This week's syllabus: March 25-31

__THE FAB FIVE

My look at the top five school in the country right now

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__1. Oregon __(Last week: NR)

Another publication floated the idea of Casey Martin as the national coach of the year. Well, I'm ready to jump on the bandwagon. The Ducks were expected to win their home event this past week, and they did by seven strokes over Arkansas, making it two wins this season and no finishes outside the top five. No time to rest on their laurels in Eugene, however, as the team gets right back at it today.

Next event: Barona Collegiate Cup, Barona Creek CC, Lakeside, Calif., March 25-26

2. Stanford (1)

Coach Conrad Ray brought a young line-up to the desert, where the top-seeded Cardinal got beat in the second round by USC and eventually finished in eighth place. David Chung's return to the line-up will be something Stanford fans will surely welcome as the team heads into the stretch run before the post-season.

Next event: ASU Thunderbird Invitational, ASU Karsten Course, Tempe, Ariz., April 2-3

3. Texas (3)

Longhorns bounce back from Vegas well with a solid second-place finish at NIT, particularly with final-round five-under score. Dylan Frittelli claims medalist honors, giving the team its second individual win of the season. Expect this group to build more confidence with their home event coming up shortly.

Next event: Morris Williams Intercollegiate, University of Texas GC, Austin, Texas, April 5-6

4. Oklahoma State (4)

Finished second at Linger Longer a year ago, with Trent Whitekiller winning individually, so the Cowboys are familiar with the course. Practices back in Stillwater can't have been too much fun after OSU's disappointing performance in Las Vegas. Is this the weekend that the Oklahoma State squad finally returns to form?

Next event: Linger Longer Invitational, Reynolds Landing GC, Greensboro, Ga., March 26-28

5. UNLV (2)

The Rebels got knocked out of the second round at the Callaway Match Play by Texas A&M, which isn't something to be overly concerned about. Losing to Iowa in the fifth-place match, however, wasn't expected. Says here there's not much to worry about but UNLV sure would love to see Eddie Olson start to step up.

Next event: ASU Thunderbird Invitational, ASU Karsten Course, Tempe, Ariz., April 2-3

WOMEN

A few weeks more before the Trojans get back on the course, which means that the veteran squad is getting rested and healthy. I know why USC is getting not love in the rankings (two bad finishes are offsetting the three victories). You can explain away the losses but it's hard to ignore the wins.

Next event: Ping ASU Invitational, Karsten GC, Tempe, Ariz., April 9-11

I love where the Sun Devils sit in some of the top stat categories: No. 1 in par-5 scoring (4.87), No. 2 in par-3 (3.12), No. 2 in sub-par strokes per round (2.71), No. 1 in final-round scoring (73.24) and they have a 71.2 percent greens in regulation mark. Looks like a team that can handle a long golf course and make a bunch of birdies.

Next event: Ping ASU Invitational, Karsten GC, Tempe, Ariz., April 9-11

3. Auburn (NR)

Off a nice victory in New Orleans, the Tigers bring confidence with them as they head into rival territory in Georgia. They also bring with them the knowledge that they've won the Liz Murphey two of the last three years.

Next event: Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic, University of Georgia GC, Athens, Ga., March 26-28

The Bruins are the favorites to finally break through and get their first victory this weekend in Austin. How big? Carrie Forsyth's group has just one loss head-to-head against any school in the field (to UC Davis at Turtle Bay last fall). Plus, the Bruins won on the UT course at the Central Regional in 2007.

Next event: Betsy Rawls Longhorn Invitational, University of Texas GC, Austin, Texas, March 26-28

The Crimson Tide have hit an impressive 79.0 percent of their fairways as a team in 2009-10, led by Brooke Pancake's 89.7 percent mark. Even better is the fact that the squad usually doesn't three-putt, recording less than one three-putt per player as a team.

Next event: Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic, University of Georgia GC, Athens, Ga., March 26-28

__STAT OF THE WEEK

__35

The highest ranking of any player on the Oklahoma State men's golf team in the most recent Golfstat Cup ranking. Kevin Tway comes in at 35th, with several other Cowboys close behind (Morgan Hoffmann, 42; Peter Uihlein, 47; Trent Whitekiller, 56).

Now there is still plenty of time left in the spring for these guys to return to the form that was predicted at the start of the 2009-10 season and I wouldn't be surprised to see Oklahoma State win the NCAA title come June. However, who would have bet that in the last full week of March, there would be players from Ferris State (Eric Lilleboe), North Alabama (Brett Munson), Southeastern Louisiana (Philipp Westermann), Air Force (Tom Whitney), UT Arlington (Zack Fischer), Grand View (Josh Manske) and Santa Clara (Scott Travers) ranked 34th or better in the Golfstat Cup but no one from Oklahoma State.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR

In the video:

TOURNAMENT PREVIEWS

MEN

Barona Collegiate Cup

__   (For live scoring, click here to link to Golfstat)

Barona Creek GC, Lakeside, Calif. (Par 72, 7,300 yards)

March 25-26

Host: San Diego State

Field: UAB, Air Force, Colorado, Hawaii, Loyola Marymount, Nevada, New Mexico State, Northwestern, Oregon, San Diego State, UC Davis, UC Irvine, UC Santa Barbara, Utah, UTEP, Wyoming

Defending champion: Colorado State (-29/1,051) by six strokes over San Diego State; Colorado State's Dustin Morris (-13/203) by three strokes over New Mexico's Steve Saunders

Skinny: Among the few tournaments that uses the play six, count five formate. That only seems to be playing into the hand's of the tourney favorite, Oregon.

[__Linger Longer Invitational

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](http://www.lingerlongerinvitational.com/)   (For live scoring, click here to link to Golfstat)

Reynolds Landing, Greensboro, Ga.

March 26-28__

Host:__ Mercer/Kennesaw State

Field: Alabama, Charlotte, Coastal Carolina, Florida State, Furman, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Kennesaw State, Louisville, Mercer, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, San Jose State, South Alabama, USC Aiken, Texas A&M

Defending champion: Georgia (+3/867) by two strokes over Oklahoma State; Oklahoma State's Trent Whitekiller (-8/208) by one stroke over Mercer's Bill Jones III and Wichita State's Connor McHenry

Skinny: The event has arguably its best field to date, with five top-16 teams from the most recent Golf World/Nike Golf coaches' poll.

__FAU Spring Break Invitational

__   (For live scoring, click here to link to Golfstat)

Glen Eagles CC, Delray Beach, Fla.

March 26-28

Host: Florida Atlantic

__Field:__Eastern Michigan, Florida Atlantic, Florida Gulf Coast, Illinois, Iowa, Marquette, Michigan, Minnesota, Murray State, Northern Illinois, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Penn State, South Florida, St. Mary's (Calif.), Wisconsin

Defending champion: Illinois (-5/847) by 14 strokes over Michigan; Illinois' Scott Langley (-8/205) by two strokes over Northwestern's Jonathan Bowers

Skinny: It's like a mini-Big Ten Championship going on in the Sunshine State with seven conference teams in the field.

__Hootie at Bulls Bay Intercollegiate

__   (For live scoring, click here to link to Golfstat)

Bulls Bay GC, Awendaw, S.C.

March 28-30

Host: Bulls Bay GC

Field: Auburn, Augusta State, Charleston, Chattanooga, Clemson, Duke, East Tennessee State, Kentucky, LSU, Long Beach State, N.C. State, South Carolina, UCF, Virginia, Wake Forest

Defending champion: Augusta State (-17/835) by eight strokes over Virginia; Augusta State's Janne Kaske (-14/199) by two strokes over South Carolina's George Bryan IV

Skinny: Four different schools come into the tournament having won in their last state (Auburn, Schenkel E-Z-Go; Clemson, Furman Intercollegiate; East Tennessee State, General Jim Hackler; UCF, Rio Pinar).

__WOMEN

Mountain View Collegiate

__Mountain View GC, Tucson (Par 72, 6,126 yards)

March 26-27

Host: Colorado

Field: Baylor, Boise State, BYU, Colorado, Colorado State, Gonzaga, Indiana, Iowa State, Kansas State, Michigan, Missouri, Northern Arizona, Sacramento State, San Jose State, Texas Tech, UNLV, Washington State, Wisconsin

Defending champion: San Jose State (+2/866) by nine strokes over UNLV; San Jose State's Erica Moston (-7/209) by two strokes over Louisville's Cindy LaCrosse

Skinny: Hard to top last year's event, where the several scoring records were broken including the low individual 18-hole score (67, Kansas State's Abbi Sunner, 3rd rd)

__Betsy Rawls Longhorn Invitational

__   (For live scoring, click here to link to Golfstat)

University of Texas GC, Austin

March 26-28

Host: Texas__

Field:__ Arizona, Chattanooga, New Mexico, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Oregon, Stanford, TCU, Texas, Texas A&M, Tulsa, UC Davis, UCLA, Vanderbilt, Washington

Defending champion: Purdue (+8/872) by six strokes over Arizona State; Purdue's Maria Hernandez (-6/210) by three strokes over Arkansas' Lucy Nunn

Skinny: One of the longest running events in women's college golf, the tournament celebrates its 37th straight year. Weather always seems to be a factor: last year under perfect conditions Hernandez broke the 54-hole scoring mark. In 2008, rain reduced the event to 36 holes.

__Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic

__   (For live scoring, click here to link to Golfstat)

University of Georgia GC, Athens, Ga.

March 26-28

Host: Georgia

Field: Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Denver, Duke, Florida, Furman, Georgia, Georgia State, Kent State, Michigan State, Mississippi, Mississippi State, North Carolina, Ohio State, Purdue, South Carolina, Tennessee, Tulane, UCF, Virginia, Wake Forest

Defending champion: Auburn (+11/299) by three strokes over Alabama and Kent State; Alabama's Kathleen Ekey (-3/69) by one stroke over Kent State's Kirby Dreher

Skinny: No truth to the rumor that the school has domed the course after the horrible rains from a year ago forced the event to become an 18-hole sprint.

__Anteater Invitational

__   (For live scoring, click here to link to Golfstat)

Dove Canyon CC, Dove Canyon, Calif. (Par 71, 5,960 yards)

March 29-30

Host: UC Irvine

Field: CSU Fullerton, CSU Northridge, Fresno State, Hawaii, Idaho, Kentucky, Long Beach State, Oregon State, Portland State, Sacramento State, San Diego State, San Francisco, Santa Clara, UC Irvine, UC Riverside

Defending champion: Long Beach State (+39/891) by 12 strokes over UC Davis; UC Davis' Chelsea Stelzmiller (-1/212) by two strokes over UC Irvine's Jane Chin

__Skinny:Wide open tournament but you've got to like the chances of the host Anteaters. __