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No. 2 Holy Cross at No. 1 Bucknell, 4:30 p.m. (ESPN2): So whaddya know, here we are again. As Yogi would say, it's like deja vu all over again.

For the fifth time in as many years, and the 10th time in the league's short 16 season basketball history, Bucknell and Holy Cross meet in the Patriot League Tournament. No two other teams have met in the tournament more often. Bucknell holds a slim 5-4 edge in the previous nine playoff meetings between the two.

It's the second straight year, third overall, the Bison and the Crusaders will meet in the final. The other time was in 1993, when Holy Cross came into old Davis Gym and knocked off Bucknell for the crown. Last year the Bison returned the favor, winning in Worcester.

Given the history, it comes as no surprise that these two are meeting in the postseason. They have done so six of the past seven years. Matter of fact, almost anybody who doesn't wear brown and yellow expected this game to be played on March 10 since before the first ball was thrown up back in November.

The storylines abound here. HC's Kevin Hamilton and BU's Charles Lee, the two best players in the league, and two of the best in the history of the league, meeting in their final league game. The mirror image point guard matchup between Bucknell's Abe Badmus and Holy Cross' Torey Thomas. The two coaches with the most career PL tournament wins in the Bison's Pat Flannery (15) and the Crusaders' Ralph Willard (12). The only two teams in league history to win a postseason game. The league's two best defenses. Kevin Bettencourt of Bucknell facing his big brother's old team.

It's pick an angle, any angle.

For all the similarities, though, there are some very big differences. Differences between the two teams. Differences between this year's scenario and years past.

In those two previous title bouts, the two teams came in very evenly matched. In both cases they split the regular season series and in both cases, on paper, they looked very close.

You'd have had a difficult time making an unrebuttable case for either team in both of those years. Holy Cross fans like to paint last season's Bucknell win as a big upset, hanging their hats on the Crusaders' better regular season record, especially in conference play, where Bucknell finished 10-4 to Holy Cross' 13-1. But those two teams were not three-games apart. Matter of fact, throw out Bucknell's little midseason swoon, which happened to coincide with the absence of both the team's head coach and the loss of its starting power forward, and it is not hard to argue Bucknell had the better regular season, with wins at Pitt and at Saint Joe's.

Those two teams were very close. Aside from the game being played in Worcester, it was hard to assign either a significant edge. They were the same way back in '93.

Holy Cross fans point to both games as sources of inspiration. The '93 game proves they can win at Bucknell, they argue, last year's game proves a road team can win in the final.

The differences, though, are too big to ignore. Bucknell is deeper, more experienced, better in the frontcourt and healthier in the backcourt. The Bison are, as their record, including a sweep of the regular season series, shows, quite simply the better team.

Those purple faithful like to point to the second of those two games, a come-from-behind 57-52 Bucknell win in Worcester, as evidence that they are capable of playing with Bucknell. A more realistic interpretation would be that it was a game that showed Bucknell could beat HC in its own building, even when the Bison did not play at the top of their game.

On top of that, they are playing in their own building, which will be packed with over 4,000 fans, 90 percent of whom will be doing their utmost to be bad hosts. Its a building where the Bison lost once all season -- to No. 2 Villanova, a building where they have won 26 in a row against other Patriot League teams.

No sense getting into discussions about what if Pat Doherty didn't have that bad foot, or what if the rest of Crusaders had been healthy all season. Woulda, coulda, shoulda. None of that matters here.

There is no doubt Bucknell is the better team this year. That has been established. Matter of fact, they have proven themselves to be the best team in league history. Pick a team, any team, from the league's past or present, this Bucknell squad would win at least 7 or 8 out of 10, even if you play 5 on each team's floor.

Does that mean Bucknell can mail this one in? Of course not. Holy Cross is a good team, with some extraordinarily good players. In this era of the three-point shot, almost anybody can pull off an upset if they can enough treys. The Crusaders have guys who can shoot the rock, and they play tough defense that ought to keep them in the game. It would be an upset. A big upset. Maybe the biggest in league final history. But it is not out of the question.

It's just that for Holy Cross to pull off the upset, it will have to play a near-perfect game and hope that Bucknell does not bring its A game.

Don't believe us? Then ask Holy Cross coach Ralph Willard. In his latest post over at CoachRalph.com, Willard puts it like this:

We have no margin for error, as Bucknell is too deep, too talented and too well coached for it to be otherwise.

There are those who would tell you all the pressure is on Bucknell. It is hard to see how that is the case. Bucknell already knows this won't be its last game. As regular season champions, they are guaranteed no less than an NIT berth, and most supposed experts are saying the Bison make the Big Dance even if the stumble in the final.

Holy Cross, as Willard said, has no margin for error. For the Crusaders, a loss means time to get out the golf clubs. Their only chance of postseason play is by beating Bucknell.

Even if it is the other way around, Bucknell has a veteran squad that has faced adversity and tough opponents all season long and has shown a knack for handling the pressure of close games in hostile environments. The same five that will start Friday's game started against Kansas last March in Oklahoma City.
Bucknell notes | HC notes | Eric Thomas preview | Boston Herald preview | Tom Housenick column (Daily Item) | USA Today matchup | HC radio| Bucknell Radio

BONUS READS:

Bettencourt, Bucknell eye the big dance (Salem (Mass.) News)

Time Out (Emotional story on the Goodman quadruplets by David Jones of the Patriot-News -- you might need a tissue for this one)