Cal Poly

With the Baylor Bears achievig the highest ranking in school history on Monday it would have been easy for Scott Drew's team to suffer a letdown against Texas A&M. But the fourth-ranked Bears were ready from the start, scoring the first eight points of the game on their way to a 61-52 win that wasn't as close as the margin would indicate. The Bears shot just 35.7% from the field in the first half but still went into the break with a 30-17 lead thanks to their defense, which limited the Aggies to 21.4% shooting.

While bowl games will garner most of the attention on Monday college basketball won't be taking the day off with leagues transitioning into conference play. One such matchup is the first game of Big 12 play as Texas A&M (9-3) visits Waco to take on #6 Baylor (13-0), and Billy Kennedy's Aggies can definitely use a win for resume reasons.

After both teams won their semifinal games at the CBE Classic in blowout fashion, Missouri (4-0) and California (4-0) should have a stiffer challenge on their hands as they play for the championship in Kansas City. Neither team has much of an issue with playing fast. but given their roots in the "40 Minutes of Hell" system used by former coach Mike Anderson the Tigers could be at an advantage if the pace becomes frenetic.

Cal Poly

CS Fullerton

Long Beach St

UCSB

Other (UC Davis, UC Irvine, CS Northridge, Pacific, UC Riverside)

After going over the teams expected to win their regular season titles, we move on to talking about the top freshmen in each conference. Will all automatically take over and become the stars of their respective teams and leagues? It's tough to say at this point in the season, but that doesn't mean that we can't discuss it. Below are the picks for each of the 32 conferences.

America East: James Kennedy (Boston University)

In the most recent installment in his "Coaching Greats" interview series CHN writer Jon Teitel spent some time with former Cal Poly head coach Jeff Schneider, who led the Mustangs to a conference title in 1996 and won seventy games over five seasons. Coach Schneider, who is now CEO/President of the Big Shots, sent a son (David) off to William & Mary where he became one of the best players in school history.

CHN writer Jon Teitel recently spent some time with Cal Poly great Mike Wozniak, catching up with the sharpshooter on both his career at Cal Poly and some of the things on his plate today. Second on his school's all-time scoring list, Wozniak remains the school's all-time leader in three pointers made. 

Jon Teitel: You grew up in Texas and Indiana. How did you end up at Cal Poly?

Cal Poly

Cal State Fullerton

Cal State Northridge

Long Beach State

Pacific

UC Davis

UC Irvine

UC Riverside

UCSB