Winless Watch (Boys): Down to eight.

Top story in this week's Boys' Winless Watch is the reduction of WW members from 12 to 8. First, New Harmony falls from the list by sweeping fellow WW member Cannelton on 1/20 and 1/27.

In addition, Morton Memorial posted their first win of the year, beating Indianapolis International 75-64 on 1/18, and have since embarked on somewhat of a tear, winning three of their last four (pending their outcome against Medora on 1/28). Triton Central edged Indianapolis Lutheran 52-50 on 1/21. And the last winless in Class 4A, Floyd Central, edged Jennings County 58-57 on 1/20.

Here's this week's Winless Watch, ranked in order of average margin of defeat:

1. Cannelton (0-15) (-49.4)
2. Howe Military (0-12) (-32.9)
3. North White (0-15) (-30.3)
4. Union (Modoc) (0-14) (-30.0)
5. Southern Wells (0-12) (-22.3)
6. Cowan (0-13) (-20.5)
7. Kouts (0-13) (-13.7)
8. Woodlan (0-12) (-10.2)

Games between WW members remaining:

2/9 - Woodlan vs. Southern Wells
2/21 - Cowan vs. Union (Modoc)

This means there will be a maximum of six winless teams in the state this year, as Woodlan and Cowan will likely fall off. But looking out at the remainder of the schedule, who else has a good chance of winning?*

* - Yes, I know, as long as two teams suit up, any team has the chance of winning against the other on any given Sunday, as they say. But, barring the use of ineligible players by the opponent, mechanical failure on the visiting team's bus or chlamydia outbreak, you can safely say that a team that takes the floor against any of our WW teams has a good chance of coming out with a W. Facts are facts, and the below opinions are mine and mine alone.

Cannelton: The Bulldogs play a Kentucky school called Whitesville Trinity on Feb. 21. They've beaten the Whitesville Trinity-ans the last two years, including last year when they struggled to a 2-19 record. This appears to be the Bulldogs' best shot at a win this year, as their other games include two against the ironically named Restoration Christian Lions (who sport an 8-5 record), the 6-8 Springs Valley Blackhawks, and the 4-9 Evansville Day Eagles. 0-20 is not a sure bet yet for Cannelton, but I'd put money on it, given the less-than-competitive outcome of the bulk of their contests.

Howe Military: The Cadets play a mix of public schools and private schools not part of the IHSAA system. With seven games left, five are against IHSAA schools. This includes 1-10 Central Noble, 7-8 Fairfield, 7-5 Gary Wirt, 9-5 Lakewood Park (who's already beaten Howe by 50 earlier in the year) and 3-9 White's. White's has had the Cadets' number this year, beating them by 27 in their first meeting, but only ekeing out a six-point win in their second meeting. It's hard to beat a team three times in a season, so the third game against White's looks promising for the Cadets. Against the other two teams remaining, the Cadets have won 6 of the last 10 against LaPorte LaLumiere, and sport a 1-6 record against Clinton Christian. It's conceivable that the Cadets could finish the regular season with as many as 2-3 wins.

North White: After enduring three consecutive 0-21 seasons, the Vikings won twice last year, but have yet to break into the W column this season. One of their remaining games is a conference game against 8-7 Frontier, who the Vikings defeated last season. Uh-oh ... the Falcons whipped the Vikings by 43 in an earlier meeting this year. The other games against IHSAA schools include 3-11 Pioneer, 6-9 Twin Lakes, and 7-6 North Judson. The Vikings close against Kokomo Christian, which might be their best shot at a victory.

Union (Modoc): A team that is perennially not very good, the Rockets do have a contest against fellow WW member Cowan on 2/21. The Rockets have split the last six with Cowan, but have not been very competitive this season; the edge in their upcoming contest goes to the Blackhawks due to their homecourt advantage and the fact that they've been slightly more competitive than Union this season. Their game against non-IHSAA school Seton Catholic on 2/17 isn't likely determine whether Union ends up in the W column this season; their other games are against 3-10 Wapahani, 3-9 Hagerstown, and 2-11 Randolph Southern - easily the weakest remaining schedule of the WW members.

Southern Wells: Sitting at 0-12, the Raiders have eight games left, all against IHSAA member schools. 9-4 Southwood and 4-10 Garrett are next on their schedule before their showdown with fellow WW squad Woodlan on 2/9. 6-8 Wabash is next, then 1-14 Blackford, 8-8 Lakeview Christian and 10-6 Mississinewa. The Woodlan and Blackford games are probably the Raiders' best shot at a win this year.

Cowan: As mentioned previously, the Blackhawks will probably be slightly favored in their bout against WW team Union (Modoc) on 2/21. With 6-6 Wes-Del, 3-10 Wapahani, 2-11 Randolph Southern, 10-4 Monroe Central and 8-8 Lakeview Christian also remaining, their game against Union will be critical to their hopes of not ending the season winless.

Kouts: The 0-13 Mustangs do battle with 6-7 Knox next, followed by 2-11 Morgan Township (one of whose wins came earlier this year against ... Kouts), 8-6 West Central and 5-11 Hanover Central. However, Mustang boosters might be licking their chops at the final week of the schedule, when Kouts laces 'em up against the deliciously named River Forest Ingots (1-13) and 2-11 LaCrosse. Look for Kouts to take at least one of the two to get themselves off the list.

Woodlan: The winless Warriors probably have the best shot of our WW group of removing themselves from the list, as they've been competitive in the bulk of their games. Their worst loss has been by 18 to FW Concordia, and they've had two double-OT affairs. In addition to their showdown with winless Southern Wells on 2/9, they also face Harding (8-5), 9-4 South Adams, 6-6 FW Luers, 11-2 Norwell, 3-10 FW Elmhurst, and 4-10 Bellmont (coached by the tastefully named Flava Sirk). The Warriors should finish with at least a couple of wins to their credit this year.

(Special thanks, as always, to the inestimable John Harrell, whose Indiana High School Basketball site is priceless to me when putting together Winless Watch. The man should go into the Hall of Fame someday for his tireless work on compling current and recent Indiana HS hoops info.)