Darren Collison News

According to various reports, 2010 big man Josh Smith has decided to play his college ball at UCLA.

His voice carries above the squeak of sneakers, the chatter of players, echoing into the corners of a mostly empty Pauley Pavilion.

In the wake of UCLA's close call against Concordia -- a 62-61 victory at Pauley Pavilion Wednesday -- Coach Ben Howland and his team had some thoughts about backcourt play, perhaps the most troubling aspect of a bumpy night.

Some of the finest players in college basketball gathered near Dallas this August for a five-day camp sponsored by adidas, and many in attendance agreed that the best guard in that group may have been UCLA sophomore and former Riverside North star Malcolm Lee.

'Others receiving votes' in Thursday's release of the preseason Associated Press basketball poll ... UCLA.

As various Pac-10 head coaches and media members took their seats at the conference media day luncheon, the UCLA table filled up so fast the Bruins required two.

California was picked on Thursday to win the Pac-10 basketball title, marking the first time in more than 10 years that UCLA or Arizona wasn't the top choice.

Today, we continue our conference countdown. We're working backward, from our No.

Sophomore Jerime Anderson, expected to be UCLA's starting point guard, missed the first official practice because of a strained left groin.

UCLA guard Jrue Holiday sends his regards ... from Philadelphia, where the former Pac-10 All Freshman Team guard is now working his way into the 76ers rotation.

The Pac-10 has churned out NBA guys at an alarming rate over the past couple of years.

Coach: Ben Howland . Last season's record: 26-9 overall, 13-5 in Pac-10 . Postseason: Lost in second round of NCAA tournament to Villanova.

When coach Byron Scott's 3 1 2-hour practice on the first day of training camp was finally, mercifully over, Darren Collison walked around the court with ice packs attached to each calf.

With Stanford in this grouping, we decided to put our Nos. 10, 11 and 12 picks in the same story, because three schools were practically even in the competition for the final spot in the top10 men's basketball programs of the decade.

If you like what you read here, check out my blog Ballin' is a Habit . During the 2007-2008 season, the Pac-10 was arguably the nation's best conference.

If you want to familiarize yourself with a number of this season's top storylines, don't leave your house on Nov.

UCLA's Malcom Lee takes the top spot, followed by Oregon's Michael Dunigan , Washington State's Klay Thompson , Cal's Patrick Christopher and Washington's Quincy Pondexter .

In our effort to provide you with all the info you'll need heading into the 2009-10 campaign, we put together 25 players whom you may not know yet - but will need to for this season.

Sean Marks played in a career-high 60 games with the Hornets last season and had single-game career highs for points, blocks, steals, assists and minutes played.

In college sports, no good idea goes un-stolen. That's why the "ACC/Big Ten Challenge" has company for conference showdowns in November and December.