Like it or not, Texas Tech basketball coach Bob Knight will soon make history.

Boo him, if you must, when he brings his Red Raiders to Fort Worth Wednesday night to play TCU. But it won't change the fact that Knight needs only six wins to surpass Dean Smith as college basketball's all-time victories leader.

North Carolina's Smith retired in 1997 with 879 wins and is almost universally liked. The often irascible, always controversial Knight is one of sport's most polarizing personalities.

Just two weeks ago, the 66-year-old coach sparked passionate national debate by "popping," "flipping" or "quickly lifting" the chin of Tech player Michael Prince.

"I think there are records of ability and records of longevity," Knight says. "I wish I had some kind of record because of ability, rather than longevity."

As for how the rest of the country feels, Knight, as usual, says he couldn't care less. It doesn't faze him that most fans probably associate him more with the late Adolph Rupp, the curmudgeonly Kentucky coach who with 876 victories sits between Smith and Knight.

"Rupp wasn't a real friendly guy," notes a smiling Knight.