Ranking Every Game of the 24 Hour College Hoops Tip-off Marathon on ESPN

No NBA? No problem.

For the fourth straight year, ESPN will feature 21 college basketball games over a 25-hour period during the ESPN College Hoops Tip-Off Marathon.

From No. 2 Kentucky to unranked Kent State, the fourth annual Tip-Off Marathon will feature something for everyone to enjoy.

Read on as we rank every one of those 21 NCAA basketball games that will be coming to a television near you on Tuesday, November 14, 2011.

For those seeking chronological clarity, the schedule reads as thus (all times Eastern):

• 12:00 A.M.: Washington State at No. 23 Gonzaga
• 2:00 A.M.: Northern Iowa at Saint Mary's
• 4:00 A.M.: Cal State Northridge at Hawaii
• 6:00 A.M.: Drexel at Rider
• 8:00 A.M.: Morehead State at College of Charleston
• 10:00 A.M.: Kent State at West Virginia
• 12:00 P.M.: Belmont at No. 10 Memphis (EA Sports Maui Invitational)
• 2:00 P.M.: San Diego State at No. 12 Baylor
• 4:00 P.M.: Rhode Island at Texas (TicketCity Legends Classic, Austin)
• 4:00 P.M.: Louisville at Texas A&M (women's game)
• 6:00 P.M.: George Mason at Virginia Tech (NIT Season Tip-Off, Blacksburg)
• 6:00 P.M.: Miami at Tennessee (women's game, State Farm Tip-Off Classic)
• 7:00 P.M.: No. 6 Duke at Michigan State (State Farm Champions Classic, New York)
• 7:00 P.M.: Albany/Brown at No. 4 Syracuse (DICK'S Sporting Goods NIT Tip-Off, Syracuse)
• 7:00 P.M.: Rutgers at Miami
• 7:00 P.M.: La Salle at Villanova
• 8:00 P.M.: No. 8 Florida at No. 3 Ohio State
• 8:00 P.M.: Arkansas-Pine Bluff at Oklahoma State (DICK'S Sporting Goods NIT Tip-Off, Stillwater)
• 9:00 P.M.: No. 2 Kentucky at No. 11 Kansas (State Farm Champions Classic, New York)
• 10:00 P.M.: Austin Peay at No. 22 California (CBE Classic, Berkeley)
• 11:00 P.M.: Colorado State at Stanford (DICK'S Sporting Goods NIT Tip-Off, Palo Alto)

No. 21: Arkansas-Pine Bluff at Oklahoma State, 8 P.M.

As they say, you have to start somewhere and this is where we start.

With Oklahoma's talent and Arkansas-Pine Bluff's lack of talent, this game will be less of a game and more of a modest skirmish.

With true freshman forward LeBryan Nash and redshirt freshman Michael Cobbins, fans should expect Oklahoma State to play some impressive basketball Tuesday night.

After defeating Texas A&M-Corpus Christi by 32 points on Friday, OSU basketball is ready to go.

Arkansas-Pine Bluff is playing out of its league, yet this Golden Lions team will surely show resilience in the face of Oklahoma State. Expect center Terrell Kennedy to provide UAPB with some needed scoring inside, though in the end this game should still be a blow-out.  

TV: None (ESPN3.com)

No. 20: La Salle at Villanova, 7 P.M.

This game should be an easy November contest for Villanova.

La Salle finished 15-18 last season while the Wildcats completely collapsed at the end of their season, yet still made the NCAA tournament.

Villanova beat Monmouth 106-70 on Friday night, which gives hope to Villanova fans to see another easy blowout when La Salle comes to town.

Unfortunately, easy blowout wins don't usually make great games.

TV: None (ESPN3.com)

No. 19: Rutgers at Miami, 7 P.M.

While the lady Hurricanes are taking on Tennessee in a widely anticipated NCAA Women's basketball game (more on that later in the countdown), the Miami men play host to Rutgers.

Rutgers have four brand new freshman guards on their squad, so Scarlet Knights fans will be interested to see how the rookies fare in their journey to Florida.

The Hurricanes have a new coach in Jim Larranga and have lost Julian Gamble and Reggie Johnson.

Sad to say, I can't decide whether to get more excited about Rutgers at Miami or the fact that we now officially have an MLB in Miami.

TV: None (ESPN3.com)

No. 18: Colorado State at Stanford, 11 P.M.

The final game of ESPN's marathon, Colorado State at Stanford, has the potential to turn into a peaceful lullaby for those dedicated fans who have been with ESPN from the very beginning.

Then again, with the right ingredients, this game could turn into an interesting matchup between two programs looking for a leg up.

Colorado State returns guards Jesse Carr, Wes Eikmeier and Dorian Green while Stanford is relying on its younger contingent to lead its squad back to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2008.

The Rams are coming off a 19-win 2011 campaign, their best since 1998.

The Cardinal is coming off a 15-16 season, hoping desperately to improve. 

TV: ESPNU

No. 17: Cal State Northridge at Hawaii, 4 A.M.

There is a reason this game is being played in the middle of the night.

Actually, there are two. The more technical of the two concerns the Hawaiian time zone and the fact that this game will tip off at 11 o'clock local time.

The second reason is academic—literally.

Hawaii has lost four of six incoming recruits to academic ineligibility while Cal State Northridge has been banned from the 2011-12 postseason due to its poor academic progress rate.

With both teams ultimately playing a lost season, how great can this game really be?

Maybe we'll all be surprised.

TV: ESPN

No. 16: Morehead State at College of Charleston, 8 A.M.

Bringing up the last of the early morning games are Morehead State and College of Charleston.

Both schools have lost some stars since last season—Kenneth Faried for Morehead State and Andrew Goudelock for Charleston.

They might not have had great off-seasons due to new personnel and other issues of program flux, but both teams have had opportunities to prepare for the 2011-12 season and both should be ready to go by the time conference play roles around in 2012.

Unfortunately, we're still in November of 2011.

TV: ESPN

No. 15: Albany/Brown at No. 5 Syracuse, 7 P.M.

In the end, it doesn't matter whether Syracuse play Albany or Brown. The Orange will trounce either of them—maybe a combined Albany-Brown team, on the other hand...

This game is part of second round of the NIT Season Tip-Off. This should play out as most early round games in any tournament do—a blowout in favor of the better team.

TV: No (ESPN3.com)

No. 14: Austin Peay at No. 22 California, 10 P.M

The Cal Bears are looking for a strong performance in the brand new Pac-12 conference.

Last season's conference freshman of the year Allen Crabbe returns as does first-team all-league guard Jorge Gutierrez and second-team forward Harper Kamp.

No question about it, Cal should be looking forward to their upcoming season.

Meanwhile, Austin Peay (who?) are coming off a 20-win performance last season with hopes of making the NCAA tournament in 2012.

If Cal is able to leverage all their individual talents into one collective force, they should easily take this game. Otherwise, be on the lookout for an upstart Austin Peay Governors squad to put up a fight.

TV: ESPN2

No. 13: Washington State at No. 23 Gonzaga, 12 A.M.

I admit it, when I first was introduced to NCAA March Madness years ago, I filled out my bracket based on the lowest seeded team, every game.

Needless to say, that didn't work out so well.

Washington State enters the 2011-12 season perceived as a pretty stagnant team. There isn't much to Washington State and that makes this game less exciting. On the other hand, Washington State delivered a thorough rout last season against the Zags, winning by a final of 81-59. Unfortunately, the Cougars don't have Klay Thompson to help out this year.

Gonzaga has revamped its squad, featuring newcomer Kevin Pangos. This team has had success in college basketball before and they are ready to prove why they are ranked 23rd in the nation.

TV: ESPN

No. 12: No. 9 Louisville at No. 6 Texas A&M (women), 4 P.M.

On Tuesday afternoon at College Station, the Texas A&M women will attempt to defend their 2011 National Championship against Louisville.

Louisville will prove a formidable opponent, already having defeated Missouri State in Springfield, MO, 73-64 on Sunday.

Meanwhile, the Aggies will be without their first ever first-team All-American Danielle Adams, nor will they have last year's key assist-maker Sydney Colson. Both currently play in the WNBA.

This is an underrated matchup that ESPN was right to include during their 24-hour marathon. Unfortunately, the game has been relegated to ESPNU.

TV: ESPNU

No. 11: Drexel at Rider, 6 A.M.

ESPN is sending Doug Gottlieb and Andy Katz to anchor coverage of Tuesday's 6 o'clock Drexel at Rider match-up.

You may not have heard of these two schools, but Drexel is a preseason pick to win the CAA conference. This will be Drexel's first game of the 2011 collegiate season.

Rider has already played twice this month, losing both contests. Their highlight so far was building a slim six-point lead against Pittsburgh on Sunday. Unfortunately, they couldn't contain the Panthers' second half surge and lost 86-78 in an unexpected barnburner.

TV: ESPN

No. 10: Rhode Island at Texas, 4 P.M.

This game would be a huge mismatch if not for Texas having lost freshman PG Coy Joseph in addition to Jordan Hamilton and Tristan Thompson to the NBA draft. Instead, with those players electing to try their hand with NBA showtime ball, the Rhode Island-Texas mismatch is only a fraction of what it could have been.

I suppose hindsight is 20/20.

Rhode Island has had some recent success, playing postseason ball every year since 2008. Still, Texas should use their experience and remaining depth to defeat the Rams on Tuesday.

TV: ESPN

No. 9: Norther Iowa at Saint Mary's, 2 A.M.

This is Game 2 of the marathon and is usually where ESPN starts to lose sleep-seeking viewers.

Northern Iowa and Saint Mary's play for two conferences in the Missouri Valley Conference and West Coast Conference, respectively, that they are expected to compete well in.

After all, both teams played in the NCAA Sweet Sixteen two years ago, although they both failed to make the tournament last season.

Northern Iowa is coming off a huge 63-46 win over Old Dominion on Sunday as Jack Koch contributed a game-high 18 points for the Panthers.

The Saint Mary's Gaels also are coming off a huge win, beating Fresno Pacific 98-58 at home to start the 2011-12 season off on the right foot. They shot 57.1 percent in the Fresno Pacific trouncing and look ready for anything.

This game should easily be an under appreciated Top-15 matchup.

TV: ESPN

No. 8: No. 7 Miami at No. 3 Tennessee (women), 6 P.M.

The storyline here will undoubtedly be between the two coaches. Hurricanes coach Katie Meier will square off against her mentor, legendary Tennessee coach Pat Summitt, who revealed in August that she has been diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's.

And that's just the emotional side of the coin. The game will be pretty good, too.

Tennessee will clearly be the favorite, attempting their ninth title under Summitt's reign. But with the 'Canes coming off two early November wins, including an 83-37 drubbing of Texas-Pan American on Veterans Day, don't expect Florida to be any kind of pushover.

TV: ESPN2

No. 7: George Mason at Virginia Tech, 6 P.M.

George Mason welcomes new coach Paul Hewitt to the program this season while Virginia tech welcomes back Seth Greenberg.

Greenberg and Virginia Tech have unfortunately lost senior JT Thompson to injury (torn ACL), which is a loss of a key leader and offensive threat. In beating East Tennessee State 64-53 over the weekend, Virginia Tech won their ninth consecutive home opener, even though only two seniors appeared on the roster. So far, they seem to be overcoming Thompson's injury quite satisfactorily.

Even though VT saw bench player Robert Brown score an impressive 12 second-half points in their first game, Greenberg still must figure out how to replace Thompson—or if that is even possible.

This gives Hewitt and George Mason the chance to creep back into the ring and put up a serious fight against the Hokies.

TV: ESPN-U

No. 6: Kent State at West Virginia, 10 A.M.

This game has the potential for some awe-inspiring plays and should place West Virginia Mountaineers fans on upset alert.

Kent State sees the return of MAC Players of the Year Justin Greene and Michael Porrini as they look to avenge their buzzer beater of a loss to Akron that prevented a 2011 NCAA tournament berth. Coming off a 12-4 MAC East championship one year ago, Kent State should give West Virginia a good game.

The Mountaineers are in trouble, trying to refurbish their team while struggling through some early contests in 2011. They have already lost one 2011 exhibition game and were barely able to muster a 78-71 victory in their season opener against Oral Roberts last Friday.

TV: ESPN

No. 5: San Diego State at No. 12 Baylor, 2 P.M.

San Diego State compiled an impressive 2010-11 season, achieving a 34-3 record, a Mountain West tournament win and completing a visit to the Aztecs' first ever Sweet 16. They will be suffering from personnel issues on Tuesday afternoon, but hopefully they have taken their momentum from the 2011 NCAA tournament and brought it straight to November.

Baylor is expected to easily beat San Diego State and indeed the Bears are already 2-0 on the short 2011-12 season. They played pretty average basketball last season, finishing at 18-13 and missing out on the postseason. Still, Baylor might be Big 12 contenders and they will hold the upper hand against the Aztecs simply because of their big-conference experience.

TV: ESPN

No. 4: Belmont at No. 10 Memphis, 12 P.M.

This noon matchup of Belmont and No. 10 Memphis will be the first game most fans will have a chance to see and ESPN wanted to ensure they had a compelling matchup to greet their waking audience.

Belmont and Memphis both made it to the 2011 NCAA tournament and both lost in the first round.

Even so, Belmont is returning a powerful squad that brought the Bruins a 30-5 season. It was so impressive, they even sold a DVD—I am not kidding, it's $14.95 in the Bruins athletics online store.

Memphis is ranked in the Top 10 now and that is because they too are returning some prominent athletes of their own. The Tigers had a wonderful 2010 freshman class that one can only assume have gotten much, much better here in 2011.

TV: ESPN

No. 3: No. 6 Duke at Michigan State, 7 P.M.

Remember that one time when Michigan State took a trouncing from No. 1 North Carolina on that aircraft carrier?

They're back for revenge against another Top 10 squad in No. 6 Duke.

This is the first of several primetime match-ups, which means this is the first of several good basketball games.

Think of it: Big name schools, legendary programs Michigan State and Duke squaring off in Madison Square Garden for the first-ever Champions Classic.

That alone should push this game into the Top Five, but wait—there's more.

If Duke is fortunate enough to win this mid-November's contest, Coach K will get win No. 903, placing him and only him atop the NCAA Division I's winningest coaches list. 

TV: ESPN

No. 2: No. 2 Kentucky at No. 11 Kansas, 9 P.M.

Number two? Is he out of his mind?

Perhaps.

New York will play host to this widely anticipated Kentucky-Kansas matchup on Tuesday night.

Kentucky returns Terrence Jones and Doron Lamb while adding No. 1 point guard Marquis Teague, No. 1 small forward Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and No. 1 power forward Anthony Davis.

How can the Wildcats not win?

No. 11 Kansas hopes to answer that question with Thomas Robinson and Tyshawn Taylor.

Coach Calipari must be shaking in his boots.

No. 2 vs. No. 11 should be a tremendous coming out party for all of these players. My only question is, "is this too much of a good thing?"

TV: ESPN

No. 1: No. 8 Florida at No. 3 Ohio State, 8 P.M.

Ok, I am going to defy all the critics here—including whoever schedules ESPN's television coverage of games—and say the Florida-Ohio State game will be Tuesday's best.

The Buckeyes are always a powerhouse and that's exactly why they are the current No. 3 team in NCAA basketball. Names like Jared Sullinger don't hurt, either.

Speaking of Sullinger, he recorded a double-double last November when Ohio State beat Florida 93-75, racking up 26 points and 10 rebounds.

Don't think revenge is on the Gators' minds? Try again.

Florida brings back a few big names of their own. Kenny Boynton and Erving Walker are fired up and ready to go, while transfer Mike Rosario is ready to build upon his success at Rutgers, where he scored 1,000 points in only two seasons.

Don't count out Florida freshman Bradley Beal nor sophomore Patric Young.

This rematch will be the best game to watch in the entire 24-hour marathon.

TV: ESPN2

And so we have come to the end of this ranking of the 21 games that will played during ESPN's Tip-Off Marathon. Better start the coffee and get those energy bars out. It's going to be a long 25 hours.