It’s not exactly a night that will keep you glued to the couch, which might seem obvious when Ohio State and Illinois play in the headliner…

Top 25 Action

Ohio State (13-3 overall, 3-2 Big 10) at #25 Illinois (15-3, 3-2) | 7 PM ET, ESPN
Bruce Weber and the Illini have bounced back from an awful 2007-08 season much faster than anyone might have expected, but a tough stretch to open conference play has left them in the middle of the standings. Ohio State finds itself in the middle of that same pack, but enters tonight’s game in Champaign as winners of five straight against Illinois. The Buckeyes will have their work cut out for them, however, as they are ranked 250th in the country in offensive rebounding and are facing the nation’s 10th-ranked defense.

North Carolina State (10-5 overall, 1-2 ACC) at #2 Duke (16-1, 3-0) | 8 ET, ESPN Full Court
Duke has been playing absolutely lights out as of late, most recently shutting down Georgetown on Saturday afternoon at Cameron Indoor. They are sporting an NCAA-best +0.345 efficiency differential, just ahead of their Tobacco Road rival, North Carolina. In simpler terms, the Blue Devils outscore their opponents by 0.345 points per possession, which means that even if the Wolfpack can slow things down to their tempo, they will only lose by……approximately 22 points. Uh oh.

Big 12 Games

Colorado (8-8 overall, 0-2 Big 12) at Texas Tech (10-7, 0-2) | 8 PM ET, ESPN Full Court
It’s a game matching two teams that have the potential to be the absolute worst squads in the Big 12! If that doesn’t scream “must watch,” I’m not sure what else does. Perhaps a marathon of the Ryan Seacrest-produced reality show, Momma’s Boys?

Around the country

Tennessee (11-5 overall, 2-1 SEC) at Vanderbilt (12-5, 1-2) | 9 PM ET, ESPN
Last year, these two teams put on one of the most exciting games of the season, as the Commodores eked out a three-point win over their cross-state rivals, who had just reached No. 1 for the first time in school history. This year, there’s not nearly as much on the line, but excitement is still on tap. Just ask stat guru Ken Pomeroy, who hopes his new FanMatch feature can pinpoint the most intriguing match-ups of the night. And according to Mr. Pomeroy’s brand-spanking-new ranking system, this particular Battle of Tennessee has a 71.7% chance of kicking major ass. Guaranteed.

Bill Self might be in trouble for saying hello to recruit John Wall. Really? AAU coaches and family members of recruits are hired on staffs or paid to speak at camps and clinics, and this is what catches the NCAA’s attention? Basketball recruiting needs some cleaning up, but this kind of crap is not what they should be focusing on. Hell, if the Dallas Morning News could dig up the dirt on the Big 12, then certainly the NCAA could do some actual good instead of policing interactions like the one Self and Wall had.

Andy Glockner debuted his Bubble Watch this week, with seven Big 12 teams worthy of consideration in the field of sixty-five. OU is his only lock thus far, but Baylor and Texas sit just outside that coveted circle at the moment.

Don’t look now, but St. Joseph’s might be hitting its stride as A-10 play kicks off. The Hawks certainly aren’t a candidate for an NCAA at-large bid at this point, but they’ve opened league play at 3-0 and are helping Texas’ computer numbers with every win. The Atlantic 10+4 is clearly Xavier’s to lose, but St. Joe’s has the luxury of only having to play the Muskies once in the league’s unbalanced round robin — and the Hawks get to host the game at their temporary home, The Palestra.

#4 Pittsburgh Panthers 78, #8 Syracuse Orange 60 – Pitt bounced back from their first loss of the season in convincing fashion, blasting the visiting Orange at the Pete on ESPN’s Big Monday. The Panthers were able to overcome Andy Rautin‘s five three-pointers by dominating on the glass, outrebounding their opponents by a 37-24 margin. DeJuan Blair was an unstoppable force, posting 20 and 12, while Sam Young came alive in the second half to lead the team with 22 points.

Kansas Jayhawks 73, Texas A&M Aggies 53 – The Aggies were the last visiting team to win in Allen Fieldhouse, all the way back in February of 2007. But Texas A&M stole that game behind the heroics of Acie Law, who they sorely missed in last night’s contest. The Jayhawks owned this rematch from start to finish, thoroughly dominating the contest much more than the 20-point margin would indicate. The Kansas D forced 20 turnovers on the night and held every single Aggie player to eight points or less.

Texas slid in this week’s polls as a result of its meltdown in Norman last Monday night, dropping to 14th in the AP and 15th in the ESPN/USA Today rankings. The Sooners and Longhorns are the only Big 12 teams in the AP poll, while Baylor clings to 23rd in ESPN’s rankings after their road loss to A&M last Wednesday. Kansas and Missouri also received votes in both polls.

Joe Lunardi’s latest Bracketology has the Horns dipping to a 4-seed and playing their first two games in Portland. After a nice trip to Spokane two years ago for the NCAA tournament, we’d love another roadie to the Pacific Northwest. But, of course, the selections are still two months away, and absolutely anything can happen.

We’ve had our share of interesting moments in the O-Zone over the years, including the time former OU guard Bobby Maze had to be held back by a teammate during pre-game warm-ups. Even more intense was the incident with a Colorado forward (who will remain unnamed) that exchanged shoves with a Texas student during the 2003-04 season. But nothing that’s happened in the Erwin Center can hold a candle to the video below, where a Clemson student tackles Chas McFarland. Good thing it wasn’t Ron Artest…

The Texas Longhorns are coming off of their most embarrassing performance of the season, a 78-63 defeat at Oklahoma that had Coach Rick Barnes so disgusted that he benched most of his starters for a majority of the first half. Unfortunately, the next game on the schedule for the reeling team is a trip to Lubbock, historically one of the toughest road environments in the conference for ranked squads. The Longhorns learned that first-hand last season, as their eight-game conference winning streak came to a crashing halt with an 83-80 loss at United Spirit Arena.

This year, Pat Knight’s Red Raiders were picked to finish 10th in the conference by the media, but showed grit and determination in their conference-opening loss to Baylor last Saturday. They have struggled for much of the year and don’t pose a huge threat on paper, but much of this Tech team is the same that pulled off last year’s upset. And considering that the Longhorns have shown a tendency to play to the level of their opponents this season, they cannot afford to let Tech keep it close.

The starting five

In the backcourt, John Roberson is making huge strides in his sophomore campaign. His 14.4 points per game are tied for team-best, while his great court vision has led to more than six assists per game. The young guard is lightning quick and can absolutely thread the needle with entry passes, so the Longhorns will have their hands full with him this afternoon.

Alan Voskuil was a thorn in the side of the Longhorns when they met here last March, leading the Red Raiders with 18 points, including a perfect 10-of-10 from the line. This season, he has picked up where he left off, knocking down 45% of his three-point attempts while averaging 14.4 points a game. One problem Tech often runs into is that the team will hit cold spells and look solely to Voskuil to hit a shot to break the skid. If he is missing his shots, the Longhorns can focus more on their post defense — an aspect the Horns have excelled at for most of the season.

In the post, D’Wayln Roberts has taken on a much larger role in his second season at Tech. Last year, he averaged just over 11 minutes a game off the bench, but has started all 16 contests this year. He’s one of the few rebounders on a team that is often getting demolished on the glass, so he will be called on to hold his ground against the Longhorns today.

Hailing from just outside Kansas City, Robert Lewandowski is making a huge impact as a freshman. He’s shown a knack for getting in excellent position for entry passes, and is great at scoring with his back to the basket down low. As a freshman, there isn’t a huge book on him yet, but one of the knocks on his play is a weakness on the glass. Lewandowski is the tallest significant player on a rather undersized Tech team, but he ranks only eighth on the squad in rebounds. As with Roberts, Lewandowski will have to step up against a Texas team that is solid on the glass. Otherwise, they will have far too many empty possessions to stay in the game.

Michael Prince earned his first start of the season against Baylor, and it was easy to see why. He’s a high-energy player who is excellent on the defensive end, and he can attack the rim off the dribble even though he’s a lanky forward. He did miss six games with a foot injury earlier this year, though, and Coach Knight thinks that Prince is still only at 80%. Texas is likely going to focus a ton of attention on Roberson and Voskuil today, so if Tech is hoping for an upset, Prince could well be the X-factor.

Off the bench

Mike Singletary and Nick Okorie are also likely candidates to earn that fifth starting slot, as the pair have combined for 14 starts on the year. Okorie is an amazing find for Tech, a JuCo All-American last season who is just as fast as Roberson. He knows how to get to the rim, can hit from outside, and is just as adept as Roberson at slipping passes past the defense and into the post.

Singletary was a starter for half of last season, and has been shuffled around the lineup this year. But he has made significant contributions this year, even when coming off the bench. He’s an undersized forward, but is leading the team in rebounds and is third in minutes despite only making four starts.

Esmir Rizvic is also back this month for his final semester of eligibility. After having his face shattered two years ago by the flailing elbows of Longar Longar, Rizvic applied for a medical hardship to earn another half-season of play. The NCAA showed its miniscule soft side and granted the request, allowing Rizvic to participate in conference play this year. He’s not going to see a ton of minutes at this point, as Coach Knight hopes to work him up to game shape. But on a team with a still-developing inside presence, the 7-foot Bosnian could provide some much-needed relief.

Keys to the game

On paper, this is a game that Texas should easily win. And despite the fact that the Longhorns have won 19 out of 22 against Tech in the Rick Barnes era, the fact remains that United Spirit Arena is a tough place to play. In all honesty, Texas just needs to execute the fundamentals to win this one, which means that today’s keys are incredibly simple.

Control the glass – Texas is a much better rebounding team than Tech, but also took 13 minutes against Oklahoma to secure their first offensive rebound. Their lack of offensive boards also led to a meltdown in the second half, so the Longhorns can’t afford to have a repeat performance against the Red Raiders.

Win the turnover battle – Tech is a very sloppy team with the ball and averages more than fifteen turnovers per game. Texas has had its own ball-control issues, but still has coughed it up less than twelve times per contest. The Longhorns can really squash any upset hopes by scoring points off of turnovers and not giving up any easy transition looks.