All game times are ET
College hoops viewing guide: Big East showdown, Boeheim’s return highlight busy weekend
The weekend’s lone pairing of top 25 teams is a rematch of one of last season’s best games inside one of college basketball’s best venues.
Mark Konezny-USA TODAY Sports
MUST WATCH
Vanderbilt at No. 22 South Carolina (Sat., 3 p.m./ESPNU)
A must watch because you’ve got a ranked team from a major conference that is one of the sport’s two remaining unbeatens, and yet pretty much nobody believes South Carolina is a legitimate top-25 squad. They’ll get their first real(?) chance to prove it in 2016 against a Vandy team that has gone from dark horse Final Four contender to an 8-6 group that is one loss away from being the SEC’s only 0-3 team. The Commodores don’t have much more time to figure things out before the NCAA Tournament starts looking like a pipe dream.
Kansas State at No. 2 Oklahoma (Sat., 4:30 p.m./ESPNews)
The game is at Lloyd Noble Center, but this still feels like a dangerous setup for an Oklahoma team fresh off being on the losing end of one of the better college basketball games in recent memory. K-State has been competitive in all four of its losses, and is just a couple of made shots away from being 2-0 in Big 12 play instead of 0-2. Also, Buddy Hield is playing in this game.
Florida State at No. 12 Miami (Sat., 5 p.m./ESPN2)
Don’t be surprised if this is the most entertaining game of the weekend. Both teams have multiple guards who can absolutely fill it up. One of those players is FSU’s Xavier Rathan-Mayes, who may have given the most insane performance of last season when he scored 30 points in the final four minutes of the most recent installment of this rivalry.
Kansas at Texas Tech (Sat., 9 p.m./ESPNU)
The No. 1 team in prime time is always going to be appointment viewing, but Texas Tech won’t be the walkover opponent they’ve been in recent years for the Jayhawks. Tubby Smith has the Red Raiders at 11-2 thanks in large part to a defense that has held opponents to 38.9 percent shooting and 66.1 points per game.
No. 11 Villanova at No. 18 Butler (Sun., 7:30 p.m./FS1)
The weekend’s only matchup of two top 25 teams will take place in Hinkle Fieldhouse. If it’s half as good as last year’s showdown of top 20 squads, that will suffice.
SHOULD WATCH
Virginia Tech at No. 14 Duke (Sat., 12 p.m./ESPN3)
The Hokies starting ACC play 3-0 with wins over NC State, Virginia and Duke would be a national story, and justifiably so. Buzz Williams’ team entered conference play coming off back-to-back one-sided losses to Saint Joseph’s and West Virginia, but have opened conference plays with consecutive stunners. To make it a streak, they’ll have to upset the Blue Devils at Cameron Indoor Stadium for the first time since Jan. 6, 2007.
Baylor at No. 13 Iowa State (Sat., 3 p.m./ESPN2)
Only one team has knocked off Iowa State in its last 31 games at Hilton Coliseum. I would not have written that sentence if said team was any other than the Baylor Bears. The 79-70 win was actually the Bears' first ever at Hilton (1-12), and allowed them to sweep their season series with the Cyclones.
No. 24 Pittsburgh at Notre Dame (Sat., 4 p.m./ESPN3)
This is basically the exact same situation that we saw with South Carolina/Vanderbilt sans the undefeated team aspect. Pittsburgh is off to a surprisingly stellar start, but still doesn’t have a whole lot of believers in its corner. Notre Dame has been one of the biggest disappointments in its conference to date, and needs a high-profile victory to get itself into gear.
No. 7 Arizona at USC (Sat., 7 p.m./Pac-12 Network)
The Pac-12 is going to be confusing as hell all season. Arizona being the class of the conference was supposed to be the comforting constant, but the Wildcats just lost to UCLA and seemed undeserving of their lofty national ranking even before that. Maybe they can start to restore order on Saturday against Andy Enfield’s much-improved USC team. Also, remember Dunk City? That was cool.
No. 6 North Carolina at Syracuse (Sat., 8 p.m./ESPN)
There are a wealth of storylines for the heroic men and women covering this game to explore. First, you’ve got Jim Boeheim returning to the sidelines for the first time after serving his nine-game NCAA suspension. Oh, and he just so happens to be making that return against a program that has been receiving its own fair share of unwanted attention from the NCAA. Then you’ve got the angle of Syracuse being the only 0-3 team in the ACC hosting the team that I think most people would agree seems to be the class of the conference, and one of the favorites to win the whole shabang. Regardless of how the actual game plays out, the takes will flow like wine.
WORTH WATCHING UNLESS YOU HAVE A VALID EXCUSE
No. 3 Maryland at Wisconsin (Sat., 1 p.m./ESPN)
It’s not nearly as sexy as it looked on paper two months ago, but the latest installment of Maryland’s continuing coming of age is still worthy of your eyes.
Oklahoma State at No. 17 West Virginia (Sat., 1 p.m./ESPNU)
Oklahoma State is coming off a game where it was outrebounded by Baylor 44-18, and nearly got outrebounded by Rico Gathers himself (17). Not surprisingly, the Bears rolled to an easy victory thanks in large part to 44 mostly easy points in the paint. Expect Bob Huggins' Mountaineers to try and assume the same bully role on Saturday.
LSU at Florida (Sat., 1:30 p.m./CBS)
I’m told the road team has a good freshman.
No. 4 Virginia at Georgia Tech (Sat., 2 p.m./ESPN3)
The last time these two met, Virginia set an ACC regular season record for points allowed in a 57-28 embarrassment of the Yellow Jackets on Jan. 22, 2015. Tony Bennett will be looking for a similar defensive performance after he watched his Hoos allow Virginia Tech to score 44 second half points in the Hokies’ upset Monday night.
No. 9 Kentucky at Alabama (Sat., 6 p.m./SEC Network)
Without question, the only game Crimson Tide fans have been focused on all week.
Memphis at No. 23 Connecticut (Sat., 7 p.m./ESPN2)
The AAC is cannibalizing itself a bit right now, and the only team that has been immune (SMU) is the only one which can’t play in the postseason. That being the case, I’m sure the league would selfishly enjoy seeing its other nationally ranked team bounce back from an ugly loss to Temple.
IF YOU WANT TO JUST CHECK THE BOX SCORE, THAT’S OK ... BUT CHECK THE BOX SCORE
DePaul at Georgetown (Sat., 12 p.m./FS1)
Catching that “DePaul lost” tweet is like opening presents on Christmas morning: nobody wants to wait any longer than they have to.
No. 21 Texas A&M at Tennessee (Sat., 1 p.m./SEC Network)
The Aggies survived without Danuel House against Mississippi State, and they'll have their second-leading scorer back in the floor in Knoxville. These are the types of games where A&M can't afford to stumble if they're serious about challenging for the SEC title.
No. 5 Michigan State at Penn State (Sun., 12 p.m./Big Ten Network)
All eyes will be on whether Denzel Valentine makes his return. The early frontrunner for national Player of the Year has been sidelined for nearly three weeks after having a minor surgery on his left knee.
No. 16 Louisville at Clemson (Sun., 12 p.m./ESPN3)
Without question, the only game Tiger fans have been focused on all week.
Ohio State at Indiana (Sun., 1:30 p.m./CBS)
This is a massively important early January game for two teams who are both playing with a great deal of confidence after a first month where the sky had appeared to be falling on both.
This is not a bobblehead that I want within five states of my home.
Central Florida at No. 15 SMU (Sun., 4 p.m./ESPNU)
There’s not a college basketball writer in America who isn’t hoping for postseason-banned SMU to remain undefeated for as long as possible. There’s a very real chance (see: Vanderbilt/South Carolina above) that after this weekend the Mustangs will have the only unblemished record in the country.
No. 20 Purdue at Illinois (Sun., 6 p.m./Big Ten Network)
Not one of the four teams that have started Big 10 play 0-3 has an overall record above .500. One of the two teams playing in this game is among that quartet.
It’s Illinois. I was talking about Illinois. Purdue is 14-2 and very good. Illinois is not.
NC State at Wake Forest (Sun., 8 p.m./ESPNU)
I wouldn’t go so far as to call this a “bubble elimination game” because it’s still way too early for anything like that, but let’s just say that both of these teams really, really need to lock down their first ACC win.
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