Ranking the 'Must See' College Basketball Games in January
Now that college football season is (mostly) over, it's time to turn our full attention toward college basketball. And wouldn't you know it, this lines up perfectly with the start of conference play, highlighted by a laundry list of great games on the schedule for the first month of 2015.
In just over 10 weeks we'll have our 68-team NCAA tournament field, and the games of January will play a big role in who makes it in and how each team is seeded.
Check out our list of the 12 must-see college basketball games of this month complete with TV information for those wanting to set their DVRs ahead of time.
12. Duke at St. John's
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When: Jan. 25 at 2 p.m. ET
TV: Fox
January isn't entirely about conference season, with a few notable non-league games on the docket. That includes Duke making another trip to the New York area—it beat Connecticut in New Jersey in mid-December—but not for a neutral-site game like normal.
St. John's (11-2) calls Madison Square Garden home for all of its biggest games, though so far this year its most important game in New York City was a loss to Gonzaga. Still, it will be a great atmosphere, one that will almost rival an ACC environment that Duke (12-0) will get plenty of through the next two months.
With St. John's looking to get back into the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2011, getting a chance to knock off a program like Duke will provide a great measuring stick if the Red Storm are on the bubble come selection time in March. For Duke, it's another good test as well as an opportunity to keep its brand relevant in the region.
11. San Diego State at Colorado State
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When: Jan. 24 at 10 p.m. ET
TV: None
The Mountain West title has gone through San Diego State most seasons of late, and it figures to be the case again this year. But the Aztecs aren't currently the biggest fish in the league, not with Colorado State (14-0) one of the six remaining unbeaten teams in the country.
The Rams, which opened MWC play Wednesday with a 71-65 home win over Boise State, are off to their best start in school history. Former Iowa State coach Larry Eustachy, in his third season in Fort Collins, has navigated this team through a schedule that hasn't included any ranked opponents but has featured numerous strong mid-major teams, with senior forward J.J. Avila leading the charge.
San Diego State (11-3) has struggled offensively, failing to reach 60 points in half of its games this season as it searches for a go-to scorer to replace the graduated Xavier Thames. But the Aztecs remain among the best defensive teams in the country, holding Air Force to one three-pointer in 11 tries in a 53-49 win on Wednesday and all teams this season to 36.8 field-goal shooting.
10. Wichita State at Northern Iowa
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When: Jan. 31 at 4 p.m. ET
TV: ESPN or ESPN 2
It's not often that we get a matchup of ranked teams in a conference outside of the power leagues—the Mountain West being the exception in recent years—but with the emergence of Northern Iowa as a legitimate challenger to Wichita State for the Missouri Valley crown, that could happen at the end of the month.
Northern Iowa (11-1) lost in double overtime at VCU; otherwise it would be undefeated. The Panthers have impressive wins over Iowa and Northwestern (at neutral sites) and also ended Stephen F. Austin's 34-game home-court win streak during the first week of the season.
They've gotten to this point behind the heady play of senior forward Seth Tuttle, who leads the team in scoring (14.0), rebounds (6.2) and assists (3.3) while shooting 62.5 percent from the field.
Wichita State (11-2) hasn't looked as good as last year, when it made it unbeaten through the regular season before falling to Kentucky in the NCAA tournament. The Shockers are still a very tough out, though, as long as guards Fred Van Vleet and Ron Baker are in the backcourt giving it their all.
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9. Villanova at Seton Hall
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When: Jan. 3 at noon ET.
TV: Fox Sports 1
When last these teams met, Big East regular-season champion Villanova got upset by lowly Seton Hall in the first round of the conference tournament. Both teams are better than in that matchup, with Seton Hall among the major surprises this year.
Even more shocking was how the Pirates (11-2) beat St. John's convincingly on Wednesday despite not having standout freshman guard Isaiah Whitehead. Whitehead has been out since last week with a stress fracture in his foot, but junior guard Sterling Gibbs has been able to carry the load without him.
Gibbs had 25 points and eight assists against St. John's and for the year is averaging 16.3 points and 3.7 assists.
Villanova, which improved to 13-0 with a 67-55 win Wednesday over Butler, has wins over Illinois, Michigan, VCU and Syracuse. But this will be only the Wildcats' second road game of the season. The Wildcats are among the top-shooting teams in the country, hitting better than 48 percent of their field goals.
8. Maryland at Ohio State
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When: Jan. 29 at 7 p.m. ET
TV: ESPN
The Big Ten is experiencing the same sort of reputation issues in basketball that the football teams dealt with back in September. Bad losses and a lack of quality wins have made the conference look pretty weak after the top few teams, and things didn't get any better when Ohio State lost its Big Ten opener at home to unranked Iowa on Tuesday.
But league newcomer Maryland (13-1) has stepped right in and showed what it can do, first by cruising through a tough nonconference slate with wins over Arizona State, Iowa State and Oklahoma State and then pulling out a two-overtime win at Michigan State in its first-ever Big Ten game.
The Terrapins overcame the brief loss of senior guard Dez Wells to a wrist injury thanks to fellow guard Melo Trimble, a freshman who leads the team with 15.9 points per game.
Ohio State (11-3) is also getting huge contributions from young players, with freshman guard D'Angelo Russell averaging 17.6 points and 5.2 assists per game. But he and the other Buckeyes have struggled against the few quality foes they've faced, losing at Louisville and to North Carolina before falling to Iowa this week.
With Wisconsin being the clear front-runner in the Big Ten, this game can help determine who has the best shot at the No. 2 spot in the conference.
7. Arizona at California
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When: Jan. 24 at 10:30 p.m. ET
TV: Pac-12 Network
Arizona (12-1) hasn't played since falling at UNLV in its final nonconference game on Dec. 22, a setback which also happened to be the first time in the past two seasons it had lost a regular-season game in which junior forward Brandon Ashley was fully available. Last year the Wildcats began 21-0 only to have Ashley go down with a foot injury in the opening minutes of their first loss...at California.
The Golden Bears (10-3) head into this weekend's Pac-12 openers riding a two-game losing streak, the first part an understandable home loss to Wisconsin. But the second half wasn't as excusable. Cal fell at home to Cal State-Bakersfield, which came in with a 2-10 record.
Still, Cal has looked good under first-year coach Cuonzo Martin, who inherited a good one in junior guard Tyrone Wallace. He leads the team in scoring (19.2 points), rebounds (8.8) and assists (4.1) per game.
6. Virginia at Notre Dame
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When: Jan. 10 at 6 p.m. ET
TV: ESPN2
If there's a game that fits the description of the irresistible force meeting the immovable object, it's this early ACC tilt between one of the hottest teams to start this season hosting the defending conference champions who are looking better this year.
Virginia (11-0) is holding opponents to 32.7 percent shooting and 48.3 points per game, both of which are second-best in Division I. But the Cavaliers are also looking wildly efficient on offense, making more than 49 percent of their own shots with juniors Justin Anderson, Malcolm Brogdon and Anthony Gill all averaging better than 13 points per game.
Notre Dame (12-1) only won 16 games last season, yet because of the nation's best field-goal offense (55.4 percent) the Fighting Irish have been nearly unstoppable when they have the ball. Senior Jerian Grant is back after missing most of last year because of grades, and he's one of four players averaging better than 14 points and shooting at least 49 percent.
5. Kansas at Iowa State
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When: Jan. 17 at 9 p.m. ET
TV: ESPN
To win the Big 12, you have to be able to beat Kansas. Not enough teams have been able to do so during the regular season the past 10 years, as the Jayhawks (10-2) have taken the regular-season crown every year. Iowa State managed to knock off Kansas during the Big 12 tournament last March en route to the title, though, after a pair of tough regular-season losses.
Iowa State (10-1) has only a nine-point loss to Big Ten newcomer Maryland working against it. Otherwise, the Cyclones have been doing a lot of the same as last season, using their athletic lineup to average 84 points per game and shoot better than 50 percent from the field.
It hasn't been the strongest of nonconference outings for Kansas, which has a pair of blowout losses to Kentucky and Temple getting far more attention than wins over Utah and Michigan State. The loss of frontcourt stars Joel Embiid and Andrew Wiggins hasn't been fully overcome, with Kansas' new crop of freshmen off to a slow start.
4. Duke at Virginia
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When: Jan. 31, time TBD
TV: TBD
One of Virginia's two losses in ACC play last season came at Duke, where very few teams end up pulling out a win. There wasn't a chance to return the favor at home, though the Cavaliers did knock off the Blue Devils in the conference tournament title game.
This season, the league's unbalanced schedule means Virginia gets to host Duke at John Paul Jones Arena and doesn't have to play in Durham.
With as well as Duke has shot the ball this season—it hit 55.8 percent of its field goals and was 8-of-16 from three-point range in Wednesday's 84-55 win over Wofford after coming in shooting 52.6 and 37.3 percent respectively—this will be another major challenge for Virginia's impressive defense.
3. Utah at Arizona
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When: Jan. 17 at 7 p.m. ET
TV: Pac-12 Network
As the heavy favorites to win the Pac-12 title, Arizona expects to face everyone's best shot this season. One of the first it will get is from the league's only other currently ranked team, Utah, which has leaped into the top 10 for the first time since 1999.
The Utes (10-2) have lost by four at San Diego State and by three against Kansas in Kansas City, and in between they ended Wichita State's 35-game regular-season win streak. They did that without one of their best players, junior forward Jordan Loveridge, who missed five games after having minor knee surgery, but he returned earlier this week.
Utah has one of the best all-around players in junior guard Delon Wright, while freshman center Jakob Poeltl has been a huge surprise.
Arizona swept three games against the Utes last season, but it needed overtime to win in Salt Lake City. The Wildcats are far more dominant at home, where they currently have won 29 straight games.
2. Kansas at Texas
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When: Jan. 24 at 2 p.m. ET
TV: CBS
Kansas may still be the favorite to win an 11th straight Big 12 regular-season title, but the list of potential teams to knock the Jayhawks off that perch is a long one. The 10-team league has six ranked teams, while TCU has gotten off to a 13-0 start.
Of the contenders, Texas (11-2) might have the best tools to get the job done. The Longhorns brought back their entire team from last season while adding freshman center Myles Turner to an already strong frontcourt. That post depth has kept Turner coming off the bench until Monday, when he made his first career start and had 16 points on 6-of-7 shooting.
Kansas lost by 12 in Austin last season, and that was with a pair of eventual first-round NBA draft picks in its lineup. The Jayhawks are hoping freshmen Kelly Oubre and Cliff Alexander will have developed well enough by the time this game comes around, or it could be another setback in the Lone Star State.
1. Duke at Louisville
12 of 12
When: Jan. 17 at noon ET
TV: ESPN
Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski sits at 995 career wins and no doubt will reach the epic 1,000-win milestone this season. Assuming the unbeaten Blue Devils don't lose in the next two weeks, his first crack at that historic victory will come in Duke's first trip to Louisville as ACC rivals.
Louisville (12-1) joins the ACC this season after a very successful run in the Big East (and last year in the American Athletic Conference), and the Cardinals' inclusion added even more star power to a league already overloaded with top-notch coaches and super-talented teams. Rick Pitino—who passed 700 career wins in November—went through Krzyzewski to win his second national title in 2013.
Beyond the coaches, the lineups are among the best in the country. Duke is unbeaten and doing so with a lineup that features three freshmen led by center Jahlil Okafor, while Louisville has a beast of a post player in junior forward Montrezl Harrell and some talented guards.
This is the only time Duke and Louisville are scheduled to meet this season because of the unbalanced schedule, so make sure to check this one out.
Follow Brian J. Pedersen on Twitter at @realBJP.
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