The ol' college try with superteams

NBA teams are starting to look like men’s rec softball teams that pick up a couple of ringers to add to their roster for a tournament.

Houston, of all teams, thinks adding Chris Paul to a roster headed by James Harden will be just what the Rockets need to challenge the Warriors.

(Never mind the picture of them fighting over the ball at crunch time).

Pairing Paul George with Russell Westbrook in Oklahoma City — at least for a year — means Kevin Durant’s former sidekick might not have to average a triple double just for the Thunder to have a chance each night.

(Meanwhile, the Warrior brass strokes its collective chin and murmurs, “Nice try, fellas.”)

IMAGINE IF this could take place in the college game, most notably the West Coast Conference?

No matter how good Saint Mary’s and BYU are, they are not going to beat Gonzaga on a regular basis.

But what if they had a little help?

Take this past season, for example.

Zag coaches said they were glad to see Santa Clara guard Jared Brownridge finally graduate, as he was one of the top individual players they faced over the past four years.

But privately, they were probably also glad he was playing for Santa Clara, so no matter how much damage he did, the Zags still had enough overall firepower to beat the Broncos.

But suppose he could have been acquired by, say, Saint Mary’s or BYU?

Saint Mary’s is a strong team, solid fundamentals, a system team that’s fun to watch.

But against a more athletic team — Arizona, in the second round of the NCAAs, or Gonzaga in WCC and conference tourney play — good shots were harder to come by, and the Gaels came up a little bit short.

Maybe Brownridge, who can create his own shot, provides that X-factor that pushes Saint Mary’s a little deeper in the tourney.

Same with BYU. Offense wasn’t a problem for the Cougars — defense was. Perhaps Brownridge provides that toughness that makes BYU a little tougher to drive the ball against.

NOW, THE WCC might be a bad example, as most of the best players in the conference already play for the top three teams.

What about the Pac-12, where Arizona and UCLA made it to the Sweet 16, and Oregon advanced to the Final Four?

Combine UCLA’s guards and savvy forwards with Oregon’s wings and rim protectors, and maybe we have a different national champion.

Arizona had talent -- Arizona always has talent -- but adding a floor leader to make sure all the stars got their shots, and maybe adding an inside scorer and another shooter, could have kept the Wildcats in the tourney longer.

Put Huskies freshman point guard Markelle Fultz on a team with experienced players elsewhere, but needing someone to run the show, and who knows?

Gonzaga fans don’t need to be reminded who won the national title, but what if North Carolina’s bigs were complemented by, say, Duke’s guards?

The idea of superteams in college makes more sense now, in the one-and-done era, where teams show promise for one season, but you never know how good they could be in the next year or two or three because the studs are long gone by then. Might as well load up and see what happens.

Kentucky comes the closest to doing that right now, and has had a lot of success and lottery picks with it, but has just one national title to show for the one-and-done approach.

The one year some of their top players stuck around for a second or third year, they remained undefeated until an upset loss in the Final Four.

Yes, I know it’s a radical idea, college teams loading up. The sanctity of the college education, and all that.

It’ll never happen.

Just like freshman eligibility, one-and-done, two and out, power conferences ...

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 664-8176, Ext. 2019, or via email at mnelke@cdapress.com. Follow him on Twitter@CdAPressSports.