Seems like the men’s basketball teams Northern Colorado and Montana may have suffered from the same problem last weekend, just on different nights.

Seems like head coaches Tad Boyle of UNC and Wayne Tinkle of UM were at least partially victimized by the same long-standing problem for all coaches.

Their players read newspapers and watch television.

That’s all it takes athletes of all ages, but probably moreso those college age and younger, to start thinking they are better than they really are, almost invincible.

The Bears were undefeated going into their game at Montana State Friday night, while the Cats went into that game with a 2-3 overall record, and had lost by 23 at Oregon, a team rival Montana had beaten by double digits just a few nights earlier in Eugene.

So did the Bears overlook the Bobcats? Seems likely, given the fact that MSU dealt on them to an 87-63 tune.

Problem is, the Grizzlies saw that Bozeman score before they played UNC Saturday night, and shortly after they clubbed Northern Arizona by nearly 20. They came out flat while UNC came out on fire, desparate to rebound from Friday night’s debacle in Bozeman.

The result? A double-digit win over the Griz on their home court, probably huge in the long-term scheme of things for both UNC and UM.

When will it ever end? When will athletes stop turning press clippings and TV video bites into sure wins? Probably not in my lifetime.

The bad habit is as old as Napoleon and the ancient Romans. It’s human nature. It happens, and has happened, far more than coaches would like.

Whoever solves the problem and writes a how-to book will be a rich man or woman.

But then, where would the excitement of upsets be?

- Bill Schwanke