We're No. 88!

One can almost hear energetic University of Washington basketball fans chanting this development at next Monday night's season opener against Colgate at Alaska Airlines Arena.

It seems Sports Illustrated, the mother ship, has put together a composite ranking of all 365 college basketball teams and pegged the Huskies to finish right behind Wake Forest at No. 87 and just ahead of McNeese State at 89.

While this preseason projection puts Danny Sprinkle's third UW team squarely in the upper fourth of the college basketball hierarchy, it likely leaves them out of the 76-team NCAA Tournament bracket by a wide margin.

With a third serious roster churn under Sprinkle following the coaching change that brought him here, this sort of placement shouldn't be all that surprising to basketball fans across the city.

The continuously rebuilding Huskies have posted just two winning seasons over the past seven and both were modest 17-15 records. They've been to the NCAA tournament just once in 16 long seasons.

If there's any uplifting news coming from SI's top-to-bottom breakdown of the current college basketball landscape, the Huskies will face the nation''s No. 249 team in Colgate from the Patriot League on opening night.

Seven days later, it gets even better.

On Nov. 9, the UW will host Mississippi Valley State, which is pegged for No. 365.

Rock bottom.

The Delta Devisl are coming off a 3-30 season.

Theyve been deemed the worst team in America for three years running.

Mississippi Valley State, however, has a new coach in Mike Davis, formerly the Indiana leader who took the Hoosiers to the 2002 Final Four and national championship game and a 64-52 loss to Maryland. So there's hope for something better.

Also visiting Montlake over the next two months for non-league encounters are Norfolk State, ranked No. 297 and showing up for a Nov. 29 game; Southern Utah, which checks in at No. 294 and plays here on Dec. 8; Utah Tech, pegged for No. 269 and dressing out on Nov. 19; and Cornell, which fills the No. 203 slot and will test the home team on Dec. 28.

That's six wins Sprinkle should be able to bank on right now, though he would never say as much, while he gets his team up to speed at No. 88, hoping for a lot better.

Looking over these six very low regarded teams coming in, one thing is certain: there will be plenty of good seats available on each night they're in town.