The second-to-last day of the decade was a busy one with yet more conference openers and some intriguing non-conference battles on the slate. Let's get right to the rundown of the night's action.
Three ranked teams fell, two in their league openers.
- No. 10 Connecticut fell at Cincinnati, 71-69, after a controversial call sent Lance Stephenson to the line. Kemba Walker had hit a three just seconds before to give the Huskies the lead.
- No. 24 UAB was upset by Virginia, 72-63.
- No. 25 Northwestern's visit to the AP poll should be short one. The Wildcats fell to Illinois, 89-83, in an overtime thriller.
The other three ranked teams in action picked up fairly easy wins.
- No. 9 North Carolina led Albany by 17 at the half and won by the same margin, 87-70.
- Texas Arlington gave No. 11 Michigan State a fight before the Spartans pulled away, 87-68.
- No. 18 Temple topped Northern Illinois, 70-60.
There were two other Big East openers on the Wednesday slate.
- Louisville had no trouble with USF in their Big East opener, winning 73-52.
- Notre Dame hammered Providence in their first conference game, 93-78.
In other non-conference action
- South Carolina came from way down to make their game with Boston College competitive, but the Eagles prevailed, 85-76.
- Baylor blew out Arkansas, 70-47, in North Little Rock.
- Florida more than doubled up Presbyterian, 79-38.
- Georgia beat Pepperdine in a battle of former Jim Harrick schools, 64-47.
- Northern Colorado picked up a 64-53 win at TCU.
It was a pretty good night for the CAA.
- William and Mary won at Maryland, 83-77, though the Tribe led by more for much of the second half.
- Old Dominion topped Duquesne, 63-54.
- Northeastern captured the Cable Car Classic with a 61-58 win over Kent State.
- There was one big letdown for the league; however, as Radford blew out George Mason, 80-53.
If you don't see your team's score, click any of the score links. You'll find a rundown of all of the night's scores on the right side of the page.
For more on Wednesday's action, visit SB Nation and Searching For Billy Edelin.
After the jump, I'll take a look at New Year's Eve, which features a mini-marathon over on ESPN and the start of Pac 10 play.
ESPN2's New Year's Eve marathon is highlighted by a doubleheader of Big Ten openers and an intriguing Big East curtain-raiser. All times are p.m. Eastern.
- Michigan at Indiana (ESPN2, 12): It's the Hoosiers' first game without the injured Maurice Creek.
- No. 15 Ohio State at Wisconsin (ESPN2, 2): The Badgers will be a stiff challenge for the Evan Turner-less Buckeyes. Stop by and welcome our new Buckeye blog, The Buckeye Battle Cry!
- St. John's at No. 13 Georgetown (ESPN2, 8): A win in Washington would be a big one for Norm Roberts' side.
Pac 10 play opens up Thursday, and three of the games will be available to at least part of the country.
- Arizona State at UCLA (FSN/Comcast SportsNet, 4:30): The Sun Devils have been a bit of a surprise so far this season, while the Bruins have been one of the most disappointing teams in the land.
- Arizona at USC (Select FSN outlets/FCS Pacific, 7): Speaking of surprises, the Trojans have been on a roll since Mike Gerrity arrived. They look to carry that into conference play against an Arizona team that's got a lot of growing to do.
- Oregon State at No. 17 Washington (FS Northwest/FCS Pacific, 10): Craig Robinson's Beavers haven't lived up to the high expectations certain writers had for them. (Kind of runs in the family...) A win in Seattle against the closest thing this league has to a Tournament lock would do wonders for them.
You can also find some Sun Belt and Horizon League action on your TV or computer this evening.
- Louisiana-Lafayette at Western Kentucky (FCS Central, 6)
- Green Bay at Butler (Horizon League Network, 7): The Phoenix had the Horizon's auto bid in my Monday bracket. The Bulldogs can steal it back tonight.
- Milwaukee at Valparaiso (Full Court, 8)
There are a few intriguing non-conference games to close out the year too.
- No. 14 Tennessee at Memphis (ESPN2, 4): Even with John Calipari in Lexington, there should be plenty of fire in this one.
- Penn at No. 7 Duke (ESPN2, 6): This game pits the team rated second in StatSheet's RPI against the team rated third from bottom. My advice: go to a bar, eat some dinner, watch some Pac 10.
- Richmond at Wake Forest (ESPNU, 7): The Demon Deacons have already lost to a CAA team (William & Mary) and face another tough A-10 foe, Xavier, Sunday in the inaugural Skip Prosser Classic. The Spiders have already claimed their share of BCS-level scalps: Missouri, Mississippi State, Florida.
- Oklahoma at Gonzaga (ESPN2, 10): The mini-marathon closes with the struggling Sooners making the trip to Spokane.
- NC State visits UNC Greensboro in another game for the Spartans at the Greensboro Coliseum (FS South/Full Court, 6).
For games that will only be televised regionally, like Oregon at Washington State, visit Matt Sarz' College Sports on TV site.