So it's April, and spring football is over. The aluminum wands at Olsen Field have yet to conjure up any magic.

"Now forming at the north end of Notre Dame Stadium" won't kick up the goose bumps for over four months.

What are Aggie fans to do?

The remedy is simple: Head over to the Varsity Tennis Center and take in Texas A&M's most entertaining spring show, the mix of brash and bash known as men's tennis.

This is not strawberries and cream at Wimbledon or croissants courtside at the French Open.

It's Jimmy Connors at night at the U.S. Open. It's John McEnroe waving the American flag at the Davis Cup. Better yet, it's the red-hot Aggies vs. anybody.

"It's not a wine-and-cheese crowd," says A&M offensive coordinator Steve Kragthorpe, a Varsity Tennis Center regular in between spring football practices. "It's a beer-and-Copenhagen crowd."

Indeed, A&M men's tennis coach Tim Cass and his skyrocketing program are beginning to lay the groundwork for a special sports atmosphere, similar to what happened at Olsen Field 15 years ago.

The common denominator between the baseball and men's tennis crowds is a boisterous atmosphere combined with nationally-ranked A&M teams capable of playing with anybody on the schedule. So far in 2000, A&M has beaten five ranked teams, including No. 4 Pepperdine and No. 3 Florida.

On March 31, the Aggie netters won their biggest match ever, rallying to beat then-unbeaten and second-ranked Pepperdine. A record crowd of 610 roared on every point, as the Aggies knocked off their second top-four opponent in three weeks.

"We don't see enough Davis Cup on TV, but anyone who has seen Davis Cup on TV can relate to the cheering and how boisterous you do get in support of your country," said Cass, now in his fourth season as head coach. In college tennis, you're representing your university, your community and your state, and you're also playing as a team.

"We are ahead in our sport (in crowd atmosphere), and I believed it was a niche that we could create here to recruit the best kids in the country. We had to figure something out that UCLA, USC or Pepperdine couldn't do."

What the Aggies have done on the court in the Cass era has been impressive. Now a top 25 mainstay - and ranked ninth in the latest polls - A&M has won: a national tournament in doubles, the 1999 World Team Tennis national championship, a Big 12 Tournament title and boasts of the nation's second-ranked singles player, junior Shuon Madden. As if Cass hasn't done enough in recruiting the last three years, he just signed the nation's top high school senior, Tres Davis of Austin St. Stephen's.

Davis will arrive on campus next fall and join an A&M team that loses none of its top six singles players in 2000-2001.

Is a run at a national title next year in the cards?

"If you ask me, I think we have a good shot at it this year," said Madden, appropriately nicknamed 'Mad Dog.' "I think we've gotten better in a short period of time. Our program is developing a lot. All the players are happy, and when everybody's happy, good things will happen.

"That's going to play a huge factor if we host a regional, especially with the type of crowds we've been getting at this place. It's a fact nobody likes to come here and play. Top-five teams don't like it, and I guarantee teams ranked below us don't like it. One of the coaches I was talking to this summer, he was pretty worried about coming here to play. He said it was like a lion's den. That's the kind of the word that is going around."

Madden is the king of the den - and the din - when he takes to singles action. He plays to the crowd on big points and keeps tabs on his teammates during matches like a grizzly sow watches her cubs at the salmon pool.

And while No. 2 singles star and fellow doubles partner Dumitru Caradima is as solid as they come and players like Cody Hubbell, Keith From, Jarin Skube and newcomer Ryan Newport are up-and-comers down the line, Madden clearly is taking this program to heights it has never experienced.

Madden's competitive fire is so intense and engaging that Kragthorpe is planning to bring the Aggie quarterbacks over for a lesson in grit and guts. Last year, Kragthorpe urged his receiving corps to go watch Madden, and sure enough, Chris Cole was spotted at the Pepperdine match last month.

"If you want to see the most competitive player on this campus, go watch Shuon Madden play tennis," said Kragthorpe, whose sons are part of the ballboy brigade at the Tennis Center. "He plays hard and is a team player. I enjoy going out there and watching them because it's a great environment. (Fans) have no idea what they're missing. Those QBs have got to get out there."

The Aggie basketball team already is, and in full force. Aaron Jack and Jason Boeker often lead the shenanigans from court to court. Once Skube sewed up the victory over Pepperdine with a sizzling cross-court return in a tie-breaker, Jack and Boeker were the first to mob him and the rest of the Aggies courtside.

"That's one of the best feelings I've had since I got here two and a half years ago," Madden said of the celebration after the Pepperdine match. "All of the athletes here at A&M are pretty close. It's nice to have some of your fellow athletes rooting for you. They make it real special. They get things started up there, and they should take pride in that because they help us win."

The Aggies won't win the Big 12 regular season championship this spring, but still have the Big 12 Tournament, NCAA Regionals and NCAA Tournament remaining.

If A&M can remain in the top 14 in the rankings, the Aggies likely will host one of the 16 four-team regionals May 12-14. The 16 winners advance to Athens, Ga., for the NCAA Tournament. Hosting a regional could be the next taste of big-time tennis at the Varsity Tennis Center in a do-or-die format. In 2002, the ultimate elimination rounds come to College Station, as A&M will host the men's national championships that spring. It will be only the second time in the last 20 years that the University of Georgia will not host the event.

"I certainly can imagine if we host the (regional), we'll get a great turnout," said Cass, who is one of the eight members on the NCAA Tournament selection committee. "When I had the opportunity to come here, I thought there was untapped potential in a big way. I thought this was 10-fold a better community as far as support and loyalty compared to Albuquerque, New Mexico and the University of New Mexico.

"The first thing we really tried to do was get people involved, and we had to wait patiently for the facility to be done. We had some special crowds last year, but I think the (Pepperdine match) was the first match that really had a lot of drama. I think it was a very good introduction to what it could be like."

Men's tennis won't ever attract the attention and interest that football, baseball and basketball generate.

But just because the sport is a non-revenue sport, that doesn't mean A&M fans won't get their money's worth at the Varsity Tennis Center.

"I remember my freshman year, we didn't get that many people over at Omar Smith," Madden said of the old A&M tennis center. "Coach Cass and Coach (Scott) Treibley have done an unbelievable job promoting their program. It keeps developing more every day. People like to come out and watch fun things, but they also want to see the school win. I think we're doing a good job of that right now."