I'll admit it. I'm a sucker for blunt honesty.

When you (as well as every other national poll voter) get an e-mail from a school's SID that includes the phrase "It has been many years since the [team name] deserved consideration among the nation’s top teams ...," it's worth making a mention of.

In this case, it's Tulane (and SID Roger Dunaway). Coached by former Maryland assistant Dave Dickerson, the Green Wave is indeed, uh, making waves this season.

Well, at least in a modest manner. Tulane is 10-4, and has beaten Auburn, Georgia, St. John's and Louisiana State. No one will confuse any of those schools as postseason contenders, but it's still progress for a Tulane program that suffered through Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath just like everyone else in New Orleans.

It's all league play from here on out for the Green Wave, which begins its Conference USA schedule with a visit from UAB. No one other than Memphis (and maybe Houston) is all that scary in C-USA this year, so there's a chance Dickerson and his balanced team (led by senior David Gomez) could win 20 games and reach the postseason.

That hasn't been done since 1999-2000. The Green Wave hasn't been to the NCAA tournament since 1994-95. And it hasn't been ranked (so far as I can tell, anyway) since late in the 1991-92 season.

Tulane won't be cracking my ballot this week. But it certainly merits attention. And, to paraphrase the e-mail from Tulane, it has been many years since the Green Wave deserved that for their on-court performance.

--- Patrick Stevens