Hoops Party on New Year's Eve

New Year's Eve? Who cares! College basketball's gonna party.

There are 12 ranked teams playing today. Probably because they knew you'd be around, one eye on the TV, waiting for the drinking to begin. That's why most of the games tip off before 7. But before we dive into tonight's games, how about last night's?

Teams of the Day: Illinois, which beat No. 9 Purdue in overtime in West Lafayette, and Arkansas. The Razorbacks stunned No. 4 Oklahoma in Fayetteville.

Huge wins for both teams.

OK, to today's games ...

-No. 10 Michigan State at No. 21 Minnesota tips off at noon

-Wisconsin at No. 24 Michigan starts at 2 on ESPN 2

-No. 3 Pitt at Rutgers is at 2, as well

-Loyola (Md.) at No. 5 Duke is at 4 and of course it's on ESPN, Duke has its own broadcasting network

-Iowa at No. 24 Ohio State is also at 4 as the Buckeyes try to recover from their annihilation at the hands of West Virginia

-Jackson State is at No. 19 Baylor at 5

-UNLV at No. 18 Louisville at 6 on ESPN ... Upset Watch ...

-Robert Morris at No. 22 Xavier at 6

-No. 17 Gonzaga at Utah tips at 8 ... another Upset Watch ...

-No. 10 Notre Dame starts its Big East play at DePaul at 8 on ESPN 2

-No. 1 UNC offers the night capper at Nevada at 10 on ESPN 2

Elsewhere
-- I would guess that Pitt is the undisputed No. 2 team in the country if it beats Georgetown on Saturday. If the Panthers fall, UNC and Duke will be 1 and 2. If Pitt is playing for anything, it's playing to prevent Duke and UNC from being the top 2.

-- Denver should never have fired Mike Shanahan, and the Jets made a mistake firing Eric Mangini. Cleveland will make out well if it gets Mangini, and if Denver snags Bill Cowher, the Broncos will be fine, too.

-- I'm sorry, but I'll say it again, Mark Teixeira is not worth $180 million.

Have a happy new year.