Thursday's Pregame Beat

Great day of hoops for your New Year's Eve, starting at noon.

12:00 pm: Indiana @ Michigan: Indiana takes the court for the first time since Maurice Creek's injury. How will they respond? Michigan badly needs this win to right their ship.

2:00 pm: Ohio State @ Wisconsin: The middle of the Big Ten is a crap shoot. When Evan Turner gets back, the Buckeyes are going to be one of the better teams in the league, but until then they are not a tournament team. Wisconsin needs to win these games.

4:00 pm: Tennessee @ Memphis: John Calipari may be in Lexington, but these two schools still hate each other. Expect a hard fought game.

4:30 pm: Arizona State @ UCLA: And we commence Pac-10 play. If the Sun Devils want to earn an at-large bid, they can't afford losses like this.

6:00 pm: Penn @ Duke: The Dukies should have no problem dispatching a Penn team that has already changed coaches.

7:00 pm: Richmond @ Wake Forest: Richmond is good this season, and Wake Forest has already lost at home to William & Mary. I'm not sure that the Spiders have anyone that can match-up with Al-Farouq Aminu.

7:00 pm: Mississippi State @ San Diego: The Bulldogs are still waiting on Renardo Sidney.

7:00 pm: Arizona @ USC: Who would have thought that two years after Arizona gave him the boot that Kevin O'Neill would actually have the better team at this point? If USC truly wants to be a tournament team, these are the kind of games they have to win.

7:00 pm: Green Bay @ Butler: Butler struggled a bit against some of the better teams in country. They need an excellent season in the Horizon if they want to ensure an at-large bid.

8:00 pm: St. John's @ Georgetown: The Big East opener for both clubs, St. John's will have their work cut out for them with Greg Monroe as they are still waiting for Justin Burrell and Anthony Mason, Jr. to come back.

10:00 pm: Oklahoma @ Gonzaga: One of the better individual match-ups of the year as Matt Bouldin and Willie Warren go head-to-head.

10:00 pm: Oregon State @ Washington: The Beavers won't be a serious threat unless they get Roberto Nelson fully cleared.