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With the first month of the college basketball season concluded, this is a good time to recognize some of the top players throughout the country. With that in mind, CHN writer Jon Teitel gave his all-conference selections for each conference (and independents, which includes the Great West in this piece).

America East
G Darryl Partin Boston University
G Justin Edwards Maine
G Gerardo Suero Albany
F Ben Dickinson Binghamton
F Chase Plummer UMBC

The final night of the Big Ten/ACC Challenge will also boast a matchup of Top 10 teams as #7 Wisconsin (6-0) takes on #5 North Carolina (5-1) in Chapel Hill. Roy Williams' Tar Heels are coming off of a disappointing second half in Las Vegas on Saturday as they fell decisively to UNLV. With a trip to Kentucky next on the schedule it might be a good thing for North Carolina that the in-between game isn't one of the standard "avoid the letdown" variety, so they should be ready to go.

The title game of the Old Spice Classic may not be the kind of matchup that leads off SportsCenter like say, North Carolina/Kentucky next week, but it is a contest that we could look back on in March when discussing tournament resumes. Dayton (4-1) and Minnesota (6-0) meet in the title game, with both surviving a pair of close games to reach this point.

Just over a week ago there were many questions about the Mississippi State Bulldogs in the aftermath of their loss to defending MAC Tournament champion Akron, one that featured listless play from their big men and uneven play from their guards. But just as Rick Stansbury's team can be a bit maddening in one week they can be just as productive the next, which is what happened in New York this week.

After wins over Belmont and Presbyterian moved Mike Krzyzewski into a tie with Bob Knight for the most wins in college basketball history, many at Madison Square Garden were hoping that the Duke head coach would become the record-holder with a win over Michigan State on Tuesday night. But while some went as far as to almost assume the game to be a coronation of sorts, Tom Izzo's Spartans refused to back down.

The Gonzaga Bulldogs have some impressive offensive performers that Washington State likely made themselves very aware of in preparation for their game at midnight. Elias Harris and Robert Sacre are formidable frontcourt players while Marquise Carter is a jet-quick point guard who is more than willing to attack defenses. But if the Cougars had a plan for how to slow down freshman guard Kevin Pangos it sure didn't look like it.

One big reason why so many were hesitant to peg Vanderbilt for a trip to the Final Four has been their toughness, of both the mental and physical variety. After being able to run freely around the floor for much of their 78-64 win over Oregon on Friday night, those spaces closed up a great deal against Cleveland State on Sunday. And to be frank the Commodores didn't handle it well, shooting just 29.4% from the field in the first half and trailing 37-24 at the break.

The Non-BCS Top 25 is a weekly companion to the popular CHN Top 50 ranking, taking an in-depth look into the underrated universe of teams outside of the big six.

Non-BCS Top 25: November 9th

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The college basketball season finally got underway on Monday night with three games featuring squads that will be in New York next week for the 2K Sports Classic Benefitting Coaches vs. Cancer. All three favorites, Arizona, Mississippi State and St. John's, won but predictably there were signs of rust. That comes with the territory, but what are some of the things that can be learned from these games? Here are a few basic observations for each of the six teams in action.

One question that seems to float around college basketball on an annual basis is the "how will they replace..." inquiry. That could apply to just about any player, from a key sub to a starter to a conference player of the year honoree. But the danger of using the word "replace" is that sometimes the departed players is too difficult to account for by simply plugging someone else into their role.