Ranking the 10 Best Must-See College Basketball Games of December

After a heck of a first month of college basketball this season, there's some very good news to chew on: December is going to be even better.

While November's schedule was heavily populated by intriguing matchups that came as part of a variety of preseason tournaments, the upcoming month leans more toward high-profile pairings set up by the schools...often with the help of TV people and their deep programming budgets.

Many of December's most notable games are even part of that rare breed, the true road game for a power conference team. This adds even more excitement to the month, for when NCAA tournament time comes in March, we'll be looking back to many of these games for their significant impact on RPI and strength of schedule data.

Check out our list of the 10 must-see college basketball games in December, as well as some honorable mentions. Then give us your thoughts about the month ahead in the comments section.

Honorable Mention

Leon Halip/Getty Images

December's slate is quite packed with quality matchups—far more than could fit in a Top 10 ranking. But that's what "honorable mention" lists are for.

Here are some of the notable games this month that didn't make the cut (but are still very much worth carving out some time during December to see):

• Illinois at Miami, Florida (Dec. 2)
• Syracuse at Michigan (Dec. 2)
• Iowa at North Carolina (Dec. 3)
• Virginia at Maryland (Dec. 3)
• Wichita State at Utah (Dec. 3)
  
• Florida at Kansas (Dec. 5)
• Jimmy V Classic, New York City: Illinois vs. Villanova, Indiana vs. Louisville (Dec. 9)
• Gonzaga at UCLA (Dec. 13)
• Michigan at Arizona (Dec. 13)
• North Carolina at Kentucky (Dec. 13)
• Utah vs. Kansas in Kansas City (Dec. 13)
• San Diego State at Cincinnati (Dec. 17)
• Iowa vs. Northern Iowa in Des Moines, Iowa (Dec. 20)
• North Carolina State vs. West Virginia in New York City (Dec. 20)
• Miami, Florida vs. Providence in Brooklyn (Dec. 22)
• Wisconsin at California (Dec. 22)

10. Diamond Head Classic Final

Peter Aiken/Getty Images

When: Thursday, Dec. 25, 9 p.m. ET

TV: ESPN2

Not every preseason tournament of significance was in November, as eight teams from a variety of conferences will spend Christmastime in Hawaii getting in a few more games before diving into league play. This means more holiday hoops for us—and the title game of the Diamond Head Classic could be a good one if the right teams make the final.

Colorado and Wichita State figure to be the best teams in the field, but one or both could end up falling short of the championship game because of tough early competition. Colorado opens against DePaul, which went 12-21 last season but on Sunday beat Stanford and appears to be much improved.

Wichita, which currently has a 35-game regular-season winning streak, would face either tourney host Hawaii or dangerous Nebraska in the semifinals if it beats Loyola Marymount in the opener.

The field's other teams are George Washington and Ohio.

9. Syracuse at Villanova

USA TODAY Sports

When: Saturday, Dec. 20, 1 p.m. ET

TV: Fox

The Big East still exists, but in name only. What was once the biggest (and best) conference in the country split apart last year, with seven private schools breaking off and forming their own Big East. This left what remained of the old conference after some other realignment to become the American Athletic Conference.

This meant the end to a lot of great rivalries, particularly between some of the original Big East members from the 1980s. But some have worked to still meet each other in nonconference play, with Syracuse involved in several of those.

Last season, the Orange (whose move to the ACC helped instigate the old Big East's breakup) hosted old rival Villanova in the Carrier Dome and took home a 16-point win. Now they make the return trip to Philadelphia, where the Wildcats will play this one downtown rather than on campus.

8. CBS Sports Classic: North Carolina vs. Ohio State, Kentucky vs. UCLA

USA TODAY Sports

When: Saturday, Dec. 20, 1 and 3:30 p.m. ET

TV: CBS

We're kind of cheating here by listing two games and counting them as one on a best-of list. But the inaugural CBS Sports Classic deserves recognition because of the teams involved and the matchups set for the first edition.

North Carolina and Ohio State haven't played since 2007, while Kentucky and UCLA meet for the first time since 2006 (they are also in talks to start a home-and-home series next season).

Played this season at the United Center in Chicago—with future games in other locales and the pairings rotated (similar to the Champions Classic in November)—this doubleheader brings together four of the most noteworthy programs in the country. They're currently a combined 22-3, with all three of those losses (two by UCLA, one by North Carolina) coming at the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament last week in the Bahamas.

7. Arkansas at Iowa State

USA TODAY Sports

When: Thursday, Dec. 4, 9 p.m. ET

TV: ESPN2

Though not at the level of prominence that the ACC/Big Ten event has established over the past 15 years, the Big 12/SEC Challenge produced some good matchups last season in its inaugural version. The Big 12 won seven of the 10 games in 2013-14, but this season the Big 12 schools get to host some of the bigger games.

That includes this clash of up-tempo teams that should make for one of the most entertaining contests of the month and will serve as a great barometer for each club.

Arkansas (at 6-0) is off to its best start in 17 years after beating Iona on Sunday. But five of those games have been at home, where the Razorbacks have traditionally been much tougher to beat. They did pick up a key road win at SMU, but traveling to Ames and dealing with the "Hilton Magic" is another story.

Iowa State knocked off seven ranked teams at Hilton Coliseum last season, where its fanbase provides a very tough atmosphere for visitors. Arkansas will have to deal with such environments when it plays its nine SEC road games—many of which won't be nearly as hostile as this one.

6. Ohio State at Louisville

USA TODAY Sports

When: Tuesday, Dec. 2, 9:30 p.m. ET

TV: ESPN

Ohio State has steamrolled through its early schedule—a relatively weak slate that has enabled the Buckeyes' young team to gain confidence and learn to play together. But now comes an opportunity to see what that group has accomplished (while also trying to defend the honor of its conference in the annual Big Ten/ACC Challenge).

OSU gets to be the first opponent that new ACC member Louisville plays in the series since moving into the league this past offseason. The Cardinals, like the Buckeyes, haven't faced much of a challenge in terms of competition up to this point, but in most cases it's been Louisville's returners who have been the stars.

That starts with junior forward Montrezl Harrell, who has been dominant in averaging 17.4 points, 8.8 rebounds and 60.4 percent shooting so far. OSU has been paced by freshman guard D'Angelo Russell, who has scored 18 points per game while also chipping in 5.4 assists.

OSU is tied with four other schools for the conference lead in Big Ten/ACC Challenge wins with seven. It beat former ACC (now Big Ten) member Maryland last season.

5. Connecticut vs. Duke (in East Rutherford, New Jersey)

USA TODAY Sports

When: Thursday, Dec. 18, 8 p.m. ET

TV: ESPN

What Duke's nonconference schedule usually lacks in terms of tough home opponents—with a 113-game out-of-league home win streak, most teams aren't too keen on heading to Cameron Indoor Stadium—it often makes up for it with some high-profile neutral-site games. This year is no different, with the Blue Devils having already played twice in Brooklyn as part of the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic.

Duke likes to play a game in New Jersey in most seasons to help keep its strong recruiting ties there. For the 2014 trip to the Izod Center in East Rutherford, it's lined up the defending national champions.

Connecticut has already lost twice this year in its title defense, falling to West Virginia in the finals of the Puerto Rico Shootout and then dropping a one-point game at home to Texas on Sunday. Despite the defeats, the Huskies figure to be in the mix for the American Athletic Conference title—and this tilt will help prepare them for the rigors of league play.

4. Kentucky at Louisville

USA TODAY Sports

When: Saturday, Dec. 27, 2 p.m. ET

TV: ESPN2

Realignment has led to the end of some great longstanding rivalries within conferences, but thankfully the Kentucky-Louisville series has lived on (even with Louisville moving around leagues so much). It's one of the best in the game—and with both teams near the top of the rankings once again, this year's meeting should be as good as ever.

This will be the only game Kentucky plays during its nonconference slate that isn't at home or in a large arena where the Wildcats can expect to have a large helping of fans there to support them. Though it's not too far from Lexington, Louisville's Yum! Center figures to be decidedly partisan, which can help prepare this talented-but-still-young team for the hostile environments it will face at Florida, LSU, Tennessee and Texas A&M, among other places.

Louisville has lost six of the last seven meetings to Kentucky—including twice last year—falling on the road in December 2013 and then again in the Sweet 16 in Indianapolis. The Cardinals also fell to the Wildcats in the 2012 Final Four.

3. Texas at Kentucky

Jim Rogash/Getty Images

When: Friday, Dec. 5, 7 p.m. ET

TV: ESPN

Texas' landing of highly touted center Myles Turner in the spring was looked at as the last piece it needed to be able to finally unseat Kansas for the Big 12 title. Based on how he's fit into the Longhorns lineup, though, his arrival could instead mark the start of a run for a deep NCAA tournament run.

That would likely mean having to go through prohibitive favorite Kentucky at some point, so why not see where things stand earlier in the season?

Kentucky has been nothing short of dominant with its deep rotation of talented players (the platoon system is showing no cracks up to this point). The Wildcats crushed Kansas by 32 points, and that was their third-smallest margin of victory.

Texas has already won three times away from home, downing Iowa and California in New York and, on Sunday, it escaped with a one-point win at Connecticut on Jonathan Holmes' three-pointer with 2.2 seconds left. Most impressive about the Longhorns' run has been that most of it has happened despite the loss of guard Isaiah Taylor to a wrist injury.

This will be a clinic in defensive pressure and forcing opponents into bad decisions, as Texas allows 52.5 points per game and Kentucky has held five of seven foes to 45 or fewer points.

2. Gonzaga at Arizona

USA TODAY Sports

When: Saturday, Dec. 6, 5:15 p.m.

TV: ESPN

The best-of-the-West list is a short one, with Arizona reigning over the likes of Gonzaga, San Diego State and fellow Pac-12 team UCLA. Thankfully, these teams tend to play each other quite frequently, and Gonzaga's visit to Arizona makes for one of the biggest non-made-for-TV games of the month.

Labeled as coach Mark Few's best team yet, Gonzaga has looked very good so far. The Bulldogs had three wins of 50-plus points at home before handling both Georgia and pseudo-home team St. John's in the NIT Season Tip-Off in New York City. It's been a mix of old and new for this squad, with point guard Kevin Pangos looking like the best guard in the country thanks to having new weapons Kyle Wiltjer and Domantas Sabonis to work with.

Arizona hasn't been dominant, but it's also continued to keep winning the way it wants to—with tough defense and balanced offense. The Wildcats plodded through to the Maui Invitational title last week, edging San Diego State in the final for their fourth win in three seasons over the Aztecs and maintaining their spot atop the West Coast hoops hierarchy.

This is a rematch of last year's third-round West Region NCAA tournament game (which Arizona handily won 84-61).

1. Duke at Wisconsin

USA TODAY Sports

When: Wednesday, Dec. 3, 9:30 p.m. ET

TV: ESPN

The second meeting this season between Top 10 teams is likely to be far more competitive than the first one, when Kentucky demolished Kansas in the Champions Classic on Nov. 18. Considering how impressive both Duke and Wisconsin have looked so far, it's hard to imagine one blowing out the other.

Duke has won every game by at least 10 points, with the freshmen trio of guard Tyus Jones, forward Justise Winslow and center Jahlil Okafor teaming with senior guard Quinn Cook to create a nearly unstoppable offensive attack. The Blue Devils defense has shown improvement as well, but aside from Michigan State they haven't faced anyone with much firepower to deal with.

Wisconsin has had some closer games, but it's also faced a tougher overall slate because the Badgers played in the Battle 4 Atlantis. In the Bahamas, they edged Georgetown before wearing down Oklahoma to win the title (with senior center Frank Kaminsky doing his thing each and every game). The emergence of Nigel Hayes as a viable offensive weapon has made Wisconsin even more dangerous.

This will be the marquee game of the annual Big Ten/ACC Challenge, and having it played in Madison—it's Duke's only true nonconference road game—adds to the intrigue.

Follow Brian J. Pedersen on Twitter at @realBJP.