1 Game to Watch Every Day in Opening Weeks of the 2014-15 NCAA Basketball Season

The start of the 2014-15 college basketball season is just over two weeks away, and we have rigorously combed through the nearly 1,500 games being played in the first 20 days of the season to let you know which one game you need to watch on each of those days.

We are oh so close to turning the calendar to November, meaning the 31.5-week offseason is finally nearing the end.

But maybe you aren't quite as psyched out of your minds about the start of the season as we are.

Maybe you only have the time and attention span to watch one game per night for the first few weeks of the season.

Well, then you've come to the right place, because we're here to tell you which game you need to watch on each night from Nov. 14 through Dec. 3 in order to remain up to date on just about everything going on for the first few weeks of the season.

If you're feeling ambitious and want to watch three games per day, you're also in luck, because we couldn't bring ourselves to nominate just one game per day. We've got you covered with an Option A, Option B and Option C for every day.

Consider the Option A games the ones you need to watch in real time, the Option B games the ones you should record and skim through later and the Option C games the ones where you should at least make sure to look at the box score in the morning.

November 14: Tennessee vs. VCU

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Option A: Tennessee vs. VCU (6:30 p.m. ET, CBS Sports)

Quite the opening night battle between two teams heading in opposite directions.

VCU never reached the level we felt it was capable of last season and ended up busting out of the NCAA tournament in the first round. But everyone in the know is picking the Rams to win the Atlantic 10 this season and expecting them to be one of the 10-15 best teams in the country.

Then you have Tennessee. The Volunteers just barely made the tournament, but they played extremely well all season long, only once losing a game by double digits. They made a strong run to the Sweet 16, but lost four starters and a head coach from that team. Four of the six experts at CBS Sports have them finishing either last or next to last in the SEC.

If Tennessee wants to prove that it won't be a doormat in the SEC, at least showing up against VCU would be a great start.

Option B: Louisville vs. Minnesota (7 p.m., ESPN)

Louisville's AP ranking will likely be higher than Minnesota's projected finish in the Big Ten. This game could be a bloodbath. But there's certainly intrigue any time a legendary coach goes up against his son. 

Option C: Cal-Santa Barbara at Kansas (8 p.m.)

Can we please just get one nationally televised game for Alan Williams? It would be fun to watch arguably the best senior in the country go up against a very talented starting lineup rife with freshmen.

November 15: St. Francis vs. Georgetown

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Option A: St. Francis at Georgetown (noon)

Well, the first Saturday of the college basketball season sure is a dud.

Hardly a surprise, though. Why waste a great nonconference pairing on a day in which college football will rule the nationally televised airwaves?

Still, this day isn't completely devoid of appeal.

St. Francis is arguably the favorite to win the Northeast Conference. Jalen Cannon is one of the best mid-major players you've never seen, and his running mate, Brent Jones, can rack up assists with the best of them.

Meanwhile, Georgetown figures to give Villanova the best run for its money in the Big East. The Hoyas struggled last season and lost a great scorer in Markel Starks, but they still have D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera and one of the best freshman classes in the country.

But an upset wouldn't exactly be unprecedented. The Hoyas unexpectedly lost to Northeastern last November.

Option B: Albany at Providence (7 p.m.)

This is a chance for the Friars to prove whether or not they still belong in the top half of the Big East. Albany has a pair of solid players in Peter Hooley and Sam Rowley, but this is the type of game that a tournament-worthy team should win by double digits.

Option C: Tulsa at Oral Roberts (8 p.m.)

We're expecting a drastically different result from last year's season opener in which Oral Roberts went on the road and won at Tulsa. The Golden Hurricane bring back the five leading scorers from last year's tournament team. If they're going to be competitive in the AAC, it'll likely be on display in this game.

November 16: Cal State Northridge vs. Arizona

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Option A: Cal-State Northridge at Arizona (7 p.m., Pac-12 Network)

Once again, midseason football > early college basketball. Rather than playing gems on the first Sunday of the season, teams are saving themselves for the tipoff marathon a couple of days thereafter.

Don't sleep on this West Coast affair, though.

Cal State Northridge has two very good interior players in Stephen Maxwell and Stephan Hicks. The duo combined to average 34.7 PPG and 15.6 RPG last season.

Of course, Arizona has one of the best frontcourts in the country. Kaleb Tarczewski, Brandon Ashley and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson should eat those mid-major studs alive. If they do, it'll be fun to watch. If they don't, it'll be fun to watch experts backtrack on seven months of hyping Arizona as the biggest challenger to Kentucky this season.

Option B: Robert Morris at North Carolina (6 p.m., ESPNU)

In all likelihood, Robert Morris is headed for a rough season, as the Colonials are without four of their five best scorers from last year. But it wouldn't be the first time they beat one of the most noteworthy programs in the country. Nor would it be the first time North Carolina suffered an inexplicable early-season loss.

Remember how dumbfounded we were by those losses to Belmont and UAB last year?

Option C: Buffalo at Kentucky (noon, ESPNU)

When all else fails, watch a Kentucky game. This one could be really ugly, as Buffalo lost its top two scorers and best rebounder from last year's team. If you want to watch Dominique Hawkins and Derek Willis play a significant number of minutes in a game this season for the Wildcats, here's your chance.

November 17: SMU vs. Gonzaga

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Option A: SMU at Gonzaga (11 a.m., ESPN)

If you love college basketball enough to spend the bulk of your summer writing and reading various previews about the season ahead, you're inevitably going to gobble up the first three days of the season with the voracity of a dog that realizes it can reach the unguarded box of pizza on the coffee table.

But for the casual fans out there, this is when business starts to pick up.

Gonzaga and SMU were two of the biggest news-makers of the offseason—SMU for losing Emmanuel Mudiay and Gonzaga for improving to a Top 10-type of team by adding Byron Wesley via the transfer market.

Both will almost certainly open the season ranked in the AP Top 25. (In the preseason coaches poll, Gonzaga is No. 13 and SMU is No. 22.) Little as those numbers actually mean in the long run, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to recognize that this is a game between two teams that are considered to be among the best seven percent in the country.

For both squads, this is just the first step of a rigorous nonconference gauntlet. SMU also has games against Indiana, Arkansas, Wyoming, UC Santa Barbara and Michigan, while Gonzaga has the unenviable task of playing Saint Joseph's and Georgia before road games against Arizona and UCLA.

Option B: Georgia State at Iowa State (9 p.m., ESPNU)

Connecticut vs. Stanford in women's basketball is officially the tipoff marathon game being played at this time, but this game will probably get higher ratings.

For the Panthers, this is the only nationally televised game they'll play during the regular season. A crying shame, considering Georgia State might be the best mid-major in the country.

Before you go thinking the Panthers can't win this game, keep in mind that Iowa State will be without Matt Thomas, Abdel Nader and Jameel McKay. Thomas and Nader are suspended for the first two games of the regular season, and McKay was denied a waiver and won't be eligible until mid-December.

And if the Panthers do win, the 34-0 watch is officially on. Go ahead and laugh.

Option C: Auburn at Colorado (1 a.m., ESPN2)

This game technically starts on Tuesday on the East Coast, but whatever, welcome back, Bruce Pearl!

This one is a battle between two of the most underrated teams in the country. People praised the Pearl hiring and assumed he'd have Auburn in good shape within a few years, but he added enough talent this summer to have the Tigers competing for a tournament bid this season. And Colorado won't finish ahead of Arizona in the Pac-12, but second place is absolutely possible for Josh Scott and company.

November 18: Kansas vs. Kentucky

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Option A: Kansas vs. Kentucky (9 p.m., ESPN)

The Champions Classic has become the unofficial start of the college basketball season. If you can only find time for one of these two games, though, make sure it's the latter one.

In a bizarre turn of fate, Kentucky is the team with established veterans and Kansas is the one relying on a bunch of freshmen.

Regardless of the age of the players, though, both the Jayhawks and Wildcats are considered early favorites to make the Final Four. This game will do nothing to change that perception, but it will be one of our first of many looks at each of these teams throughout the course of the season.

How much will Tyler Ulis play at point guard for Kentucky? Who actually gets the bulk of the minutes at point guard for Kansas? And unlike last season, when Andrew Wiggins and Jabari Parker rarely played any defense against one another, how exciting is the head-to-head battle between Cliff Alexander and Karl Towns Jr.?

In a perfect world, we'll spend at least some portion of the month of March arguing over how much this mid-November game means in each team's case for the No. 1 overall seed.

Option B: Duke vs. Michigan State (7 p.m., ESPN)

Play this game on any of the first four days of the season and it's Option A without a doubt. But unless Michigan State finds a way to pull off an upset, this game doesn't even remotely compare to Kansas vs. Kentucky.

However, this might be our only real chance to gauge Michigan State's level of talent before the start of Big Ten play. The Spartans do play a road game against Notre Dame and might play a neutral-court game against Kansas in the Orlando Classic championship, but the rest of their nonconference slate is a real yawn fest.

Option C: Utah at San Diego State (4 p.m., ESPN)

Huge game for both teams. San Diego State needs to prove that it will have an offensive game plan without Xavier Thames. Utah needs to actually win a few big games this season rather than losing the vast majority of them by single digits again.

November 19: UC Irvine vs. Arizona

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Option A: UC Irvine @ Arizona (9 p.m., Pac-12 Network)

So maybe Arizona's frontcourt against the average-sized forwards of Cal State Northridge didn't pique your interest, but what about Arizona's frontcourt against UC Irvine's 7'6", 300-pound center, Mamadou Ndiaye?

Unlike most giants in recent years, Ndiaye can actually play. In an early-season game against Washington last year, he had 18 points, nine blocks and eight rebounds. At the end of UC Irvine's season against SMU, Ndiaye had 12 rebounds, seven blocks and seven points.

And he was only a freshman.

Unless you live in California, this might be one of your only chances to see Ndiaye in action this season.

Don't go fantasizing about an upset, though. Arizona should still win this game by 20 points. But it should be fun to watch Ndiaye frustrate future first-round picks like Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and Stanley Johnson.

Option B: Green Bay at Wisconsin (9 p.m., Big Ten Network)

Green Bay came within three points of beating Wisconsin last season behind a 32-point effort from Keifer Sykes.

But as much as it was an announcement to the world that Green Bay could ball, it was also the start of Frank Kaminsky's breaking-out party. Now that the Badgers know what they have in Frank the Tank and are considered serious candidates for a return trip to the Final Four, this game should be considerably less tight this season.

Option C: Saint Joseph's at Gonzaga (11:00 p.m., ESPNU)

There certainly hasn't been much buzz about Saint Joseph's this offseason, but the Hawks do bring back DeAndre Bembry and Chris Wilson as starters from last year's No. 10 seed in the NCAA tournament. This game and an early December trip to Villanova as part of the Philadelphia Big Five will be their only chances to prove something before A-10 play begins.

November 20: Texas vs. Iowa

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Option A: Texas vs. Iowa (7 p.m., ESPN2, 2K Sports Classic)

Let the early-season tournaments begin!

For the next 10 days, tournaments like the Battle 4 Atlantis, Maui Invitational and Legends Classic will unfold and rapidly change our perception of so many teams.

But of the tournament games being played on this particular day, Texas vs. Iowa takes the cake by a landslide.

In the burnt orange corner, Texas adds Myles Turner and Jordan Barnett, loses virtually nothing and is looking to finally put an end to Kansas' streak of Big 12 titles. If the Longhorns can rampage through this four-team 2K Sports Classic field, they'll be comfortably ranked in the Top 10 by the time they play their road games against Connecticut and Kentucky.

In the gold corner, projections for Iowa are more polarizing than most. The Hawkeyes made quite the habit of losing close games last season and lost an extremely important player in Roy Devyn Marble this summer. Even if they don't win the game, this is their chance to prove that the coaches didn't screw up by putting them at No. 25 in their preseason poll.

Option B: Texas A&M vs. Dayton (10:30 a.m., ESPNU, Puerto Rico Tip-Off)

Too many people are continuing to believe in Dayton and too many people are continuing to not believe in Texas A&M.

The Flyers lost four of the top six scorers from last year's surprise Elite Eight team. Unless Scoochie Smith is ready to make a big leap as a sophomore, there could be some growing pains.

Meanwhile, A&M brings back five of its six leading scorers, replaces Jamal Jones with Jalen Jones and might have Danuel House eligible this season, pending a ruling by the NCAA. Don't be surprised if the Aggies mess around and win the same early-season tournament that saw Charlotte upset Kansas State and Michigan last season.

Option C: SMU at Indiana (8 p.m., Big Ten Network)

Markus Kennedy vs. Indiana's "frontcourt?" Yes, please. Big man might go for 25 points and 20 rebounds.

November 21: Stephen F. Austin vs. Xavier

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Option A: Stephen F. Austin @ Xavier (8 p.m.)

For most, this is a throwaway game. Neither Stephen F. Austin nor Xavier received a single vote in the preseason coaches poll.

But isn't this the exact type of game that we'll obsess over in March?

Stephen F. Austin ended the 2013-14 regular season on a 26-game winning streak, but because the Lumberjacks lost the only game they played against a competent team (Texas), they probably would have missed the tournament if they hadn't won the Southland conference tournament.

Meanwhile, Xavier was one of the last four teams into the field last season and figures to be pretty bubbly once again this year after losing Semaj Christon, Justin Martin and Isaiah Philmore.

You might not care about this game in November, but there's at least a reasonable chance it has huge ramifications in the long run.

Option B: Syracuse vs. Texas/Iowa (5 p.m. or 7:30 p.m., ESPN2, 2K Sports Classic)

One day after presumably beating California, Syracuse gets the winner of the Iowa vs. Texas game highlighted on the previous slide. Either way, it should be a great barometer for whether Syracuse is actually headed for a bit of a lackluster season.

The Orange could be really good. Many are down on them because they see a team that lost Tyler Ennis, C.J. Fair and Jerami Grant. However, Jim Boeheim still has a projected starting five of Kaleb Joseph, Trevor Cooney, Tyler Roberson, Chris McCullough and Rakeem Christmas with Michael Gbinije, DaJuan Coleman and Ron Patterson coming off the bench.

That isn't an "Open the season on a 25-game winning streak" type of roster, but those players in that 2-3 zone are hardly NIT bound, either.

Option C: Duke vs. Temple (9:30, Coaches vs. Cancer)

Temple will be better than last season, but there's a fine line between losing fewer than 22 games and being good enough to come within 15 points of beating Duke.

November 22: Duke vs. UNLV/Stanford

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Option A: Duke vs. UNLV/Stanford (7 p.m. or 9:30 p.m., TruTV, Coaches vs. Cancer)

Neither of the "semifinal" games is particularly exciting, but the CvC championship should be fun to watch.

Even if Duke somehow fails to beat Temple, its second game against the loser of UNLV vs. Stanford would still be appointment television. Just imagine the allure of Duke losing two games in two days!

But let's be serious. Duke is comfortably beating Temple before coming to blows with an under-the-radar West Coast team.

Stanford lost some great players in Josh Huestis and Dwight Powell, but the Cardinal still have Chasson Randle, Anthony Brown and Stefan Nastic to pair with some excellent incoming freshmen—most notably among them, Reid Travis. This won't be a deep team, but Stanford's starting five should do some damage.

The other option is UNLV, which merely lost all five of the top scorers from a 20-13 team. However, the Rebels have one of the best freshman classes in the nation and added two crucial veteran guards in Cody Doolin and Jerome Seagears. Doolin is eligible this year and Seagears might be.

Whether it's Stanford or UNLV, it's a team that could conceivably upset the Blue Devils. You just have to remember what channel TruTV is to watch it.

Option B: Colorado at Wyoming (TBA)

Josh Scott vs. Larry Nance Jr. for the honor of most underrated power forward in the country.

Let's get it on.

Option C: Boise State at Wisconsin (10 p.m., Big Ten Network)

Last week, we recognized Boise State for its small-ball lineup.

Between Sam Dekker, Nigel Hayes and Frank Kaminsky, Wisconsin is anything other than small-ball.

Unless Boise State shoots 65 percent from three-point range, this one could be over by halftime.

November 23: Northwestern State vs. Oklahoma

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Option A: Northwestern State at Oklahoma (3 p.m.)

Get ready to see Oklahoma at the top of virtually every website's SOS ranking throughout the 2014-15 season.

Aside from the season opener against Southeastern Louisiana, this might be the easiest game the Sooners play all season—and it's anything but easy.

Northwestern State suffered a lot of early losses last season, but the Demons won 12 of their final 15 games. The losses were by single digits away from home against Sam Houston State and Stephen F. Austin (twice). They played at the fastest pace in the country and bring back their best player, Jalan West.

But that pace won't bother Oklahoma, as the Sooners ranked 17th in that category last season. This could be one of those rare college basketball games in which the losing team eclipses 100 points in regulation.

Option B: Florida State vs. Massachusetts (noon, ESPNU, HOF Tip-Off)

These two teams met last season on a neutral court in late December. Florida State put an end to Massachusetts' perfect season.

All sorts of new players will be involved in this game after Florida State lost Ian Miller and Okaro White and Massachusetts graduated Chaz Williams and Sampson Carter.

Both the Minutemen and the Seminoles enter this season with a lot to prove. Both are expected to finish somewhere in the vicinity of fifth to seventh place in their respective deep conferences. This game feels like it will be a very close battle with eventually massive bubble implications.

Option C: Puerto Rico Tip-Off Championship (7 p.m., ESPN2)

This could be any number of combinations of teams.

From the top half of the bracket, you've got Connecticut, Dayton and Texas A&M. In the bottom half, either New Mexico or West Virginia seems most likely to play for the championship.

If it's Connecticut vs. West Virginia—aka Ryan Boatright vs. Juwan Staten—I could be talked into bumping this game all the way up to Option A, but that's hardly guaranteed to transpire.

November 24: Villanova vs. VCU

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Option A: Villanova vs. VCU (7 p.m., ESPN2, Legends Classic)

Outside of the Champions Classic, this is arguably the most intriguing game of the first 12 days of the season.

Both Villanova and VCU crashed and burned at the end of last season, suffering nearly unthinkable upsets in their conference tournaments before getting eliminated from the NCAA tournament earlier than their respective seeds should.

But the time has come to turn over a new leaf, and the Rams and Wildcats could both be headed for spots in the AP Top 10 for the bulk of the season.

Of particular interest will be Villanova's three-point attack going up against VCU's perimeter defense. Last year, the Rams limited their opponents to 4.9 made three-pointers per game on just 30.3 percent shooting. Meanwhile, Villanova made 8.9 triples per game and shot 35.6 percent.

Which strength breaks?

Regardless of the outcome of this game, it will be interesting to see if VCU can rediscover its strength the next night against either Michigan or Oregon—two undersized teams who figure to be among the most notorious bomb squads in the country this year.

Option B: BYU vs. San Diego State (11:30 p.m., ESPN2, Maui Invitational)

For my money, BYU is one of the biggest mystery teams heading into the season. The Cougars lost some key players in Matt Carlino and Eric Mika, and I'm at least skeptical about Kyle Collinsworth being 100 percent healthy after tearing his ACL in mid-March.

But they still have Tyler Haws and a number of other key contributors to which they'll add Chase Fischer from Wake Forest, Jamal Aytes from UNLV (after the fall semester) and big man Ryan Andrus as a freshman.

Perhaps just as important as getting a win in this game, the winner will (in all likelihood) get a solid RPI booster against Pittsburgh in the semifinals while the loser immediately faces Chaminade.

Option C: Oregon vs. Michigan (9:30 p.m., Legends Classic)

At this time last year—when Michigan was ranked No. 7 and Oregon was ranked No. 19—this would have been one heck of a promising game. However, at this time this year, we still have no earthly idea what players Oregon is even going to put on the court this season.

November 25: Michigan vs. Villanova/VCU

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Option A: Michigan vs. Villanova/VCU (7:30 p.m. on ESPNU or 10 p.m. on ESPN2, Legends Classic)

If Oregon is as uninspiring as suspected, this will be the first real test of the season for the Wolverines.

Face Villanova and we get to watch how Mark Donnal, Ricky Doyle and Max Bielfeldt contend with a big man (Daniel Ochefu) in the paint. The Wildcats had the 12th-best two-point defense in the country last season, so we'll see if the Wolverines even try to work the offense through the paint or if they just default to jacking threes all night.

Face VCU and we get to watch just how well the young backcourt can handle defensive pressure. Ohio State is the only Big Ten team that ranked in the top 125 in the country in defensive turnover percentage last season. Suffice it to say, Derrick Walton Jr. didn't see anything close to what he would see from Briante Weber and company.

Option B: Arizona vs. Kansas State (7:30 p.m., ESPN, Maui Invitational)

This game isn't a guarantee to occur. Kansas State has to beat Purdue and Arizona needs to beat Missouri before the Wildcats can face the Wildcats in the Maui semis.

Provided the better teams prevail, though, this could be a fun game in which the world is introduced to Jevon Thomas.

We all know about Marcus Foster by now, but Thomas was the projected starting point guard until he was ruled ineligible for the first six weeks of last season. That backcourt duo along with Wesley Iwundu, Thomas Gipson and Stephen Hurt could at least give Arizona a fight.

Option C: Arkansas at SMU (7:30 p.m., ESPNews)

The Razorbacks only have four particularly noteworthy nonconference games, and three of those games are on the road—the long-running kryptonite of teams coached by Mike Anderson. Should be a nice resume-building win for whichever team comes out on top.

November 26: Maui Invitational Championship

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Option A: Maui Invitational Championship (10 p.m., ESPN)

Like the aforementioned Puerto Rico Tip-Off, this one could go any number of directions. Arizona, BYU, Kansas State, Pittsburgh, Purdue and San Diego State are each legitimate options to play for the title.

However, the smart money has to be on Arizona and San Diego State squaring off for the fifth time in four years.

During the 2011-12 season, San Diego State went on the road to knock off No. 23 Arizona by four points. The following year, both teams were ranked when the Wildcats won by one point in the Diamond Head Classic championship. Then last year, Arizona won at San Diego State by nine points in the first week of the season (the Aztecs didn't have Dwayne Polee II for that game) and proceeded to knock SDSU out of the Sweet 16 by a six-point margin.

Translation: Arizona and San Diego State have been quite evenly matched in recent years.

That probably isn't the case this season, but the Aztecs surprised a lot of people last year in upsetting Creighton and Marquette to win the Wooden Legacy.

Option B: Georgetown vs. Florida (9:30 p.m., AXS.tv, Battle 4 Atlantis)

(Option B and Option C both covered below.)

Option C: Oklahoma vs. UCLA (2:30, ESPN2, Battle 4 Atlantis)

Welcome to the Battle 4 Atlantis, where opening-round games could pass for Sweet 16 showdowns. Save for the ones involving UAB, pretty much every game in this tournament is pure gold.

In the earlier of the two games, we see yet another example of Oklahoma's rigorous nonconference schedule.

The more interesting team in that game, however, is UCLA. Outside of this blockbuster of a tournament, the Bruins spend the first four weeks of the season playing seven home games against cream puffs. This is the Bruins' one opportunity to prove themselves before mid-December slugfests against Gonzaga and Kentucky.

In the later game, Georgetown will look to show off its new freshmen class while Florida looks to prove that it's still elite despite losing four starters from last year's team. With all due respect to Gonzaga and Georgia, it's a crime that the battle of the Bulldogs will be on ESPN2 instead of this marquee game between the likely runners-up in the Big East and SEC.

November 27: Florida vs. Wisconsin

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Option A: Wisconsin vs. Florida (3:30 p.m., ESPN, Battle 4 Atlantis)

Happy Thanksgiving!

While the rest of the country gorges itself on turkey and NFC football, make sure you don't miss this potential Final Four preview between the Badgers and the Gators.

We're not completely guaranteed to get this game. Wisconsin needs to get through UAB and Florida has the much more difficult task of dispatching Georgetown, but we're pretty confident they'll both be up to the challenge.

These two giants met in the opening week of last season, but we pretty much unanimously agreed to pretend the game never happened. Dorian Finney-Smith and Scottie Wilbekin were suspended for Florida and Frank Kaminsky scored eight points in just 21 minutes for Wisconsin.

It was neither a thing of beauty nor a sign of things to come.

But this year, we're talking about two of the seven or eight best teams in the country going toe to toe after getting two weeks of regular-season games under their belts.

Outside of the ACC round robin between Duke, Louisville, North Carolina and Virginia, this could be one of the five best games played all season.

Option B: Oklahoma vs. North Carolina (1 p.m., ESPN, Battle 4 Atlantis)

Ain't no rest for the Sooners. If they're able to win a neutral court game against one of the greatest programs in college basketball history (UCLA), their reward is an even more difficult game less than 24 hours later against another one of the all-time great basketball squads.

This one would seem to be a pretty significant mismatch in favor of the Tar Heels, though. Both teams efficiently play at a fast tempo, but Oklahoma merely has Ryan Spangler and Dante Buford in the paint while North Carolina can go to work with Kennedy Meeks, Brice Johnson, Isaiah Hicks and, to a lesser degree, Justin Jackson and J.P. Tokoto.

Much as we love Oklahoma's perimeter game, it would take some seriously sharp shooting to win this one.

Option C: Kansas vs. Rhode Island (2 p.m., ESPN, Orlando Classic)

Strange balance of games on this holiday Thursday. Two incredible games in the Battle 4 Atlantis, this mildly interesting game in the Orlando Classic and then a whole lot of nothing.

This game is barely even a blip on the radar for Kansas, but it could mean the world to a Rhode Island team that many are projecting to flirt with a tournament bid despite a 29-63 record over the past three seasons. (I think those people are a bit crazy, but, then again, someone needs to rise up to replace Saint Louis in the A-10, right?)

November 28: Battle 4 Atlantis Championship

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Option A: Battle 4 Atlantis Championship (4:30 p.m., ESPN)

Happy Black Friday!

If we're right about the semifinal pairings on the previous day, the winner of this Battle 4 Atlantis championship game will have a serious case for some first-place votes in the ensuing AP poll.

North Carolina is pretty clearly the favorite to come out of the bottom half of the bracket. The Tar Heels open with Butler before facing either Oklahoma or UCLA—three quality teams with varying likelihoods of making the NCAA tournament, but hardly candidates for a No. 1 seed.

The Tar Heels, on the other hand, would seem to be one of the very few teams in the country with a real shot at winning the national title. Led by presumed preseason first-team All-American Marcus Paige, they'll have one of the most unstoppable offensive attacks and a defense that is underrated because of the pace at which they play.

From the top half of the bracket, it sure would be something if Florida went through Georgetown, Wisconsin and North Carolina in less than 48 hours. Billy Donovan is already considered by many to be the greatest coach of (at least) the past decade. Putting together a run like that in light of all the players he lost this summer would just be further proof.

Option B: Battle 4 Atlantis Third-Place Game (2 p.m., ESPN)

Great as this tournament field is, four of these eight teams are going to emerge with at least two (quality) losses.

You almost have to wonder if the loser of Oklahoma vs. UCLA will actually be in better shape than the winner.

Win that opening game and you're likely losing to North Carolina before losing to either Florida or Wisconsin in this third-place game. Lose the first game, however, and you probably become the favorite to win the consolation bracket by going through Butler and Georgetown.

Option C: TBD

The best game officially on the calendar is probably Creighton vs. Ole Miss in the opening round of the Emerald Coast Classic, but there are a bunch of other enticing potential games.

The NIT Tip-Off championship game will feature either Minnesota or St. John's against either Georgia or Gonzaga. The Johnnies against the Zags in Madison Square Garden would make for an excellent game.

Two other intriguing possibilities are UTEP vs. Xavier in the semifinals of the Wooden Legacy and Memphis vs. Illinois for the championship of the Las Vegas Invitational.

There are a lot of early-season tournaments to keep track of, but a good number of them do have some serious potential.

November 29: George Washington vs. Seton Hall

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Option A: George Washington at Seton Hall (4 p.m.)

And just like that, an awesome week of tournaments turns into a pretty boring Saturday as college hoops takes a backseat to the final weekend of the season for most college football programs.

While it doesn't have anywhere near the allure of the Battle 4 Atlantis championship game, George Washington vs. Seton Hall is the perfect game to tell us where each of these programs is at before the meat of the season.

Each team has one hopelessly unwinnable game—George Washington at Virginia and Seton Hall at Wichita State—as well as a sneakily difficult road game in mid-December—GW travels to Penn State and the Pirates play at Georgia.

Other than those games, this one should be our best chance to see what these teams will bring to the table. Get excited for Kethan Savage vs. Isaiah Whitehead.

Option B: Tulsa at Wichita State (TBA)

This is our first Wichita State sighting on the list, which goes to show how worried the Shockers are about nonconference strength of schedule after nearly earning the No. 1 overall seed last season.

They will have a few challenges this season. A neutral-court game against Memphis on Nov. 18 isn't exactly a cakewalk. A road game against Utah on Dec. 3 could absolutely result in a loss. And they'll likely have to go through both Nebraska and Colorado to win the Diamond Head Classic.

But they absolutely slaughtered Tulsa on the road last November by a score of 77-54. Do the Golden Hurricane have it in them to get revenge?

Option C: Massachusetts at Harvard (2 p.m., ESPN3)

With apologies to Boston College, this game will let us know which team from Massachusetts is the best this season.

If Harvard does prevail, how soon thereafter do we start the undefeated talk? A road game against Virginia on Dec. 21 is one heck of a speed bump, but this home game against Massachusetts is arguably the second-most difficult game on the schedule for the Crimson.

November 30: Kansas vs. Michigan State

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Option A: Kansas vs. Michigan State (1 p.m. on ESPN or 4 p.m. on ESPN2, Orlando Classic)

Don't go setting your DVR just yet.

Kansas and Michigan State are very obviously the two best teams in the eight-team Orlando Classic field, but anything could happen in the first two rounds to keep this championship game from happening.

But assuming Michigan State can survive Rider and Georgia Tech while Kansas outlasts Rhode Island and Santa Clara, this could be one heck of an ending to an 11-day stretch of early season tournaments.

Kansas would seem to have a pretty sizable upper hand in this potential game. Much as we love Branden Dawson and Denzel Valentine, Michigan State's veterans could have a whale of a time defending and scoring against Kansas' freshmen, Kelly Oubre and Cliff Alexander.

Option B: Texas at Connecticut (noon, ESPN2)

This is the first real test of the season for the reigning champs.

The Huskies could theoretically run into some trouble with Texas A&M, Dayton or West Virginia in the Puerto Rico Tip-Off, but not one of those teams is anywhere near the Top 25—let alone the Top 10.

This one should be a fun contrast in styles.

Connecticut plays at a slow pace, struggles to rebound and relies pretty heavily on three-pointers. Texas plays at a moderately uptempo pace, dominates on the glass and hardly ever shoots from beyond the arc.

Which is the bigger advantage: Ryan Boatright and Rodney Purvis vs. Texas' backcourt or Cameron Ridley and Myles Turner vs. Connecticut's frontcourt?

Option C: Providence @ Kentucky (2 p.m., ESPN2)

Remember the golden rule of the 2014-15 season: When in doubt, watch Kentucky.

December 1: Nebraska vs. Florida State

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Option A: Nebraska at Florida State (7 p.m., ESPN2)

The early-season tournaments may be over, but the ACC/B1G Challenge is just beginning.

Only two of the challenge's 14 games are being played on this night—and heaven help you if you really want to watch Rutgers vs. Clemson—but things are being kicked off with a small bang in this battle between the Cornhuskers and Seminoles.

Nebraska opens the season ranked No. 21 in the coaches poll, and Florida State even managed to get three votes in the preseason guessing game.

This will already be the third minor test of the season for the Seminoles, as they play neutral-court games against Massachusetts and Providence in late November. For the Cornhuskers, however, this might be their only challenging game until presumably drawing Wichita State in the semifinals of the Diamond Head Classic in late December.

They do play home games against Creighton and Cincinnati, but that's a pair of teams that lost a ton this offseason and could be taking a big step backward. If Nebraska doesn't win this game against Florida State, it could need at least 11 or 12 Big Ten wins to reach the tournament again this year.

Option B: Spend an evening with your loved ones

Face it. By this point, you've overdosed on sports. After two weeks of binge-watching college basketball games and peppering in more than a few college football and NFL games, you don't even remember what your family looks like anymore.

But for the first time in a long time, there are no college football games. The best college basketball game is a bubble battle between Nebraska and Florida State and the Monday Night Football game is the Dolphins vs. the Jets.

Reacquaint yourselves with your loved ones as a gesture of goodwill before the holiday season.

Option C: Texas Southern at Baylor (9 p.m., ESPNU)

In case your idea of spending time with loved ones is more college basketball, then I suppose the second-best game on this particular night is Texas Southern vs. Baylor.

Texas Southern already wasn't anything special last season, and now the Tigers are forced to play without their stud, Aaric Murray. View this one as a chance to find out if Baylor will have any hope of finishing .500 in the Big 12 this season.

December 2: Ohio State vs. Louisville

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Option A: Ohio State at Louisville (9:30 p.m., ESPN)

If it feels like this is the first time we've mentioned either one of these perennial powerhouses on this list, that's because neither Louisville nor Ohio State is doing much of anything to prove its mettle before conference play begins.

Of all teams, Louisville should know better. The Cardinals were arguably the best team in the country entering the 2014 NCAA tournament. If they weren't the most popular bracket pick for national champion, they were definitely in the top three.

But the selection committee wasn't impressed by their candy-coated nonconference schedule. They played just two games against teams worth a darn (North Carolina and Kentucky) and lost them both, earning a No. 4 seed despite a 29-5 record and AAC tournament title.

Like every season, they will play Kentucky once again in late December, but unless you're really buying stock in Indiana or Minnesota, this ACC/B1G Challenge game against Ohio State is their only other nonconference test.

The Buckeyes certainly aren't any better. Aside from this game and a neutral court game against North Carolina in late December, their most challenging game is at home against a Marquette team that legitimately might finish in last place in the Big East this year.

Both of these teams are making the NCAA tournament with room to spare. However, the loser might need to win its conference by a landslide in order to have any hope of earning a No. 3 seed or better.

Option B: Syracuse at Michigan (7:30 p.m., ESPN)

We've already touched on both of these teams at other points on this list, but it seems fitting that they play each other.

Both Michigan and Syracuse were crippled by players choosing to become early entrants in the NBA draft, leading many of us to overreact by leaving them out of our way too early top 25s. As the summer progressed, though, and we remembered that neither John Beilein nor Jim Boeheim departed for the NBA, both teams gradually made their way back into our good graces.

Believe it or not, this is one of two (two!) true road games against quality nonconference teams that Syracuse will play. A few weeks after this one, the Orange travel to Philadelphia to play one of their old Big East rivals, Villanova.

Option C: Louisiana Tech at Northwestern State (7:30 p.m.)

It's an oxymoron, but Louisiana Tech is a popular sleeper team this season. The Bulldogs probably won't open the season ranked in the Top 25, but they should be there by the time this game is played.

Even if they aren't ranked, though, this will be a high octane battle between two of the 15 teams who averaged at least 81.0 PPG last season. First to 115 wins?

December 3: Duke vs. Wisconsin

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Option A: Duke at Wisconsin (9:30 p.m., ESPN)

It took 20 days, but we finally get a battle between two of the teams opening the season ranked in the top four of the coaches poll.

(If you care about such things, this could also be the game that determines whether there is an outright winner in the ACC/B1G Challenge.)

Unlike the aforementioned game between Ohio State and Louisville, both Duke and Wisconsin will enter this game pretty well battle-tested. Duke plays Michigan State, Temple and either Stanford or UNLV while the Badgers get Boise State, Green Bay and potentially two massive showdowns with Florida and North Carolina in the Battle 4 Atlantis.

Where Kansas and Kentucky will go to war after little more than some scrimmages and exhibitions games, the Badgers and Blue Devils should have worked out most of the kinks—hopefully without any injuries—by the time they play this potential Final Four preview.

Option B: Iowa at North Carolina (7:30 p.m., ESPN)

A big game for yours truly, as I have been high on North Carolina and low on Iowa all offseason. If the Hawkeyes pull off an upset here, I'll come off looking even dumber than usual.

Option C: Wichita State at Utah (11:00 p.m., ESPN2)

Potentially the best game Wichita State will play all season, and Utah's chance to pick up a marquee nonconference win it desperately needed last year.

Option D: Virginia @ Maryland (9:15 p.m., ESPN2)

If you've made it this far, you deserve an option D, and we would be remiss if we didn't mention this game between Maryland and one of its former ACC foes. Shame the Terps couldn't draw the Blue Devils for this game, because that rivalry became almost as heated as Duke vs. North Carolina over the past decade.

All advanced stats via KenPom.com (subscription required).

Kerry Miller covers college basketball for Bleacher Report. For an incessant onslaught of 140-character thoughts during these 60 games, you can follow him on Twitter: @kerrancejames.