division 1 coaches and so, yes, that makes him the winningest man still coaching who has not won a national title.

He'll sleep well, regardless.

"I think in order to win a national title," he says, "you need to have a few lucky bounces or some friendly calls along the way. If I never win a national championship, it's not going to be that hurtful to me. I've had too much fun and too many great players. Yes, it would be nice to win. But if it doesn't happen, it doesn't happen."

Here's a final obvious observation: If it ever does happen, that loud ovation you'll be hearing will be coming from his peers. That's something you've earned by being the coaches' coach.

Bob Ryan is a Globe columnist. His e-mail address is ryan@globe.com.