Every year since 1982, the Big Ten has given the Jesse Owens awar to the outstanding male athlete in the conference. If he wins the NCAA title this weekend, Penn State wrestler Kerry McCoy should be given that honor. The heavyweight embodies exactly what a student-athlete should be.

. . . Congratulations to all the men's and women's fencers who qualified for the NCAA championships to be held in two weeks in South Bend, Ind. They don't get the recognition, but they get results. If they win the NCAA team title in South Bend, they will be the first sports team to bring home the hardware this school year. 'Nuff said.

. . . The ranks of ACC basketball coaches are suddenly taking on the appearance of a M.A.S.H. unit. First, Mike Krzyzewski leaves the Duke sideline for back surgery, then Maryland Coach Gary Williams takes a leave for pneumonia. Then, in the ACC semifinal against Wake Forest on Friday, Virginia Coach and Vice President Al Gore look-alike Jeff Jones commanded the Cavs' sideline with a bandaged arm.

What's up with all the ailments? Are these guys getting too involved in practice? Is there a steel-cage, no-holds-barred, underground wrestling league of ACC coaches that we don't know about? Tar Heel Coach Dean Smith has the belt if there is.

. . . Does the NCAA selection Committee know something we don't know about the status of Damon Stoudamire and the Arizona Wildcats? Making Arizona (23-7) a No. 5 seed in the Midwest means one of two things. Either the senior point guard is being suspended (for contacting with an agent) or the Wildcats are getting nowhere near the respect they deserve.

. . . It also seems the selection Committee has it out for Arkansas. If the seeds hold, the Razorbacks (27-6) will have to face Syracuse in the second round. The Orangemen (19-9) may be the best No. 7 seed in the history of the tournament. Like Arizona, the Orangemen got dissed big time. . . . Here's one reporter's view of the men's Final Four. From the Midwest, the strongest of the three regions, WOOOOOOO Pig Sooooey - you gotta like second-seeded Arkansas. The Hogs have the most talented team, top-to-bottom, in college hoops. And they know how to win in March.

From the West, UCLA? No way, baby. Connecticut? On a slide lately, it could very well fall to the Cincinnati/Temple winner in the second round. That leaves Maryland, and sophomore center Joe Smith will put the Terps on his broad, player-of-the-year shoulders and take them to Seattle.

The East, you ask? Massachusetts will emerge from the weakest of the three regions.

Finally, the Southeast. Kentucky and North Carolina will play in a regional final for the ages. Give us the 'Heels and Dean Smith and the best starting five in college hoops. Oh, by the way, Carolina will win its second title in three years, besting UMass 87-84 in the finals -- the last games in the college careers of Tar Heel sophomore stars Jerry Stackhouse and Rasheed Wallace.

. . . If Michael Jordan is contemplating a return to basketball, maybe the same can be true for Mario Lemieux. Hopefully, the fire will return and he'll rejoin the team to assure the Pens a third Cup. Without Lemieux, the Penguins are a great team. With him back in the lineup . . . er an extended recuperation period, the team could soar.

. . . If Jordan does come back, does he have to return all of his retirement gifts and climb the rafters in the new Chicago Stadium to get ol' No. 23 back? Or will he wear a new number, maybe like No. 0, because he is a big zero?

. . . The Penn State women's hoops team didn't get a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament, but they might as well have. By being sent to the Midwest as a No. 2 seed, the Lady Lions have been made the best team (even better than No. 1-seed Colorado) in the weakest of the four regions. They should be cutting down the nets after the regional finals in Iowa on March 25. They are a Final Four team.

. . . Guard Pete Lisicky is Penn State's best shooter and best scoring threat from the perimeter. Yet, he doesn't start. Granted he is only a freshman, but he has constantly made big shots in pressure situations. Lisicky has to be on the floor more, and start -- even if he is only a freshman.

. . . What of poor Surya Bonaly? The French skater was stuck with the silver medal for the third year in a row at the World Figure Skating Championships. Doesn't she understand the judges will never let her win, especially after last year's tantrum on the medal podium? At least she accepted the thing this time.