On Tuesday, November 9th, college basketball, most gloriously, will return.
And what a return! To quote a tweet college basketball guru Ken Pomeroy's in full, "184 games are scheduled for November 9. 21 more than the previous record. (A ridiculous 64 involve a non D-1.)." But let us light a candle to the 120 games that don't, rather than curse the darkness of the 64 that do.
That said, unlike in past iterations of this column, I am going to take a look at the more interesting games of the first week, rather than just the first day, which often necessitates me trying get your hyped for, say, Presbyterian at Clemson. But Tuesday is the steak in this sizzlin' week.
Tuesday, November 9th
Alcorn State @ Washington State, 3 PM ET, Pac-12 Network — Is this better than Presbyterian at Clemson? No. But it is first, as of this writing, so it gets highlighted for that reason. And by gum, both teams are D1.
Akron @ Ohio State, 6 PM ET, ESPN2 — Allowing myself a little coverage bias here and point out my hometown Zips will start the year on national television. Akron's almost always solid in basketball and returns a lot of talent so this should be competitive. I'm an OSU alum and as an undying devotee to both schools, I don't like it when they play each other. But a win by Akron over Ohio State would raise their profile exponentially more than such a result would damage Ohio State, so Akron always gets my rooting vote in such games.
Whiparound Coverage, 6:30 PM ET, FOX Sports 1 — This is cool. Rather than just showing a Big East double- or triple-header, they are peeking in and out of six different Big East games until 10 ET.
Michigan State vs. Kansas in New York City, 7 PM ET, ESPN — First leg of a marquee doubleheader on ESPN.
Kentucky vs. Duke in New York City, 9 PM ET, ESPN — And here's the second leg.
Call State Bakersfield at UCLA, 11 PM ET, Pac-12 Network — The last game of the day. Did you know? All schools in the University of California's system (Cal, UCLA, UC Santa Barbara, etc.) are required to have some shades of blue and gold as their school colors. Look it up.
Wednesday, November 10th
Buffalo at Michigan, 6:30 PM ET, Big Ten Network — Now some regional coverage bias. Another MAC-Big Ten battle, this one between the top-rated Big Ten squad against the top-rated MAC squad per Kenpom preseason ratings.
Hawaii-Hilo at Hawaii, 11:59 PM ET, ESPN+ — Highlighting this because I am overjoyed to see Hawaii games return to ESPN+, which is something to remember if you like super-late night hoops.
Thursday, November 11th
George Washington at Maryland, 6:30 PM, Big Ten Network — This is the only game of the day featuring two high majors, and even then, only if the Atlantic 10 counts as a high major. When George Mason made their magical Final four run in 2006, ESPN discovered a handful of people had indeed picked them to make it to the Final Four in their bracket contest. When they reached out to those people for a feature story, they discovered several of them thought they were picking George Washington, who was good that year.
Friday, November 12th
Oregon State at Iowa State, 8 PM ET, ESPN+ — In a reminder that football (and the NBA) rules the roost, ESPN can't find a place for this game on one of the TV networks. I realize it isn't Duke/North Carolina, but dang.
Pitt at West Virginia, 8:30 PM ET, ESPNU — This is a rivalry game between schools more respected than Iowa State and Oregon State, so it gets on the mighty ESPNU.
Villanova at UCLA, 11:30 PM ET, ESPN2 — College hoops finally gets back on an ESPN main channel after everyone has gone to bed.
Saturday, November 13th
Coppin State vs. UConn at Hartford, Noon ET, FOX Sports 2 — Networks usually stay away from college basketball on Saturdays until the college football season is over, but FOX Sports 2 is leaning into it, and this is the first game of a Big East quintuple-header on the network.
Cal at UNLV, 8 PM ET, Stadium — Stadium is widely available on the internet for free, but they also have an over-the-air station in many markets, so you can whip out your old antenna and watch this one the old-fashioned way. I'm 45, why do you ask?
Texas at Gonzaga, 10:30 PM ET, ESPN2 — Like Friday night, a big matchup on the Worldwide Leader that too many people won't see because football and early-to-bed-early-to-rise dweebs.
Sunday, November 14th
Florida State at Florida, 1 PM ET, ESPN — Forget the NFL.
Thanks as always to the indispensable Mattsarzsports, the website that I check nearly daily and have helped me put together many-a column like this one.
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