Miami vs. Memphis: Hurricanes and Tigers Tip Off College Basketball Craziness

Who’s ready for some college basketball?

Well, for all you die-hard fans out there willing to sacrifice some shuteye for a little early season action, the Miami-Memphis matchup looks to be the game for you.

The Canes and the Tigers will tip off at 11:59 tonight at Memphis’ FedEx Forum. The game will serve as the kickoff to ESPN’s 24-hour  marathon of college basketball coverage.

A few of Tuesday’s games that should be of interest to college basketball fans include No. 24 Virginia Tech visiting No. 3 Kansas State (4:00 PM ET, ESPN), Thad Matta’s No. 5-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes traveling to Gainesville to take on the No. 10-ranked Florida Gators (6:00 PM ET, ESPN) and the capper will be last year's national championship runner-up Butler heading down to Kentucky to take on Rick Pitino’s new look Louisville team (8:00 PM ET, ESPN).

Let’s not get ahead of ourselves though.

The Miami-Memphis battle looks interesting on a few different fronts, and not just because any college basketball action after midnight is awesome (this coming from an East Coast guy who has stayed up late on countless occasions hoping his WCC bets pan out).

This Memphis team is an interesting bunch, especially now that fresh-faced head coach Josh Pastner has had a year to get his feet under him.

With the type of talent the Tigers have this season, they should undoubtedly be the favorites to win Conference USA.

The loss of freshman Jelan Kendrick, a former McDonald’s All American, is a blow, but remember he was an unproven commodity. He simply became an example that Pastner wanted to send to his team—we don’t tolerate BS around these parts anymore, Calipari is in Kentucky now.

Kendrick isn’t even old news, he’s news that never was. It’s time to focus in on some of the great talent Memphis has out there on the court.

Veterans like Will Coleman and Wesley Witherspoon are some of the best players in the conference, and the infusion of new stars like hot-shot recruits Will Barton, Joe Jackson, Chris Crawford and Antonio Barton can only help.

Tonight will be a great test for Pastner’s bunch.

This Miami team isn’t the same one that won 20 games last season, but there’s enough talent and athleticism there to give Memphis a quality run.

The two Miami players to watch are guards Durand Scott and Malcolm Grant, who combined for 43 points in the team's opening season win over Jacksonville.

The pair could offer up a tough matchup nightmare for Memphis, but if the Canes really want to hang in during this one, it’s the frontcourt play that will make the difference.

While no one is going to mistake this Miami team for Duke or North Carolina, hopefully they should at least provide us with an entertaining early season showcase.

This Memphis team is one of the more intriguing squads we have in college basketball this season and finding out what they’re capable of doing to Miami should be enough to keep you hardcore college fans up past your bedtime.