College basketball schedule 2017: Times, TV coverage, and scores for Feb. 3

Last week, college basketball gave us just one Saturday showdown featuring a pair of top 25 teams. What was supposed to be a mild day and night of hoops turned into a wild 14-hour span loaded with upsets.

This week has the potential to give us our fill of both. There is a heavy dose of dangerous games featuring ranked favorites, but also three showcase tilts with two top-25 teams going head-to-head.

That number would be four, but the North Carolina-Notre Dame game has been pushed back to Sunday because of a water main break of 1.5 million gallons in the towns of Carrboro and Chapel Hill on Friday afternoon. The game will now be played in Greensboro on Sunday at 1 p.m., and it will be televised on ESPNews.

Here are a bunch more games that will be nationally televised, but all of them will be played on Saturday.

No. 23 Purdue at No. 17 Maryland (12 p.m./ESPN)

It’s a bit mind-boggling that a program as high profile as Maryland could be off to the best start in school history (20-2) and still be ranked no higher than 17th. The biggest reason is that the Terps haven’t beaten, or even played, a top-25 team yet this season. One of those facts is guaranteed to change Saturday afternoon. Maryland fans hope both of them do.

No. 5 Arizona at No. 13 Oregon (4 p.m./ESPN)

This is the only time these two will meet in the regular season, which means the game will have even larger implications than it would otherwise for both the Pac-12 championship and a potential No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament.

No. 8 Kentucky at No. 24 Florida (8:15 p.m./ESPN)

It’s hard not to view this game as a referendum on Florida, a team the computers love, but which has just one win over a team that appears to be a lock to make the tournament. If the Gators are able to win, it will also make the SEC race among the three teams at the top of the league standings awfully interesting for the next month.

No. 9 Virginia at Syracuse (12 p.m./ESPN2)

What the committee chooses to do with Syracuse seems destined to be one of the most interesting storylines of Selection Sunday. The Orange have a handful of just inexplicable losses, but they also seem more likely than not to finish in the top half of the best conference in the country. Racking up a few quality wins like this one would make everyone’s job at least a tad easier.

Pittsburgh at No. 21 Duke (1 p.m./CBS)

Coach K back.

Iowa State at No. 3 Kansas (2 p.m./ESPN)

Whatever the hell is going on off the court in Lawrence seems to be the only thing capable of derailing the work the Jayhawks are putting in on it. The distractions keep piling up, but so do the wins. Only time will tell if that trend can continue.

Kansas State at No. 2 Baylor (3 p.m./ESPNews)

What is up with Baylor always playing on ESPNews? The sports world rarely needs to remember what channel ESPNews is anymore, and 99.9 percent of the time we do, it’s because Baylor is playing a close game against somebody. The Bears are the real deal. Bump whatever crap game is on ESPN2 or ESPNU, and let’s end this trend before the public starts catching on.

Xavier at No. 22 Creighton (3 p.m./Fox)

It’s a Big East battle between the league’s biggest first-half disappointment and what had been the league’s most pleasant surprise before Mo Watson Jr. went down. Creighton appears to be settling into life without Watson, posting back-to-back wins, the most recent of which being a monster road upset of No. 16 Butler. Xavier, meanwhile, finds itself out of the rankings for the first time all year and in desperate need of building some momentum to avoid this season being remembered as a massive letdown.

Illinois State at Wichita State (8 p.m./ESPN2)

It’s the game of the year in the Missouri Valley, as 11-0 Illinois State hits the road to take on 10-1 preseason favorite Wichita State. You should watch. That’s why the game is under this subheading.

Santa Clara at No. 1 Gonzaga (10 p.m./ESPN2)

Who cares if Gonzaga is a 22-point favorite? It’s the No. 1 team in the country and is 23-0. You should at least check in.

Georgia at No. 19 South Carolina (2 p.m./ESPN2)

Georgia already squandered a huge opportunity against a depleted Kentucky team earlier this week. Georgia needs this one or the game against Florida Tuesday night to keep any realistic shot of earning an at-large bid alive.

Connecticut at No. 14 Cincinnati (4 p.m./ESPN2)

UConn is really bad and Cincinnati is really good, but sometimes cool stuff happens when these two meet:

Ohio State at Michigan (6 p.m./ESPN2)

I’m told there is some animosity between these two programs.

St. John’s at No. 4 Villanova (8 p.m./CBS Sports Network)

St. John’s has spent the whole season sprinting between two extremes — “Is this the worst power conference team in the country?” and “These guys might actually be OK.” Who knows what they’re going to do in Philly Saturday night.

No. 11 UCLA at Washington (10:30 p.m./Pac-12 Network)

It’s a big game, so Washington will try, which is always a good thing. And even if the Huskies stop trying in the second, there are going to be a lot of talented players scoring a lot of points, which is also always a good thing. For us, at least.

Wagner at Fairleigh Dickinson (11 a.m./ESPNU)

It’s nationally televised pre-noon college basketball on a Saturday, which means you have an excuse to drink before lunch. Don’t let anybody tell you any differently.

Seton Hall at Georgetown (12 p.m./FS1)

Seton Hall is the first team out in Chris Dobbertean’s latest bracket projection, so this is sort of a big deal for Kevin Willard’s team.

Akron at Ohio (12 p.m./CBS Sports Network)

It’s a battle of the top two teams in the MAC’s East Division, which is a bit misleading since Akron is 9-0 and Ohio is 5-4.

Duquesne at Dayton (12:30 p.m./NBC Sports Network)

These are the types of games Dayton can’t afford to slip up in if the Flyers want to have a relaxing Selection Sunday.

Rutgers at Penn State (1 p.m./ESPNU)

Rutgers comes into this game 340th out of 347 Division-I teams in three-point field goal percentage. It’s not the only reason the Scarlet Knights have lost 10 of their last 11, but it’s up there.

Texas at TCU (1 p.m./ESPNews)

At this point you have to assume that Pitt fans are watching every TCU game with same confusion, focus, and despair as an ex-boyfriend scrolling through his old girlfriend’s pictures with “new friends” on Facebook.

Marquette at DePaul (2 p.m./FS1)

I wrote about Marquette finally regaining its old mojo last week, and the Golden Eagles promptly dropped two in a row. If they lose to DePaul, then yeah, that’s entirely on me.

Indiana State at Northern Iowa (2 p.m./CBS Sports Network)

Not the game of the week in the Valley, but that’s okay.

George Washington at Richmond (2:30 p.m./NBC Sports Network)

Is it possible for a college basketball game to be too America? Watch and find out.

Ole Miss at Vanderbilt (3 p.m./ESPNU)

You don’t need to check the box score. I’m just being nice here because the game is on TV.

Miami at NC State (3 p.m./ACC Network)

After briefly holding the ACC’s “I have no idea what to make of this team” flag for about a week, NC State is now firmly back in the “they’re bad” camp. Miami is currently second in the “I have no idea what to make of this team” standings, sitting just behind Syracuse and just ahead of Georgia Tech.

No. 6 Louisville at Boston College 3 p.m./ACC Network)

Every time we all agree that a team in the ACC is really good, it seems to tank that weekend. Louisville is that team heading into February, which means the Cardinals might be on upset alert in Chestnut Hill. Or they might win by 50. It’s the bleeping ACC,;nobody knows.

Minnesota at Illinois (4 p.m./Big Ten Network)

After looking like the Big Ten’s most pleasant surprise, Minnesota has now lost five in a row. A February season recovery has to start Saturday.

VCU at St. Bonaventure (4 p.m./CBS Sports Network)

Will Wade quietly continues to do a fantastic job at VCU, which enters the weekend tied atop the A-10 standings with Dayton.

William & Mary at Towson (4 p.m./NBC Sports Network)

After a disappointing first half of conference play, preseason Colonial favorite William & Mary appears to be hitting its stride. The Tribe is averaging 95.0 ppg over its last four contests, all blowout victories.

Utah at Stanford (4:30 p.m./FS1)

The Utes have not won a game at Maples Pavilion since 1971. Larry Krystkowiak’s club has been close in recent years, losing there by a point in 2014 and in overtime last season.

Memphis at Central Florida (5 p.m./ESPNews)

Memphis, which has some work to do if it wants to make the tournament in Tubby Smith’s first season, gutted out a 70-65 win over UCF just two weeks ago.

Oklahoma State at No. 7 West Virginia (5 p.m./ESPNU)

Brad Underwood suddenly has the Cowboys rolling. OSU has won four straight and will be out for revenge against a West Virginia team that embarrassed the Cowboys at home on Dec. 30.

Arkansas at Missouri (6 p.m./SEC Network)

Postseason idea for college basketball: Force the eight worst major conference teams to play in a single elimination postseason tournament. Here’s the catch: Losers advance and keep playing.

Can you imagine the level of pissed off that you’d see in a Missouri-Oregon State or LSU-Rutgers semifinal game? You can’t tell me that wouldn’t be more entertaining than the CIT.

Colorado State at UNLV (6 p.m./CBS Sports Network)

It has been a rough go for Marvin Menzies in his first season with the Rebels. The good news is that the Mountain West is wide open, so there’s still some hope for both these teams to get hot at the perfect time and make some March memories.

Oklahoma at Texas Tech (7 p.m./ESPNU)

It’s been a year to forget for the Sooners. One bright spot has been freshman Kameron McGusty, who could become the first Oklahoma player since 1991 to score in double figures in 10 consecutive games if he hits the mark on Saturday against Texas Tech.

SMU at Tulsa (7 p.m./ESPNews)

We should talk more about Shake Milton. All of us. Semi Ojeleye too.

No. 18 Saint Mary’s at San Diego (7 p.m./Spectrum SportsNet)

Can we not get this top-20 team on a real channel? Why does this keep happening? Gonzaga’s always playing on real channels.

Auburn at Alabama (8:30 p.m./SEC Network)

It’s just like the football rivalry except completely different in every conceivable way.

Texas A&M at LSU (9 p.m./ESPNU)

Your weekly LSU DGAF Meter update:

Extremely high.

UC Irvine at Long Beach State (11 p.m./ESPNU)

This is a very down year for the Big West, which features just two teams with records above .500. The best of that elite group is UC Irvine, which sits atop the standings with a 6-2 mark. Plus, its nickname is the Anteaters, so if they make the tournament we all win.