Thursday means new power rankings from CNNSI and ESPN, and the start of conference play also means previews from all sorts of sites around the web. Let’s take a quick run through the new stuff…

Texas moved from 13th to 12th in this week’s Power Rankings at ESPN. Hubie Davis still has the Horns slotted in 5th (huh?), while Fran Fraschilla takes a break from his usual Big 12 love-fest to drop the Horns to 15th in his ballot. Other voters varied, with most putting the Horns between 10th and 13th.

CNNSI’s Luke Winn moved Texas from 16th to 13th this week in his rankings, but spent the comment section going on about how Georgetown commit Greg Monroe was recruited by various coaches. Hey Luke, thanks for reminding Texas fans about how we missed out on the guy. Really appreciate it.

Lunardi put out his newest Bracketology on Monday, but it’s worth a link today. Joe has Texas as a 2-seed still, but their stock is dropping. Looking around at the Big 12 teams in the mix, it’s refreshing to see that someone has noticed Texas A&M’s weak-ass non-conf schedule to date — Lunardi has them slotted as a 4-seed. Oklahoma (7-seed) and Baylor (12-seed) are on the rise, while Kansas continues its death grip on a 1-seed. As for disappointing K-State? One of the eight bubble teams headed towards the NIT, according to the Bracketologist.

March Madness All Season, the preeminent college hoops blog, comes through again with a solid big conference breakdown. They’ve got OU as a sleeper team, and I’m in complete agreement. Jeff Capel has the Sooners playing great basketball after falling on their face against SFA, and I like them to earn that 4th bye slot in the post-season tourney. Be sure to check out this link, as it is a great primer for all of the great hoops headed your way from the major conferences.

Rush the Court put out their own Big 12 breakdown, and it’s worth your time to check it out. They’ve got the conference with five NCAA bids, and I’m generally in agreement. I think that K-State has a very good chance to play their way in, as they get two games against both Colorado and Iowa State. One thing that jumps out from RTC’s handy table is just how ugly the bad losses are in this conference this year. Hell, if all of Oklahoma State’s poor games were put on the page, it might just break the internet’s tubes.

Don’t forget that Longhorn Sportsline with Rick Barnes airs live at 7 PM on the Longhorn Radio Network tonight from the Pluckers West Campus location. We’ll be grabbing a table around six, so swing by, say hey, and have a few drinks. If you’re elsewhere in Texas, check the affiliate list from TexasSports.com to see if it’s on in your area.

It’s going to be a busy night preparing for tomorrow’s trip to Missouri, but I’ll try to get the Tigers pregame and Big 12 preview ready to be auto-posted while I’m at the McJob tomorrow. Get excited, hoopheads. Conference play is here!

A ton of Top 25 action last night, but no huge surprises along the way. The Tennessee/Ole Miss game was everything we wanted it to be — and how! — while there were a few upsets near the bottom of the rankings. The Big 12 had the night off, as all teams prepare for their league openers on Saturday. On to the scores…

#1 North Carolina 93, UNC-Asheville 81 – Not even a 7-foot, 7-inch giant could stop Tyler Hansbrough from throwing it down on Wednesday night — supposedly the first dunk on Kenny George in three years — and the rest of the Bulldogs were just as ineffective against the Heels. The win wraps up UNC’s non-conf slate at a perfect 15-0 to go along with their one ACC win over Clemson this past Sunday.

#2 Memphis 99, East Carolina 58 – The domination of C-USA began with a complete demolition at FedEx Forum last night, as the Tigers held ECU under 40% shooting and boasted a +21 rebounding margin. The game was so frustrating for the Pirates that coach Mack McCarthy earned two technical fouls in the second half and missed the last twelve minutes of the game.

#7 Duke 74, Temple 64 – Coach K earned his 787th victory in defeating the Owls, putting him only eleven wins behind Eddie Sutton. As well as things are going over at USF for Bitter Beer Face, Coach K could pass him up sometime this season. His first chance for #788 comes in Duke’s ACC opener against Virginia on Sunday night.

#9 Tennessee 85, #15 Ole Miss 83 – The Game of the Night certainly lived up to its billing, as the final minute was a flurry of action leading up to Tyler Smith’s game-winning layup with 4.2 seconds to go. The Rebs missed a ton of shots in their last possession, but constantly grabbed the offensive boards to keep hope alive. Kenny Williams even worked his way to the line with 31 seconds to go, but missed the front end, setting up the Vols’ game-winning possession.

I’ve been in Thompson-Boling Arena as a visiting fan, and I can attest that the Vols have one of the most overlooked home-court advantages in the country. Mississippi may have lost their perfect season, but hanging tough in this arena — particularly the fight they showed in clawing back from a 12-point second-half deficit — exhibits a ton of poise that is going to be huge when the calendar turns to March.

#12 Vanderbilt 80, South Carolina 73 – While Ole Miss couldn’t keep their perfect season alive, the SEC still has one representative among the unbeatens after the Commodores took care of business. Shan Foster struggled through his worst offensive game of the year, scoring only 13 points for Vandy, but A.J. Ogilvy picked up the slack with 25 of his own. Vandy has a monumental showdown with Tennessee next week, but they can’t overlook a road game in Rupp against Kentucky on Saturday.

#18 Pittsburgh 79, South Florida 66 – Pitt withstood a test on the road, holding off a hot South Florida team to earn their first win in Big East play. The Panthers led by as many as 17 with only four minutes left on the clock, proving that they still plan on contending in a topsy-turvy conference. Sam Young paced Pitt with 22 points on the night, while freshman Gary McGhee saw his first action in six weeks.

Charlotte 82, #19 Clemson 72 – Is this it? Has the Clemson collapse finally begun? They looked good in pushing UNC to the wire on Sunday night, but this result was far from expected. Is this a letdown loss after the tough game against the Heels, or are the Tigers about to jumpstart their annual January nosedive? A salty Florida State team visits Clemson on Saturday, so Oliver Purnell needs to right his team’s ship immediately.

#22 Dayton 92, #20 Rhode Island 83 – The Rams put on a second-half surge, but the Dayton Flyers defended their home court to earn a victory in the A-10 opener for both teams. Rhode Island was down thirteen in the second half, but whittled the Flyer lead to only three before Dayton shut the door. As long as the Flyers take care of business against SLU and UMass over the next week, the January 24th showdown with Xavier will be epic.

Arizona State 64, #24 Arizona 59 (OT) – A win over a team barely in the Top 25 isn’t usually worth of a court rush, but I’ll forgive Sun Devil students for this one. ASU’s victory was their first in 13 tries against the Wildcats, and it even took an extra five minutes to find a winner. It’s tough enough to have that much futility against a school, but it’s ten times worse when it’s a rival (see: OU/Texas football, 2000-04). The kids were surely partying late last night in Dirty Scottsdale.

#25 Xavier 83, St. Bonaventure 68 – The X-Men won their fifth-straight game, but coach Sean Miller was frustrated with the win. The Muskies allowed St. Bonaventure to hit eleven threes against their vaunted defense, enough to give them a scorching 61% mark behind the arc. Xavier was led by B.J. Raymond and C.J. Anderson, who both chipped in 21 points on a night where the offense actually had to carry the load. I have a feeling that the pitiful Fordham Rams are going to have a very tough game against an angry Musketeer squad on Saturday.

The game of the night is in the SEC. I know it’s hard to believe in a year that the league is abnormally weak, but it is really, truly the case. It’s only on ESPN Full Court, but I believe that they are giving a free preview that package on Time Warner Cable this week. It might be the same on other providers as well, so check out your channel guide and see if you can watch the FC ones.

On to the listings…

UNC-Asheville (11-3) at #1 North Carolina (15-0) – 6 PM CST, ESPNU – The Tar Heels’ non-conf schedule this year makes me tubgirl, but it’s not really Roy Williams’ fault that Kentucky turned out to be such a bust. Tonight should be another cakewalk for the Heels as they prepare for the meat of the ACC schedule.

#7 Duke (11-1) at Temple (6-6) – 6 PM CST, ESPN – Holy shit, Coach K is playing a road game outside of conference! Well…sort of. This one’s in the Wachovia Center, and I can pretty much guarantee that the hometown Owls won’t have more than 50% of the crowd.

#20 Rhode Island (14-1) at #22 Dayton (12-1) – 6 PM CST, CSTV – The A-10 is regaining relevance this season, and these two teams are a big part of the reason why. If you haven’t seen the Rams or Flyers yet this season, be sure to check this one out. (Replays at 11 PM CST on CSTV)

#18 Pittsburgh (12-2) at South Florida (10-5) – 6:30 PM CST, ESPN2 – Without Levance Fields and Mike Cook, nothing is going to be easy the rest of the way for the Panthers. A few weeks ago, this looked like an easy win on the schedule, but now there’s no such thing as a sure bet. Pitt is going to have to win the games they should win if they want to stay near the top in the Big East, and that starts tonight. (Replays at 11 PM CST on ESPNU)

For those with ESPN Full Court…

George Mason (10-4) at Delaware (6-7) – 6 PM CST – With the URI/Dayton game on at the same time, there’s no reason you should be watching this unless you’re an alum of one of the two schools.

Georgia Tech (7-6) at Georgia (8-4) – 6:30 PM CST – It’s a rivalry game from the Peachtree State, but with the Yellow Jackets struggling, this one has lost much of its luster. On the plus side, maybe it will be competitive this year.

Rutgers (8-7) at Providence (9-5) – 6:30 PM CST – Who’s going to be 0-3 in the Big East by the end of the night? My money is on the Jersey Boys.

Syracuse (12-3) at Cincinnati (6-8) – 7 PM CST – Syracuse should roll to 3-0 in the conference with this one. Hell, the ‘Cats just lost by 12 to St. John’s. Not the kind of year Cincy fans were expecting back in November…

#15 Mississippi (13-0) at #9 Tennessee (12-1) – 7 PM CST – Although it’s better for the Texas RPI if the Vols are to win this, you can’t help but pull for the undefeated Rebs. We’ll see tonight just how real Ole Miss is, and it’s a shame this thing isn’t on one of the major networks.

The early games left a lot to be desired on Tuesday, but the nightcaps provided a handful of contests that went down to the wire, including a potential top-ten upset.

#3 Kansas 90, Loyola (MD) 60 – The Jayhawks were without Mario Chalmers, but against the over-matched Greyhounds it didn’t make a difference. Sherron Collins led the way with 18 points, while Brandon Rush took only seven shots on the night. KU opens up their Big 12 slate on Saturday on the road against Nebraska.

#6 Michigan State 78, Purdue 75 – Purdue’s Keaton Grant missed a three-pointer to tie the game with six seconds left and Sparty hung on for a conference victory at home. MSU had a comfortable nine point lead at half, but the Boilermakers clawed back and found themselves down only one point with 29 seconds left. But then, Spartan point guard Travis Walton improbably hit the clutch shot to give Coach Tom Izzo all the lead he would need. State travels to Iowa on Saturday night, looking to move to 3-0 in the Big Televen.

#8 Georgetown 76, DePaul 60 – I mentioned in yesterday’s TV listings that DePaul could possibly hang with the highly-efficient Hoyas at home, but Georgetown was having none of it. They absolutely burst out of the gates, shooting a scorching 66.7% from the field while holding the Blue Demons to a paltry 21.2% as they built a 21-point halftime lead. We’ve often seen Georgetown’s nouveau-Princeton offense methodically destroy their opponents, but the defensive performance in this one was excellent.

#11 Indiana 78, Michigan 64 – D.J. White had the first 20/20 game for an IU player since 1995 and the Hoosiers controlled this one the whole way. Usually I’d continue to talk about the game here, but I’d rather take the opportunity to point out how good the November 24th win over the Hoosiers is looking for Xavier. It is the only blemish on IU’s resumé, and the Hoosiers will soon be a top ten team with their next three games coming against the Fighting Illini, Golden Golphers, and Nittany Lions.

#16 Marquette 61, Seton Hall 56 – Marquette looked awfully flat in the first half and seemed to be in danger of dropping two straight games in Big East play. But they played incredibly well in the second half, figuring out the Seton Hall zone and fouling out some of the Pirates’ key players down the stretch. The biggest bucket of the night came from Dan Fitzgerald, who buried a three with 11 seconds left to clinch the win. With only five seconds between the shot clock and game clock, Seton Hall Coach Bobby Gonzalez had elected to play straight-up defense despite the two-point deficit. It was a confusing decision, but Fitzgerald made it completely irrelevant with his clutch shot.

Missouri 96, UMKC 76 – Mizzou struggled for much of the game, actually heading to the locker room in a 35-35 tie with the abysmal Kangaroos. But the Tigers’ pressure defense turned up in the second half, and with it came the scoring. In the end, five Mizzou players finished with double-digit scoring, led by Leo Lyons’ 22 points — 19 of which came in the second frame.

Baylor 72, Brown 62 – In the battle of the Bears, Baylor came out on top, led by LaceDarius Dunn’s 27 points. The sensational freshman hit 7-of-8 from behind the arc, including one to quash a last-gasp Brown comeback bid with 1:35 to play. Now it’s time for Baylor to prove that their impressive non-conference performance was no fluke, as they open Big 12 play with two very winnable home games against Iowa State (Saturday) and Oklahoma State (Tuesday).

The great thing about the start of a new year is that all the major conferences finally get their schedules underway, which means there are intriguing match-ups on TV six days a week. And if you’ve got the ESPN Full Court package, you can even find some obscure shit on Friday nights if you’re sitting at home.

Tonight there are some interesting ones to watch in the Big East, while I’ll be keeping an eye on Missouri beating the crap out of a local patsy. I’ve got three or four other MU games waiting on the DVR to watch, so I think I’ll probably know Stefhon Hannah’s favorite flavor of bubblegum before we drive to Columbia on Friday.

#11 Indiana (12-1) at Michigan (4-10) – 6 PM CST, ESPN
I feel sort of bad for John Beilein and the tough situation in Ann Arbor, but not bad enough to actually watch this snoozefest. Wake me when he gets some of his pasty white recruits on campus.

Bradley (7-8) at Southern Illinois (6-8) – 6 PM CST, ESPNU
Two of the most powerful mid-major darlings are struggling through sub-par seasons. You’ve got to like the Salukis at home, but they’ve rarely won the ones they should have this year.

Wichita State (8-6) at Missouri State (8-7) – 6 PM CST, ESPN2
Sigh.

Brown (8-5) at Baylor (11-2) – 7 PM CST, Fox Sports Southwest
This one is only on in Texas, but it’s worth a look if you haven’t seen the new and improved Bears. No, really.

#8 Georgetown (11-1) at DePaul (6-7) – 8 PM CST, ESPNU
Georgetown likely wins this one, but I really like the Demons to give them a scare. DePaul is a streaky team, and right now they are on a little tear. Combine that with G-town’s slow tempo, and there’s almost no way they get blown out. Of course, to pull it off, DePaul would first need to improve on free throw shooting…and rebounding…and closing out leads in the second half.

Florida (13-2) at Alabama (11-4) – 8 PM CST, ESPN2
The Gators are sporting a great record just a year after losing practically their entire championship team, but they’ve done it against a schedule of cupcakes. They’ll definitely be tested on the road in Tuscaloosa as the two teams open up SEC play.

For those with the ESPN Full Court package….

St. John’s (7-6) at Connecticut (10-3) – 6 PM CST
A perpetually rebuilding St. John’s program takes on the temporarily reloading UConn squad.

Loyola (6-8) at #3 Kansas (14-0) – 7 PM CST
If you’re into cruel and unusual punishment.

UMKC (5-11) at Missouri (9-5) – 7 PM CST
I realize that I have an addiction because I’m watching this. But they don’t have a 12-step program for it…yet.

Seton Hall (10-4) at #16 Marquette (11-2) – 7 PM CST
The Golden Eagles were surprised by West Virginia, but they should be fully ready for the Pirates tonight.