On Tonight: 12/7/2011

Arizona at Florida (ESPN, 7 p.m. Eastern)
"Senior guards Kyle Fogg and Erving Walker are key holdovers from squads that made the NCAA Elite Eight last season."
(Walker's got a lot more by way of reinforcements than Fogg.)

Colorado State at Duke (ESPN2, 7 p.m. Eastern)
"The Rams of the Mountain West visit Cameron Indoor Stadium, where Duke has won its last 89 non-conference games. Junior guards Wes Eikmeier (sic?) and Seth Curry square off."
(No clue what this game is doing on TV.)

Central Connecticut State vs. Michigan State (ESPNU, 7:00 p.m. Eastern)
"Michigan native Kyle Vinales heads a high-scoring trio for CCSU. Senior forward Draymond Green keys Tom Izzo's Spartans."
(I was skeptical, but it turns out that CCSU indeed has a "high-scoring trio," with three players who each average better than 20 points per game. Unfortunately, this also means they have a "low-scoring rest of team" -- the other eight Blue Devils who have seen action this year average just 16 points combined. I'm not sure in what capacity Vinales "heads" this group (he averages fewer points than both Ken Horton and Robby Ptacek). but I guess the fact that he's a Michigander -- yep, that's what they're called -- is the hook here.)

Xavier at Butler (ESPN, 9 p.m. Eastern)
"Xavier edged the Bulldogs 51-49 last season on late free throws by Mark Lyons. The teams shot a woeful 5-for-36 from beyond the arc."
(Way to sell this one!)

St. Bonaventure at Illinois (ESPN2, 9 p.m. Eastern)
"Senior Andrew Nicholson mans the middle for the Bonnies against Illinois junior guards D.J. Richardson and Brandon Paul."
(If Xavier-Butler gets out of hand -- and it should, unless X spends the first 30 minutes screwing around, like they usually do -- this could be a good game to switch to. The Bonnies are supposed to have a decent team this year, and Illinois is a surprising 8-0 and climbed into the Top 25 with wins at Maryland and over Gonzaga last week.)

Oklahoma State at Missouri State (ESPNU, 9 p.m. Eastern)
"Freshman LeBryan Nash and the Cowboys battle Missouri State seniors Caleb Patterson and Kyle Weems, whose 20 points led the Bears in last season's 84-70 loss."
(The Missouri Valley already has 16 wins -- against just 11 losses -- this season over teams that are above the red line. I think another here is more likely than not.)