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In his latest installment in the "Coaching Greats" interview series, CHN writer Jon Teitel spent some time with Pete Gillen. Coach Gillen led programs at Xavier, Providence and Virginia before moving over to the media side of things to call games for CBS College Sports. At Xavier Coach Gillen led the Musketeers to six conference titles and seven NCAA Tournament appearances in nine seasons at the school before moving on to Providence.

Jon Teitel: Your first coaching gig in college was as an assistant at Hawaii, where one of your fellow assistants was Rick Pitino.

Overall Rank: #126

Clemson

Duke

Florida St

Georgia Tech

Maryland

Virginia Tech

Wake Forest

Other (Boston College, Miami, NC State, Virginia)

Al-Farouq Aminu (Wake Forest - 16.0, 11.0, 1.5)

Luke Babbitt (Nevada - 21.3, 9.7, 1.9)

Jordan Crawford (Xavier - 19.7, 4.8, 2.8)

Sylven Landesburg (Virginia - 18.1, 5.2, 2.9)

Greg Monroe (Georgetown - 15.4, 9.5, 3.6)

Isaiah Thomas (Washington - 17.4, 4.4, 2.6)

Klay Thompson (Washington St - 21.1, 4.8, 2.5)

Willie Warren (Oklahoma - 16.2, 3.5, 4.2)

Elliot Williams (Memphis 19.2, 4.3, 3.9)

Other (Davis, Ebanks, English, Fortson, Green, Rosario, Thompkins, Walker, White)

In order to enjoy success against the top-ranked Texas Longhorns you have to hold your own on the boards. Kansas State, hosting their first matchup of Top 10 teams in school history, may lack in sheer bulk when compared to the Longhorn front line but they had to match (or exceed) the intensity of the visitors if they were to pull off the upset. And thanks to Jamar Samuels and Curtis Kelly they did just that, leading the way in the Wildcats' 71-62 win in Manhattan.

Betting odds are a great guide to college basketball entertainment. Unlike fans, who often ride the wave of media predictions, betting lines tend to be a bit more focused and can give you an objective picture of how teams matchup (though lines too can get caught up in the wave of human emotion).

 

Monday's a quiet day on the schedule with many sports fans paying attention to the Patriots/Saints game in New Orleans. But there's also the first game of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge with Penn State visiting Virginia in what should be an even contest. Two of the better players in college basketball who aren't talked about often, PSU's Talor Battle and Virginia's Sylven Landesburg, will face off in Charlottesville with the Big Ten needing a good start in this event.

Virginia 79, Rider 46

#24 Syracuse 95, #12 Cal 73

#5 Kentucky 102, Sam Houston State 92

San Diego State 86, Santa Clara 53

With UNC rebuilding and Duke lacking depth, the ACC is more wide-open then its been in quite some time. Adding to the intrigue are top-notch prospects like Derrick Favors, Michael Snaer, and John Henson.

 

Ranking players is more art then science. How do you compare the potential of freshmen with seniors who have already peaked? How much does physical talent come into play versus intangibles and experience? How big a role do numbers play?