It’s Time to Enter Conference Room

Ball State gave us a little bit of March in November by beating Kansas and UCLA on consecutive days.

Kentucky and Duke played an overtime game that will hold up as one of the finest of the season.

But the conference season is here--back to the familiar squabbles and the battles for conference titles and tournament seeding.

An updated glance at the best conferences, rated according to strength based on early season performances, along with title picks and best performers in each league so far:

Big 12--Three teams ranked in the top 10, and more than just top-heavy: Six teams have one loss or fewer--No. 2 Kansas, No. 5 Oklahoma State, No. 10 Missouri, Oklahoma, Baylor and Texas Tech. Particularly impressive: Oklahoma’s 16-point victory over Maryland and a Kansas victory over Arizona in Tucson. Kansas. Best performer: Kansas’ Drew Gooden leads the league in scoring and rebounding.

Atlantic Coast--Duke is the best team in the country, and Virginia and Maryland are also in the top 10. But there have been embarrassing nonconference losses in the ranks. Two big questions: 1) Will somebody beat Duke? (Probably: The likelihood of going undefeated is always overestimated. Seton Hall and Kentucky already had shots at Duke, and last season the Blue Devils lost to North Carolina, Virginia and Maryland in ACC play. 2) How bad is North Carolina? At 3-5, the first losing record since 1962 is a possibility. Best performer: The Blue Devils’ Jason Williams. No argument.

Pacific 10--Arizona’s stunning early season run after three NBA defections made big news, starting with upsets of Maryland and Florida. But after a 30-point loss at Oregon, defense and scoring depth are major issues, and Luke Walton’s shooting will be scrutinized all season. Stanford is solid despite loss to Brigham Young. UCLA and USC are erratic as usual. Keep an eye on Oregon and California. Best performer: Arizona’s Jason Gardner could have the kind of season Jason Terry did a few years ago.

Southeastern--The early leader in the conference RPI ratings, but that should be taken with a grain of salt because of scheduling. Still, Kentucky is surging after an early loss to Western Kentucky, and might be Duke’s challenger again in March. Watch for two raucous Kentucky-Florida showdowns, and figure Georgia and Alabama are the best of the rest with Tennessee looking like an underachiever again. Best performer: Kentucky’s Tayshaun Prince, whose body is on its way to catching up with his skills and savvy.

Conference USA--Marquette, Cincinnati, Louisville and Memphis are off to good starts. But Cincinnati is the favorite to emerge as champion in a conference that includes two former NBA coaches with Rick Pitino at Louisville and John Calipari at Memphis. Best performer: It’s not Memphis super-freshman Dajuan Wagner, but Cincinnati’s Steve Logan. Logan averages 23 points to Wagner’s 22 and contributes almost five assists a game.

Big East--Boston College, Miami, Syracuse and Georgetown are Top 25 teams, and Connecticut could be joining soon. The league owns a 6-2 mark against the Big Ten--but the Big East’s record against Top 25 teams is only 3-8. Best performer: Boston College’s Troy Bell is among the nation’s top scorers, averaging almost 24 points. He scored 42 against Iowa State.

Big Ten--Illinois might be starting to come around, but the Illini have been a disappointment after being ranked second in the nation. A victory over Missouri along with Wisconsin beating Marquette saved some face, but it hasn’t been an impressive early showing for the Big Ten, especially away from home. The bottom half of the league is particularly weak this season. Best performer: Iowa’s Reggie Evans averages a double-double at 18 points and 12 rebounds.

Atlantic 10--St. Joseph’s and Temple--both in the Top 25 earlier--have fallen out of the picture. (A loss to troubled North Carolina finally knocked out St. Joseph’s.)

Temple has lost a stunning seven games--but it’s a mostly impressive group: Florida, Maryland, Duke, Villanova, Alabama, Memphis and DePaul. Best performer: At the moment, La Salle’s Rasual Butler--averaging almost 25 points and 10 rebounds with four consecutive 30-point games--gets the nod over Temple’s Lynn Greer.

Mid-American--Ball State gave the MAC its big splash, and although unbeaten Butler has grabbed attention for the Horizon, the MAC is the choice here. Bowling Green is also drawing notice. Best performer: Bowling Green’s Keith McLeod leads the league in scoring and steals with almost 22 points and 21/2 steals a game--and he averages four assists as well.

West Coast--This is an arguable pick at No. 10 ahead of the Mountain West and Missouri Valley. But Little Brother has fared well against the Pacific 10. Gonzaga swept Washington and Washington State. Pepperdine swept UCLA and USC, though the Waves have been erratic. Best performer: Gonzaga’s Dan Dickau. Who knew when he transferred from Washington he was taking a big step up?