The game of the night pits two of the top three in the SEC, who also happen to be interstate rivals separated by just 180 miles. The Big East provides some interesting match-ups as usual, and there’s a nice one to check out in the WAC for those up late. On to the games…

#13 Marquette (13-2 overall, 3-1 Big East) at Louisville (12-4, 2-1) – 6 PM CST, ESPN2 – Louisville is finally starting to show some signs of life, and this home game against the ranked Golden Eagles is a great chance to loudly announce their return. The guard play for Marquette makes them a scary squad for anybody to face, so the Cards will have to shut down the backcourt in this one.

#14 Vanderbilt (16-1 overall, 1-1 SEC) at #7 Tennessee (14-1, 2-0) – 6 PM CST, ESPN – Game of the night, without a doubt. These two teams have met 171 times in the last 86 years, but this is the first time since 1968 that both schools have been ranked on game night. The winner of this one takes control in the SEC East…at least until they meet again on February 26th.

George Mason (11-5 overall, 3-2 CAA) at Hofstra (3-11, 1-4) – 6 PM CST, ESPNU – It’s been an off season for Jim Larranaga’s bunch, but tonight should be a cakewalk of a win on the road in the CAA.

#21 Rhode Island (15-2 overall, 1-1 A-10) at Saint Louis (9-7, 0-2) – 7 PM CST, CSTV – Saint Louis scored only 20 points against a pretty awful George Washington team last week, so this home game against the Rams shouldn’t be pretty. Rhode Island hopes to keep rolling and take advantage of the stumbles by Xavier and Dayton last night.

Central Arkansas (11-5, 1-1 Southland) at UT-San Antonio (6-8, 0-1) – 7 PM CST, FSN Southwest – Unless you went to one of these two schools, I don’t see why you’d be watching it. But it’s on TV in the Austin area, so it’s listed for those of you who might be into that kind of thing. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

#8 Indiana (14-1 overall, 3-0 Big 10) at Minnesota (12-3, 2-1) – 8 PM CST, ESPN – Minnesota has put together a nice start under new coach Tubby Smith, but they haven’t faced anything like E-Giddy and D.J. White yet.

Ohio (10-5 overall, 1-1 MAC) at Akron (12-3 overall, 2-0 MAC) – 8 PM CST, ESPNU – With Tennessee/Vandy on at the same time, even Kyle Whelliston won’t be watching this MAC showdown.

Full Court is packed to the gills, so get your hoops fix tonight before the abysmal Friday night schedule comes calling.

Providence (11-5 overall, 2-2 Big East) at Connecticut (11-4, 2-2) – 6 PM CST – The Friars are right in the thick of it! With a strong RPI and SOS, plus a chance to shine in an average Big East, Providence can play their way into the tourney. Of course, UConn might have something to say about that in Storrs tonight

St. John’s (7-8 overall, 1-3 Big East) at West Virginia (12-4, 2-2) – 6 PM CST – Thuggins has skinny, white Beilein players actually buying into what he’s teaching, and he’s got WVU in position to make a run. A home game against the Red Storm shouldn’t be too much of a hassle, but with the way things are going in the Big East this year, you can’t ever be sure.

South Florida (10-7 overall, 1-3 Big East) at Seton Hall (10-6, 0-3) – 6:30 PM CST – Seton Hall is much better than their 0-3 record in the conference would indicate, and they’ve got this one in the brand spanking new Prudential Center. The Bulls have their work cut out for them against a desperate Pirate team tonight.

Oregon (12-4 overall, 3-1 Pac-10) at Washington (9-7, 0-3) – 8 PM CST – Remember when Washington was being talked about as a potential seventh or eighth NCAA bid out of the stacked Pac-10? That seems like ages ago, as the Huskies have scuttled against a fairly stout schedule and are sitting just above .500 on the year. Oregon has also had its stumbles, but needs to win games like this one to keep the resumé from getting too messy.

Boise State (12-4 overall, 3-1 WAC) at Utah State (12-5 overall, 2-0 WAC) – 8 PM CST – I still haven’t had a chance to watch the Broncos, but they are certainly jumping out to a great start in league play. One might think that the New Mexico State Aggies are the WAC front-runners with Herb Pope and Hatilla Passos now ready for action, but the Broncos could be playing spoiler. Oh, and they’ve got the USU Aggies in this one.

Thursday means new power rankings, and we’ve got ’em hot and fresh. Texas barely stayed in ESPN’s Power 16, hanging on to the 16th slot by the hair of their chinny-chinny-chin. A&M dropped out as a result of the demoralizing loss to Tech last night, while Kansas ascended to the #1 slot just ahead of Memphis. Vandy still isn’t getting any love, but if they can knock off the Vols, who are #5 in this week’s power rankings, the Commodores should jump quite a few teams.

Luke Winn still doesn’t have his rankings up, but we’ll get those linked up tomorrow morning if he does in fact publish them later this afternoon.

I mentioned earlier this week that I have been included in a college hoops blogpoll, and here are the newest rankings. These reflect the games through Monday night, so the losses by A&M, Dayton, and Xavier were not considered. Long-time readers of this site know how much I love crunching the numbers, so my votes favor the mid-majors a little stronger than others may have. Based simply on the numbers, I probably could’ve voted Texas higher than 19th, but until I see them put together another 40 minutes of good basketball, I have to treat the current Longhorns as a completely different team from the one that put together that solid resumé at the end of the year.

Kevin McCarthy over at Parsing the WAC has this interesting find, where conference officials have told Utah State students that their chants are too offensive and could result in a team technical. I might expect this from a tiny conference on the East Coast, but big-time college athletes have to be used to hearing every sort of awful thing someone could conceive of. I guarantee you that Tyler Hansbrough has heard opposing students mention every type of sexual act imaginable involving his mother, father, dog, cousin, uncle, and any other family member. But the ACC doesn’t come down on those students — or, God forbid, the Cameron Crazies — and you don’t see this knee-jerk reaction in the SEC, Big 10, or Big 12 either. There are four-year olds saying “suck,” for Pete’s sake. Do we really need conference offices drawing lines on something this benign?

It was an exciting night in college basketball, with a bunch of upsets and a few close calls for top teams. When all was said and done, Bobby Knight earned his 900th win, the Big 12 was a bigger mess than before, the A-10 saw a little bit of a shake-up, and the top of the ACC was able to hang on for dear life.

#1 North Carolina 83, Georgia Tech 82 – Georgia Tech came into this game as the worst defensive team in the ACC, but their offense proved enough to hang with the Heels all night long in Atlanta. The game came down to the final possession, but Zack Peacock had a shot blocked and missed a jumper from the elbow, allowing UNC to escape with perfection intact.

#2 Memphis 77, Rice 50 – Memphis kept its own perfect season intact, although they did it with much less drama than the Tar Heels. The Tigers’ stifling defense forced 29 turnovers in this one, allowing them to easily roll to victory despite a season-low 37% shooting performance. CDR finished the night with 16 points, while Joey Dorsey led the glass-crashing with 14 boards.

#5 Duke 70, Florida State 57 – The Seminoles kept up with Duke for most of the night, but the Blue Devils’ poise proved too much in the final minutes. Duke iced away the road win with solid free throw shooting as the clock wound down, allowing Coach K to overcome a poor start from his starters, who combined for only eight points in the first half.

Texas Tech 68, #9 Texas A&M 53 – Lubbock is clearly a House of Horrors for the Aggies, regardless of sport. The Red Raiders worked their way to a 15-point halftime lead and even expanded it out to 23 points midway through the second half, completely dominating the Aggies all night long. The win was #900 for legendary Coach Bob Knight, who took the mic after the game just long enough to give a backhanded compliment to the fans for finally attending a game. The stat that tells the story for the sloppy Aggies is this — they made only 18 field goals on the night while turning it over 20 times.

#15 Mississippi 89, Florida 87 – Ole Miss twice squandered big leads at home against the two-time defending champs, including a meltdown situation with a frustration technical. But the Rebs were able to hang on for dear life despite missing eleven free throws, keeping them within striking distance of Mississippi State in the SEC West.

Massachusetts 82, #18 Dayton 71 – The Minutemen shook things up in the A-10, taking out the Flyers and leaving the door open for Charlotte to slip into first place. UMass wasn’t rattled on the road, earning their first victory over a Top 25 team in nearly two years.

Temple 78, #20 Xavier 59 – Temple took a two-point lead with twelve minutes left and expanded it into a lopsided 19-point victory over the 20th-ranked Musketeers. The Owls shot 13-of-27 from three-point range and were led by Dionte Christmas, who scored 23 points in the upset win.

#21 Villanova 76, DePaul 69 – The Wildcats withstood a barrage of first-half threes from DePaul before making a steady comeback in front of a packed house at The Pavilion. Villanova had a ridiculous 43-20 rebounding advantage in this one, forcing the Blue Demons into one-and-done possessions nearly every time their threes didn’t fall. Now back at .500 in the Big East, Villanova faces a real test in a road game with Syracuse on Saturday.

Virginia Tech 70, Virginia 69 (OT) – This one isn’t Top 25 or Big 12, but it was an exciting enough game to warrant a mention. The interstate rivalry was so hard-fought that they needed an extra five minutes to sort it out before a crazy last possession finally anointed the Hokies with a victory. First there was an offensive rebound for Virginia Tech but after the ensuing missed shot the ‘Hoos fumbled a rebound which rolled out of bounds and gave V-Tech the ball back. Deron Washington took advantage and drove in for a tricky layup, giving the Hokies a buzzer-beating overtime win on the road.

Iowa State 72, Missouri 67 – Does anyone in the Big 12 want to win a game away from home? The two Kansas teams are the only squads to record a road victory in the league’s first 11 games, with Iowa State’s victory over Mizzou being the 9th win for a homestanding team. Missouri clawed back from huge deficits in this one and had the game within their grasp in a crazy final minute, but the ‘Clones held them off for their first league victory.

#5 Duke (13-1 overall, 1-0 ACC) at Florida State (12-5, 1-1) – 6 PM CST, ESPN – Florida State has been hanging around the second tier of the ACC, and they have a history of jumping up and surprising teams in Tallahassee. An upset tonight would be the feather that their cap has needed, while further muddling the middle of the ACC picture.

Virginia Tech (10-6 overall, 1-1 ACC) at Virginia (10-4, 0-1) – 6 PM CST, ESPNU – This interstate rivalry is a pretty fun one to watch, and the Hoos will be pressing for their first conference win. Jones Arena — one of the nicest new basketball palaces in the country — should be absolutely rocking tonight.

#1 North Carolina (17-0 overall, 2-0 ACC) at Georgia Tech (7-8, 0-2) – 8 PM CST, ESPN – UNC is still undefeated and rolling through the ACC, and tonight shouldn’t slow that train down at all. Hansbrough is thisclose to averaging a double-double per game, so if he cleans up on the glass tonight he can crack that magical 10 RPG mark.

DePaul (7-8 overall, 3-1 Big East) at Villanova (11-3, 1-2) – 8 PM CST, ESPNU – These guys are playing again already? Back on January 3rd, the Blue Demons opened conference play with an upset win over the Cats in Chicago. This time, Nova gets to play in the friendly confines of The Pavilion, and they will be looking to bounce back from a confusing loss to Cincy this weekend.

Tulane (10-6, 0-2 C-USA) at Tulsa (8-5, 0-1) – 8 PM CST, CSTV – Can CSTV get back to broadcasting A-10 games instead of this crap?

#9 Texas A&M (15-1 overall, 1-0 Big 12) at Texas Tech (9-6, 0-1) – 8:30 PM CST, ESPN2 – Much like in the Florida State game, Lubbock is a dangerous place for top-ranked teams to come play. The students at Tech come out in force for big opponents — particularly the Aggies — and Bob Knight seems to always be able to coax upset wins out of his average teams. This year the Techsters are pretty abysmal, though…can they somehow pull out another miracle?

If that’s not enough hoops for you, there’s a ton of action on Full Court, although some of it might’ve been better left to radio. Or no media coverage at all.

Rutgers (8-9 overall, 0-4 Big East) at Syracuse (12-5, 2-2) – 6 PM CST – Rutgers is quite possibly the worst team in the conference, while ‘Cuse looks like they could be a sleeper in this wide-open league. Please be gentle, Coach Boeheim.

Towson (6-9 overall, 2-3 CAA) at UNC-Wilmington (9-8, 2-3) – 6 PM CST – I’ve had my calendar cleared for months for this barnburner.

Missouri (11-5 overall, 1-0 Big 12) at Iowa State (10-6, 0-1) – 7 PM CST – Mizzou looks to keep the momentum going after their upset win over the Horns on Saturday. Iowa State shouldn’t prove too much of a challenge in Ames tonight, setting up next weekend’s Border War as a game for the league lead.

Albany (7-9 overall, 2-2 America East) at Boston (4-11, 1-2) – 7 PM CST – There is one team in the America East conference with a winning record, and that is Maryland-Baltimore County, who is 11-6 against a schedule ranked 231st. Why is this conference included in the Full Court package?

St. Francis, PA (3-13 overall, 1-4 NEC) at Mount St. Mary’s (7-9, 3-2) – 8 PM CST – Who would win if the America East and Northeastern Conferences met in an epic battle of suck?

Baylor 79, Oklahoma State 71 – Oklahoma State lost their 15th-consecutive road game and possibly their leading scorer at the Ferrell Center in Waco. James Anderson left the game with an ankle injury midway through the second half and never returned, leaving Sean Sutton’s bunch in a lurch. The win for Baylor gave them their best start since the 1945-46 season, one in which the Bears finished with a solid 25-5 mark.

Colorado 55, Nebraska 51 – Doc Sadler’s Cornhuskers entered conference play looking to be on their way up in the conference, having logged wins against Arizona State and Oregon in the first half of the season. But Nebraska shot only 34% on the road in Boulder last night, losing to what will likely be the worst team in the conference when all is said and done. With their next three games against Baylor, Kansas, and Mizzou, things could get ugly in a hurry for the Cornhuskers if they can’t defend home court against the Bears.

#11 Michigan State 66, Ohio State 60 – The Spartans opened up a massive 21-point lead but let Ohio State crawl their way back into it as the game wore on. MSU shot only 39% and struggled without Raymar Morgan, who battled foul trouble all night and was limited to 19 minutes of play. It was a character-building victory for the Spartans, who badly needed a bounce-back win after the debacle at Iowa.

#17 Wisconsin 80, Penn State 55 – The Badgers stormed out to an 18-2 lead and dominated the Nittany Lions the whole way, moving to a perfect 4-0 in Big Televen play. Wisconsin hit 10-of-18 from behind the arc on a night where they couldn’t seem to miss, and Michael Flowers had a career-high 23 points in the win.

#23 Clemson 70, NC State 54 – Clemson’s nosedive hasn’t quite yet hit full speed, as the Tigers righted the ship with a convincing win on their home floor. Duke is next on the sked for Clemson, giving them a chance to silence all the critics with a meaningful January victory.

Boston College 76, #24 Miami (FL) 66 – The Golden Eagles won their 13th-straight game against Miami, knocking the Hurricanes from the polls as soon as they had arrived. Frank Haith’s squad was ranked 3rd in the ACC in three-point percentage heading into this one but shot a paltry 8-of-26 in the losing effort. In addition to dropping the ‘Canes to .500 in league play, the road loss prevented them from matching the best start in school history.