Gary Parrish

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- I'll be spending the next four days less than a mile from Disneyland, where the eight-team 76 Classic has somehow put together the best field of any early season tournament given how all eight schools involved have reasonable expectations to make the NCAA tournament.

Butler is the Horizon favorite, Long Beach State is the Big West favorite, and West Virginia, Clemson, Minnesota, Texas A&M and UCLA are each expected to, at the very least, earn an at-large bid. The only 76 Classic participant not in my preseason Projecting the Field is Portland. But the Pilots are 3-0 and widely viewed as Gonzaga's biggest threat in the West Coast Conference. They already own a win over Oregon. They could get their second victory over a Pac-10 team Thursday when they close the first day of action with a game against Ben Howland's Bruins.

"If you're a collegebasketball fan, this is a great time of the year," said Texas A&M coach Mark Turgeon. "This is a fantastic field. When we [agreed to be a part of it], we knew it was going to be a good field. But they've added a couple of teams since then. There are four teams in the Top 25, and we're not one of them, and we like to think we're pretty good. So it's a great field."

The four Top 25 teams in the field are No. 8 West Virginia, No. 12 Butler, No. 19 Clemson and No. 22 Minnesota. All five power-conference schools involved (West Virginia, Clemson, Minnesota, Texas A&M and UCLA) plus Butler made the NCAA tournament last season. Click this link to check out the bracket.

Here's Wednesday's Dear Gary ...

Dear Gary: Is it me or is the Atlantic 10 doing surprisingly well as a conference so far?

-- Neil

I think it's just you, Neil.

Hard to say a conference is doing well when the team picked first, Dayton, already has two losses, including one on a neutral court to the team picked fourth in the Big 12 (Kansas State). The team picked second in the A-10, Xavier, remains undefeated, but the Musketeers haven't played anybody. The team picked third in the A-10, Richmond, has a loss to William & Mary. And the team picked fourth in the A-10, La Salle, lost by double-digits on a neutral court to South Carolina. So the top four in the A-10 aren't off to great starts, although it's only fair to note that Temple -- with a one-point loss to Georgetown and victory over Siena -- appears to be better than anticipated.

Either way, as a league, the A-10 isn't doing surprisingly well.

I still believe in Dayton, I like Xavier, and I'm willing to give Temple the benefit of the doubt because the Owls have looked good. But when three of the supposed top four in a league already have losses (and the fourth hasn't beaten anybody), it's difficult to get too excited. So let's give it a few more weeks, take a closer look and reexamine it then.

Florida dominated Florida State.

Kim English dominated Chattanooga.

Here's Wednesday's What You Need To Know :

Notable game from Tuesday: Florida took a step toward proving it's on its way back to the NCAA tournament in a 68-52 win over Florida State. Kenny Boynton, Alex Tyus and Erving Walker each scored 13 points, and the Gators -- who led by 20 at halftime -- held FSU to 33.3 percent shooting from the field. Florida is now 4-0 heading into Friday's game against Michigan State. Florida State dropped to 3-1.

Notable performance from Tuesday: I listed Missouri's Kim English as the Big 12's "Breakthrough Player" in the league preview , and he's done nothing to make me look stupid. The sophomore guard got 26 points in a 99-56 win over Chattanooga, this after a 25-point performance against Texas-Pan American. English is now averaging 19.0 points per game and shooting 45.5 percent from 3-point range. The Tigers are 3-0.

Notable game scheduled for Wednesday: Gonzaga and Cincinnati will meet in the championship game of the Maui Invitational with the winner guaranteed a spot in next week's national rankings, and perhaps the loser, too. Gonzaga enters with a 4-1 record (only loss to Michigan State) thanks to Tuesday's win over Wisconsin. Cincinnati is 4-0 with wins over Vanderbilt and Maryland. Tip-off is set for 10 p.m. ET.

There have been lots of winners over the past week thanks to these exempt tournaments.

Syracuse is one.

Purdue is another.

But another team heading into Thanksgiving with high spirits is Kansas State, which beat Boston University and Dayton to finish third in the Puerto Rico Tip-off (ultimately won by Villanova). KSU is now 4-1 with the only loss coming to Ole Miss. The Wildcats play IUPUI on Saturday.

"I feel good," KSU coach Frank Martin said by phone after his team stretched a three-point lead in the final minute and beat Dayton 83-75. "Dayton is a really good basketball team. They won 27 last year and returned their whole team. They're good. ... And I was told after the game that 20 of the past 21 times Dayton has been in a one-possession game with a minute to go, they've won. So for our guys to hang in tough and to, understanding the type of team Dayton is, figure out a way to win is good. We're disappointed that we didn't play for the championship. But in the long-term, in the big picture, we did what we said we were going to do, which is get better as a basketball team."

Among the early bright spots for Kansas State has been Curtis Kelly.

The 6-foot-8 forward transferred from UConn, sat out last season and became eligible this season. He's averaging 13.8 points and 8.0 rebounds per game. He got a season-high 22 points in a 92-54 win over Loyola-Chicago.

"Curt has been absolutely great," Martin said. "And remember, his sophomore year at UConn he dislocated his elbow and missed the last six weeks; he didn't even practice. So for him to be where he's at right now, it's phenomenal."

Here's Tuesday's Dear Gary ...

Dear Gary: What game are you most looking forward to this week? I, for one, am digging my Minnesota Golden Gophers testing out a big-time program in Butler on Thursday night. Your thoughts?

-- Magee

I'll be in Anaheim for the 76 Classic, so I'll see Minnesota-Butler. It should be great, as will the entire event. Six of the eight participants made the NCAA tournament last season, four of the eight are currently ranked in the AP Top 25 (specifically No. 8 West Virginia, No. 12 Butler, No. 19 Clemson and No. 22 Minnesota). So regardless of how this unfolds, it's going to be tremendous. The championship game is slotted for Sunday night. Butler against either Clemson or West Virginia would probably be the most intriguing matchup.

Elsewhere, we could get UConn vs. Duke on Friday night in the finals of the NIT Season Tip-off.

That would be excellent.

Looking forward to Florida-Florida State tonight, too.

Purdue edged Tennessee.

Yancy Gates destroyed Vanderbilt.

Here's Tuesday's What You Need To Know :

Notable game from Monday: Wayne Chism badly missed an open 3-pointer in the final seconds, allowing No. 6 Purdue to escape with a 73-72 victory over No. 9 Tennessee in the championship game of the Paradise Jam. Purdue's E'Twaun Moore (22 points) and Robbie Hummel (20 points and seven rebounds) combined for 42 points. Chism led the Vols with 24.

Notable performance from Monday: Yancy Gates finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds to lead Cincinnati to a 67-58 victory over Vanderbilt in the first round of the Maui Invitational. The 6-9 forward was 7-of-13 from the field, 2-of-2 from the free throw line. Next up is a game against Maryland in the second round of the Maui Invitational.

Notable game scheduled for Tuesday: Texas and Pitt will put their undefeated records on the line when they meet in the championship game of the CBE Classic. The Longhorns are 3-0 and ranked No. 3 in the AP poll. The Panthers are 4-0 and unranked. Tip-off is set for 9:50 p.m. ET.

Enes Kanter, a Turkish standout now playing at a prep school in the United States, verbally committed to Washington on Monday, giving the Huskies one of the best remaining prospects in the Class of 2010.

Kanter reportedly chose Washington over UCLA, Southern California, Indiana and UNLV.

He's a 6-foot-9 forward who rejected multiple million-dollar contracts in Europe to instead come to the United States, play at Stonebridge Prep in California and prepare to be a college freshman next year. Scout.com rates him as a five-star prospect. The site quoted an NBA scout who described Kanter as the "best player born in 1992 in Europe."

Kanter is the second Class of 2010 standout to commit to Washington.

The other is Desmond Simmons, a 6-7 forward from California.

MaxPreps.com ranks Simmons No. 90 in the Class of 2010.

(Note: Kanter's situation was detailed in a CBSSports.com column in August. Click this link to read it.)

I still have North Carolina ahead of Duke in the Top 25 (and one).

I'll explain why in the Poll Attacks .

AP poll: Do we suddenly believe Duke is better than North Carolina?

If so, I'm fine with it.

It's a reasonable opinion.

But most people didn't believe that in the preseason, and the majority of AP voters didn't believe it last week. Still, Duke jumped North Carolina in Monday's AP poll even though the only thing that happened between last week and this week is that North Carolina played Ohio State and Syracuse, i.e., two teams far superior to any team Duke has played. That's it. Thus, I kept UNC ahead of Duke in the Top 25 (and one) because I'm not going to vault the Blue Devils ahead of the Tar Heels -- who beat OSU but lost to Syracuse -- and rearrange the ACC's predicted order of finish simply because Duke's schedule didn't require it to play tough games before Thanksgiving.

Honestly, where would the Tar Heels be with Duke's schedule?

They'd be 4-0, right?

And where would Duke be with UNC's schedule?

Maybe 5-0. But probably 4-1. And perhaps as bad as 3-2.

Either way, if you had UNC ahead of Duke last week, and you moved Duke ahead of UNC this week despite agreeing with me that Duke would probably be no better than 4-1 against UNC's schedule, then your change atop the ACC is based on how the schedule makers at Duke and UNC did their jobs, and little more.

Again, if you think the Blue Devils are better than UNC, that's fine.

They might well be.

But if you only moved Duke ahead of UNC because Duke won last week and UNC lost last week, then your rankings have more to do with the schedules than the teams, and that's crazy.

Coaches poll: So what do you think California has to do to drop out of the rankings?

Losing a key player (Theo Robertson) to injury didn't do it.

Looking awful in two games in NYC didn't do it.

Being 2-2 with no good wins didn't do it.

So what will it take?

No question, Cal could end up being one of the best 25 teams in the country, at which point ranking the Bears 24th might make sense. But the coaches ranking them 24th now makes no sense unless what happens on the court doesn't actually matter. And it's not just that Cal lost; the nation's 24th-best team could reasonably lose to Syracuse and Ohio State. But Cal had no shot in either game, losing to the Orange by 22 points and falling behind by 24 points in the second half of an eventual loss to Ohio State. And though the absence of Robertson is a solid explanation, it's not like Robertson is back this week.

He's out indefinitely.

California should be, too.

Here's Monday's Dear Gary ...

Dear Gary: Can Delvon Roe get some love now?  After you called him out last week, he responded with two double-doubles over the weekend. He grabbed 17 boards on Sunday and played like a man possessed. Also, could you call Derrick Nix out for his free throw shooting?  Seemed to work for Delvon.

-- Greg

I didn't call out Roe in the Friday Look Ahead as much as I expressed how difficult it is to watch him struggle given that he was dynamite before injuries stalled his career. But either way, Greg, you're right. Roe was terrific this weekend, and he deserves to be highlighted for getting 10 points and 11 rebounds in Friday's win over Toledo and 10 points and 17 rebounds in Sunday's win over Valpo.

Like I said, terrific.

I was happy to see it.

As for Nix, man, I don't know what to tell you.

He's 1-of-16 from the line, and I'm not sure how someone who actually plays basketball could miss 15 of 16 free throws in his first four college games. I don't even play basketball, and I could do better. You could literally pull anybody out of the stands at the Breslin Center, and they could better. So I'm not sure what's going on. But if I can help by calling him out, consider it done. Dude is shooting 6.3 percent from the free throw line. That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen.

Some of you have asked why I stopped doing the What You Need To Know post every morning.

The answer: I forgot about it.

Honestly, I just forgot.

But now I've remembered.

So ...

Here's Monday's What You Need To Know :

Notable game from Sunday: Scottie Reynolds scored 21 points to lead Villanova to a 79-67 win over Ole Miss in the championship game of the Puerto Rico Tip-off. Antonio Pena added 17 points and 16 rebounds for the Wildcats, who improved to 5-0 and looked very much like a team capable of returning to the Final Four. Ole Miss dropped to 4-1.

Notable performance from Sunday: Iowa State star Craig Brackins took 17 shots, made 11 and finished with 28 points and 11 rebounds in the Cyclones' 96-55 win over Mississippi Valley State. Brackins, a 6-foot-10 junior, is now averaging 18.5 points and 8.3 rebounds per game. Iowa State is 4-0.

Notable game scheduled for Monday: Purdue is No. 8 in the new Top 25 (and one) while Tennessee is No. 14. The two schools will meet in the championship game of the Paradise Jam in the U.S. Virgin Islands. The Boilermakers are 3-0; UT is 4-0. Tip-off is set for 8:30 p.m. ET.

The Top 25 (and one) has been updated on the college basketball page.

Here's a quick look ...

1. Kansas
2. Kentucky
3. Michigan State
4. Texas
5. Villanova
6. Syracuse
7. Connecticut
8. Purdue
9. North Carolina
10 . Duke
11. Butler
12. Washington
13. Clemson
14. Tennessee
15. West Virginia
16. Ohio State
17. Michigan
18. Louisville
19. Illinois
20. Minnesota
21. Georgetown
22. Ole Miss
23. Maryland
24. Notre Dame
25. Gonzaga
26. BYU

In: Syracuse, Maryland, Notre Dame, BYU
Out: Oklahoma, Dayton, California, Siena
Big rise: Syracuse (from unranked to No. 6)
Big fall: Oklahoma (from No. 15 to unranked)

----- Top 25 (and one) broken down by conference -----

Big East: 7
Big Ten: 6
ACC: 4
SEC: 3
Big 12: 2
Horizon: 1
Mountain West: 1
Pac-10: 1
WCC: 1

The best thing about getting the VCU job as your first job is that it's the VCU job.

It's proved to be a springboard to bigger and better things.

A culture of winning exists around the program.

You're set up to be successful.

But all those things could also be interpreted as bad things for Shaka Smart, because -- as I detailed in a column back in June -- there's nothing simple about being a first-time head coach inheriting a team losing the best player in school history. With Eric Maynor in the NBA, that was the situation Smart walked into, and he knew it. But he also knew the VCU fanbase -- having just watched Jeff Capel and Anthony Grant win consistently -- wouldn't be interested in hearing any excuses for a possible, if not probable, slow start.

"The fans don't care about that," Smart told me this summer, about a month after he was hired away from Billy Donovan's staff at Florida, just like Grant before him. "Their deal is: 'Hey, this guy before you was winning, and we brought you in here to do the same or more.'"

Smart did "the same or more" Saturday night.

His third game as a head coach resulted in an 82-69 win over the 17th-ranked Oklahoma Sooners coached by Capel, whose contract at VCU required him to return to the Siegel Center as a visitor if he ever left for another job. Capel did indeed leave for another job after the 2005-06 season; he replaced Kelvin Sampson at OU. The byproduct (because of the contract) was the Sooners having to serve as the first ranked opponent to ever enter the Siegel Center.

They exited double-digit losers.

Willie Warren missed 11 of 14 shots, including all eight 3-point attempts. The CBSSports.com Preseason First Team All-American battled cramps in the second half, finished with eight points and six turnovers, then sat on the bench with a towel draped over his head and watched the VCU students storm the court and celebrate. Off to the side, Smart mostly remained calm and cool. It was a big win, sure. But as he told me when he took the job, this is what he was brought to VCU to do -- to be successful on a relevant level, to maintain a national profile for the Rams,  to win big games just like his predecessors, and maybe even beat one of them, if possible.

Who's the man most bothered by what happened at Madison Square Garden late Friday?

It has to be North Carolina coach Roy Williams, right?

I mean, Syracuse just ran his team off the court.

But second to Williams, I'm guessing, is Iowa State coach Greg McDermott, whose former player, Wesley Johnson, led the Orange to an 87-71 win over the Tar Heels while establishing himself as the star of a team that has rebounded from the exhibition loss to Le Moyne with wins over the Pac-10 favorite (California) and ACC favorite (North Carolina). Johnson finished with 25 points and eight rebounds against the Tar Heels; he was the best player on the court. When the Orange move into the top 10 of the Top 25 (and one) late Sunday, he'll be the main reason, making it difficult not to wonder if he could've done the same for Iowa State.

Think about it.

How good would a Wesley Johnson/Craig Brackins combo be this season?

Both are possible lottery picks in the 2010 NBA Draft.

Both are All-American candidates.

If McDermott had them to go with Lucca Staiger and Marquis Gilstrap, the Cyclones might've been the smart pick to finish third in the Big 12 behind only Kansas and Texas. As it is, Iowa State was picked eighth. And it's things like these that can change a coach's entire career.

What if Johnson never transferred? Could he have led Iowa State to the NCAA tournament last season? If so, would the "winning culture" created by an appearance have been enough to convince Ames High star Harrison Barnes to reject an offer from North Carolina and play at the school for which his mother works?

Obviously, we'll never know the answers to those questions.

But they are interesting questions, aren't they?

"We're so thankful to have him here from Iowa State," Syracuse guard Andy Rautins told ESPN's cameras right after the win over UNC. "He's helping this team in more ways than we could've imagined."

Indeed, Johnson is doing exactly that.

Now imagine what he could've done for Iowa State.

Alabama wasn't good enough to beat Cornell of the Ivy League but was good enough to snap the Big East's 41-game winning streak to start this season. They topped Providence 84-75 late Friday. Thus, the Big East is now 41-1.

Not bad for a league that was supposed to be rebuilding.

Worth noting is that as many as four Big East schools -- Villanova, Connecticut, West Virginia and Syracuse -- could be in the top 10 of the Top 25 (and one) when it updates Sunday night. Louisville and Georgetown will also be ranked, assuming neither loses this weekend.

St. John's beat Brown.

Seton Hall beat Cornell.

And Syracuse, of course, destroyed North Carolina.

That means the Big East is now 40-0 as a league with three games left tonight. We're waiting on Providence-Alabama, Rutgers-Drexel and South Florida-South Carolina. As I type, Alabama is beating Providence, but Rutgers is up on Drexel. USF-South Carolina hasn't tipped.