No one would have figured that tomorrow's game between Tulane and New Orleans would feature a pair of unbeatens.

Dave Dickerson's Tulane club is 3-0 with an easy victory over Auburn. First-year New Orleans head man Joe Pasternak's team is 2-0 after pulling out arguably the biggest upset of the young season at N.C. State.

Both programs have obviously had to overcome plenty of adversity in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

"I don't know how much it means to the city," Dickerson said. "But it's a huge game for both programs. Both programs have signature wins and both are undefeated. It's a huge game."

Dickerson's team returns seven of its top nine players from a year ago and has a realistic chance to finish second behind Memphis in Conference USA.

"The best part of this team is finally having a sense of normalcy," Dickerson said. "The last two years, due to Hurricane Katrina, we haven't had that."

No one - except for maybe the Privateers players - went into their game against N.C. State expecting to win. Pasternak, a New Orleans native whose parents lost their home due to Katrina, has just eight scholarship players and watching his five seniors celebrate after the victory was special.

"Our guys played hard for 40 minutes," Pasternak said. "It was unbelievable to see the jubilation in their eyes after the game."

Dickerson is in his third season since taking over at Tulane, but admitted that "it feels like it's his first year."

"No head coach or program should have to go through what we've gone through," he said.

Pasternak said the renovations at Lakefront Arena have begun and everything should be ready to go for May.

"They are pulling out the seats now," he said. "It'll be huge for the players and for recruiting. We'll also have a brand-new locker room with a film room. It'll be spectacular."

DUQUESNE ROLLING

While we're on the subject of overcoming adversity, we may as well touch on Duquesne.

The Dukes had to deal with the shooting prior to the start of the season a year ago that left five players with gunshots.

Duquesne is 4-0 for the first time in 21 years.

Somehow, this is a team that was picked to finish 11th in the Atlantic 10. Coach Ron Everhart had arguably his two top players sitting out last season - point guard Kojo Mensah and athletic big man Shawn James - and he's also added a pair of talented freshmen who have wasted no time making an impact.

The 6-foot-10 James has been battling tendonitis, but he's still averaging 13.3 points, 6.0 rebounds and 5.5 blocks while playing 21 minutes per game. Everhart continues to rotate five guys in and out at a time this season - and 10 players are logging between 14 and 22 minutes per contest.

Mensah, a transfer from Siena, is coming off a game in which he had 20 points and 13 boards in a victory at Oakland.

"He's the motor that gets us going," Everhart said of Mensah.

Two freshman who have exceeded expectations thus far are wing Billy Clark and Damian Saunders. Clark is the team's top perimeter shooter and second-leading rebounder while Saunders leads the team in rebounding.

RANDOM NOTES: Marshall coach Donnie Jones got a nice early Thanksgiving gift the other day just hours before playing East Tennessee State. Jones found out that point guard Darryl Merthie was cleared by the NCAA. The Thundering Herd went out and won it overtime. Merthie finished with 10 assists and sent the game into overtime with five seconds left. ... BC junior guard Tyrese Rice admitted he hears music in his head while he's playing. ``I listen to so much before the game that it's still playing in my head," Rice said. ... Everhart said that Stuard Baldonado, who was kicked off the team following a drug arrest, will likely go back to Miami and play for an NAIA school or attempt to play somewhere professionally.