"We hope so," said Amaker, Seton Hall's fourth-year coach.

Much of the credit for Tulsa's return trip goes to the fourth-year coach Orlando (Tubby) Smith, who is quickly making a name for himself.

Bruce Coslet, the Jets' fourth-year coach, was simply looking to survive.

"We never even had a 900-point scorer, let alone a 1,000-point scorer," said Bill Scarlata, the fourth-year coach.

Paul Evans, the fourth-year coach, said that this season he finally has his type of players.

Sherri Coale, the Sooners' fourth-year coach, was the coach at Norman High School then and remembers the climate.

'Little Bird' "Nadav does everything well," said Jim Calhoun, the Huskies' fourth-year coach.

On November 27, a 13-7 win over Wake Forest gave Friedgen his 36th win as head coach, which made him the winningest fourth-year coach in conference history.

"One day I wake up and I'm happy to have time to prepare," Gonzalez, Manhattan's fourth-year coach, said yesterday.