The Toughest Nonconference Game for Every Team in the Preseason CBB Coaches Poll
When the 2015-16 college basketball season gets going in three weeks, it will mark the start of the long journey toward the NCAA tournament. Only a fraction of the 351 teams in Division I will be able to guarantee themselves a bid into the tourney as a conference champion, while the rest will have to hope their body of work passes muster with the selection committee.
And that means making sure to have good results against quality opponents, particularly in nonconference play.
While teams have no control over who they face during the league portion of their schedules, the nonconference slate is far more fluid. Depending on the team, they may choose to use the non-league games to help build confidence for a young team, provide challenges to prepare them for the conference lineup or a mixture of both.
For the teams that will open the season in the USA Today preseason coaches' poll, each has at least one game outside of conference play that figures to provide a major test. We've spotlighted one for each preseason Top 25 school, explaining why that matchup stands out from the pack.
Something to take note of, though: In several cases, the toughest non-league game might not actually happen since it would be part of a preseason tournament and would require both teams to win other games to meet up.
No. 25 Purdue Boilermakers
1 of 25
Dec. 1 at Pittsburgh
For the third year in a row, Purdue's nonconference slate only includes one true road game, and it will provide its toughest test before getting into Big Ten play.
The Boilermakers will face Pittsburgh as part of the Big Ten/ACC Challenge, playing on the road in that event for the first time since 2012. Pitt is coming off a 19-15 season, which ended with a home loss to George Washington in the NIT. While eight players from that team have left the program, the Panthers have loaded up on graduate transfers from Brown (forward Rafael Maia), Coppin State (Sterling Smith) and Richmond (Alonzo Nelson-Ododa).
Before heading to Pitt, Purdue will play four home games against mid- and low-major teams and face Old Dominion and either Florida or St. Joseph's in the Hall of Fame Tip-Off Tournament in Uncasville, Connecticut.
The remainder of Purdue's non-league slate features three other solid matchups, with New Mexico and Vanderbilt visiting West Lafayette while the Boilermakers are set to face Butler in Indianapolis as part of the annual Crossroads Classic.
Purdue was 4-6 on the road last season, including a December setback at Vanderbilt.
No. 24 Connecticut Huskies
2 of 25
Dec. 8 vs. Maryland (in New York City)
Connecticut's post-championship rebuilding year started early last season, with the Huskies going 7-5 in nonconference play due to a tough schedule but also because of a surprising home loss to Yale. There are increased expectations for 2015-16, thanks to the addition of transfers Sterling Gibbs and Shonn Miller and a solid recruiting class, and the early games will test this new lineup often.
"We know the nonconference schedule we will face next season will be extremely challenging, but part of the reason our student-athletes come to UConn is to play top-level competition," coach Kevin Ollie said in June, per the team's website.
UConn's pre-American Athletic Conference slate is so tough that the Thanksgiving trip to the Bahamas for the Battle of Atlantis won't be the most difficult part. However, the opening game against Michigan and then a possible meeting with former Big East rival Syracuse will serve as good warm-ups before the Huskies tackle a very rigorous December.
The toughest game that month will be against Maryland in the Jimmy V Classic, but it's not the only difficult one. Four days later UConn hosts Ohio State, and on Dec. 29 a trip to Texas will mark its only true non-league road game. Maryland stands out, though, because the Terrapins are coming off a breakout season in their first year in the Big Ten and bring back one of the most explosive players in the country in sophomore guard Melo Trimble.
The Huskies have frequently included a nonconference game in the middle of conference play to mix things up, and this year that will have them host another former Big East foe (Georgetown) as part of a three-game homestand in mid-January.
No. 23 West Virginia Mountaineers
3 of 25
Dec. 8 vs. Virginia (in New York City)
Even with a Big 12 schedule that involves plenty of travel as its league's easternmost member, West Virginia's 2015-16 slate has it playing all over the country. As a result, Bob Huggins' team will have its best opportunities to score quality nonconference wins outside of its home state.
None of the Mountaineers' eight nonconference games played either in Morgantown or Huntington are against teams that made the NCAA tournament a year ago, which balances the five road and neutral-site games that are all against quality foes. And the toughest of that group is Virginia, the two-time defending ACC regular-season champion that they'll face in the Jimmy V Classic.
This is West Virginia's second year in a row playing in New York City, having beat North Carolina State in the Gotham Classic last December.
West Virginia is also set to play Richmond and either California or San Diego State in the Las Vegas Invitational in November while it will visit Virginia Tech in late December before Big 12 play begins and then travel to Florida on Jan. 30 as part of the Big 12/SEC Challenge.
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No. 22 Butler Bulldogs
4 of 25
Nov. 22 vs. Utah (in San Juan, Puerto Rico)
It was on a trip to a tropical island last November that we got our first idea of what kind of a team Butler had put together, as the Bulldogs knocked off North Carolina in the opening round of the Battle 4 Atlantis and took third in the tournament. Chris Holtmann was Butler's interim coach at the time, but not long after he was given the job on a permanent basis.
Expect the Bulldogs to learn a lot about themselves again this season during an early tourney in a warm climate, as they will play three games in four days in the Puerto Rico Tip-Off. They open against Missouri State and then will face either Temple or Minnesota, and the final game will come from the quartet of Miami (Florida), Mississippi State, Texas Tech and Utah.
If Butler were to match up with Utah—most likely in the title game—it would give a third nonconference game against a team that made the NCAA tournament last season. The Bulldogs also visit crosstown rival Cincinnati and take on Purdue in the Crossroads Classic in Indianapolis, both in December, but the remainder of their slate isn't particularly tough other than a visit from Tennessee in mid-December.
No. 21 Baylor Bears
5 of 25
Dec. 19 at Texas A&M
Baylor is one of only a handful of schools from the power conferences that didn't line up an exempt tournament to play in this season, and it's the only one that opens the year ranked in the preseason Top 25. Instead, the Bears have loaded up on plenty of opponents from the Southwest portion of the country that will come to Waco, Texas, in November and December.
But Baylor's nonconference schedule isn't just an endless supply of cupcakes. It has four games against teams that played in the NCAA tourney last year, including an early trip to Oregon, and the Bears are set to face three SEC teams in Vanderbilt, Georgia and Texas A&M.
Texas A&M is the only road game other than Oregon before conference play begins, and this renewal of an old Big 12 rivalry could be a potential coming-out party for A&M's talented freshman class. The Aggies landed the No. 6 recruiting class in 2015, per 247Sports, with four in-state 4-star prospects, and three of those players are frontcourt players who were rated in the top 44.
That should provide a strong challenge for Baylor's post players, with Rico Gathers and Taurean Prince set to be tested mightily.
No. 20 Vanderbilt Commodores
6 of 25
Nov. 24 vs. Indiana (in Maui)
After making a nice run in the NIT last March, Vanderbilt has high hopes for this season with a more experienced team led by one of the best big men in the country, 7'0" junior Damian Jones. This has led to the Commodores getting picked to finish second in the SEC after three years placing seventh or worst.
Before they can see how they'll match up with Kentucky and the rest of the league, though, the 'Dores will get challenged several times starting with their fifth trip to the Maui Invitational.
Vandy opens with a rebuilding St. John's team, but then the slate gets much tougher. It will likely face Indiana in the semifinals, facing potentially the best three-point shooting team in the nation, and that would make for a second game against a Big Ten school along with a December trip to Purdue.
The 'Dores will also face someone from the group of Chaminade, Kansas, UCLA or UNLV on the final day.
Beyond the Maui trip, Vandy's slate has other strong matchups. Along with the game at Purdue, it also visits Baylor in December and Texas in January as part of the Big 12/SEC Challenge, and it will host Dayton.
No. 19 LSU Tigers
7 of 25
Jan. 30 vs. Oklahoma
Thanks to a star-studded freshman class led by phenom Ben Simmons, LSU has all the tools in place to shake off its recent run of disappointing seasons. Yet Johnny Jones' team won't face many tough opponents prior to SEC play, the product of a rather light nonconference schedule that may only feature one game against a team that played in the NCAA tournament in 2014-15.
And that wouldn't come until late in the year, when the Tigers host Oklahoma in the Big 12/SEC Challenge right in the middle of league play.
LSU plays two true road games in non-league action, but those are at a Charleston team that was 9-24 last season and a Houston squad that went 13-19. Wake Forest is the top opponent to come to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and unless it faces North Carolina State on the final day of the Legends Classic in Brooklyn—it plays Marquette the day before and then either NC State or Arizona State—there's not much to speak of.
Oklahoma reached the Sweet 16 last season and, with Buddy Hield returning for his senior year, the Sooners should challenge Kansas for the regular-season title.
No. 18 Notre Dame Fighting Irish
8 of 25
Dec. 19 vs. Indiana (in Indianapolis)
Even when heading away from home during the early part of the season, Notre Dame is going to have a very Midwestern flavor to its nonconference schedule. So it makes sense that the Fighting Irish's biggest challenge before getting into the ACC will come from an in-state rival that it regularly competes against for recruits and headlines.
The Crossroads Classic enters its fifth year matching up four of the top programs from the state in a doubleheader in Indianapolis, and in odd-numbered years Notre Dame faces Indiana. It won in 2013 but lost to the Hoosiers in the inaugural event in 2011.
By the time the Irish get to this event, they will have played nine other games and almost all of them will have either been in South Bend, Indiana, or against other Midwestern teams. That includes when they play in the Advocare Invitational Nov. 26-29 in Florida, where after opening against Monmouth they'll face either Dayton or Iowa and then on the final day from a list of potential opponents that includes Xavier and Wichita State.
Notre Dame also visits Illinois in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge, its only true road game of the preseason.
No. 17 Wisconsin Badgers
9 of 25
Nov. 29 at Oklahoma
Wisconsin could be in for a bit of a rebuilding year after reaching the Final Four the past two seasons (and making last year's national title game), losing five of its top seven players including Wooden Award winner Frank Kaminsky. Even with those departures, though, the Badgers should be able to extend their streak of NCAA tournament appearances to 18 seasons.
That push will be furthered by one of Wisconsin's toughest pre-Big Ten schedules in years, one that could include a rematch of April's championship game and will feature two very tough road games.
Wisconsin faced Duke twice last year, including in the NCAA final, so if they meet on the final day of the 2K Classic in New York it will seem like old hat. Instead, the Badgers will face far bigger challenges—and ones that will help them prepare for the conference slate—when they play at Oklahoma and Syracuse in a five-day span.
We've chosen the trip to Norman, Oklahoma, over the Syracuse game (which is part of the Big Ten/ACC Challenge) because the Sooners figure to be right in the mix for a Big 12 title after reaching last year's Sweet 16. It will also be a rematch of last season's Battle 4 Atlantis final, won 68-56 by Wisconsin.
No. 16 Utah Utes
10 of 25
Dec. 19 vs. Duke (in New York City)
A sign a program has ascended to the next level in college basketball is that it's asked to play in high-profile neutral-site games against other notable teams. Utah can count itself among this crowd by getting selected to face defending national champion Duke in a one-off game at Madison Square Garden at the tail end of the preseason.
"This is an opportunity to play one of the elite programs in college basketball in one of the most recognizable basketball venues in the country," Utah coach Larry Krystkowiak said, per the team's website, after the game was announced in June. "We think it will be a terrific opportunity and test before we start conference play less than two weeks later."
The teams met in last year's Sweet 16, with Duke taking a 63-57 decision in Houston en route to winning its fifth championship. Four of the Blue Devils' starters are gone from that team, but another bumper crop of talented freshmen have come in to replenish the cupboard.
Even without the Duke game, Utah's schedule before getting into Pac-12 play has some good matchups. The Utes get BYU and San Diego State at home, go to Wichita State (one week before playing Duke) and will play at least two power-conference teams in the Puerto Rico Tip-Off.
No. 15 Indiana Hoosiers
11 of 25
Dec. 2 at Duke
Indiana has the opportunity to play Vanderbilt and possibly Kansas or UCLA depending on how it fares at the Maui Invitational in late November, some clashes that will give us an early idea of whether this indeed will be a strong team that Tom Crean has put together. But no matter what happens on the islands, it won't be the same barometer as seeing how the Hoosiers handle the daunting task of visiting Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Duke's nonconference home win streak stands at 116 games and dates back to 2000, and while the vast majority of the victims in that run haven't been of the level of Indiana it does include the Hoosiers once. They lost 54-51 in Durham in 2006 as part of the Big Ten/ACC Challenge, which is what this matchup is a part of.
The visit to Duke is the only true road game for Indiana outside of Big Ten play, but that's nothing new. Since 2010 it has played only five nonconference road games, the last in December 2013, and three of those were because of the matchup rotation for the Big Ten/ACC format.
No. 14 California Golden Bears
12 of 25
Dec. 22 at Virginia
It's been three years since California made the NCAA tournament and six since it won the Pac-12, but thanks to a surprisingly good recruiting class and some key returners the Golden Bears are getting a lot of hype. Not just to contend in the conference but also make a deep run in the postseason, assuming its freshmen and veterans can mesh well together.
The nonconference slate that coach Cuonzo Martin has put together, though, is indicative of a team that could be good but wants to build up to that point without too many potential pitfalls early. That is, until a little more than a week before conference play begins, when Cal makes a pre-Christmas trip east to take on two-time defending ACC champion Virginia.
Not officially announced until August, this start of a home-and-home series will serve as the perfect warm-up to conference play. Not only will the Bears face one of the toughest defensive teams in the country in Virginia, which last year led Division I in points allowed per game and was third in field-goal defense, but it will prepare them for the rigors of playing in raucous road venues.
Freshmen like Jaylen Brown and Ivan Rabb will have other opportunities to face tough competition prior to Virginia, as Cal will play San Diego State and possibly West Virginia in the Las Vegas Invitational on Nov. 26-27.
No. 13 Michigan State Spartans
13 of 25
Nov. 17 vs. Kansas (in Chicago)
When the calendar turns to March, there are few teams with a better track record over the past 20 years than Michigan State. Regardless of how the Spartans performed up to that point, as long as coach Tom Izzo has them in position to make a run in the postseason he somehow finds a way to make this happen.
We saw this last year when a seemingly middling MSU team entered the NCAA tournament as a No. 7 seed and then smoothly blew through the field to make the Final Four.
If this year's MSU team can play at that level early on it could make a huge jump in the rankings, since it may potentially play two preseason Top 10 teams in the first month. That starts in the second game of the year against Kansas in the Champions Classic.
The Jayhawks, winners of at least a share of 11 straight Big 12 regular-season titles, knocked off MSU last November in the Orlando Classic. That was one of four nonconference losses for the Spartans in 2014-15.
Less than two weeks later, Michigan State plays in the Wooden Legacy in Anaheim where it could end up meeting Arizona in the title game.
No. 12 Wichita State Shockers
14 of 25
Dec. 12 vs. Utah
Wichita State has spent the last few seasons going from being the hunter to the hunted, a path that required the Shockers to make a surprise run to the Final Four in 2013 and then take an unbeaten record into the 2014 NCAA tournament. Last year's team made it to the Sweet 16, and with the best veteran backcourt in the country there's expectation of another strong season.
Because it plays in the Missouri Valley Conference, much like Gonzaga has done, the Shockers end up loading up in the nonconference portion of the schedule to build up their resume. This year they'll be playing road games at Tulsa, Saint Louis and Seton Hall while getting a chance to face several strong opponents at the Advocare Invitational in Orlando.
However, the most notable game for WSU before January will be played on its home court, when Utah makes a trip to Charles Koch Arena after the teams played last year in Salt Lake City. The Shockers lost that game, 69-68, to end their 35-game regular-season win streak.
No. 11 Gonzaga Bulldogs
15 of 25
Nov. 27 vs. Connecticut, Michigan or Syracuse (in Nassau, Bahamas)
As it stands right now, none of Gonzaga's foes in the West Coast Conference are higher than 57th in ratings guru Ken Pomeroy's preseason rankings. This is old hat for the Bulldogs, who know that their NCAA tournament seeding in March is going to be much more dependent on how they perform outside of the WCC than in league play.
It's been that way for more than a decade for Gonzaga, so it's made sure to stack the non-league slate with at least seven games against power-conference opponents and up to four NCAA tourney teams from a year ago.
Gonzaga's best competition will come during the Battle 4 Atlantis, the premier preseason tournament, where Bleacher Report's Kerry Miller wrote the Bulldogs will be "seeking to prove for the umpteenth year in a row that it actually is one of the best teams in the country, capable of hanging with the big boys."
Gonzaga opens with in-state rival Washington, then will play either Texas or Texas A&M and have the chance to take on another big name on the final day of the event in the Bahamas. Those aren't the Bulldogs' only tough preseason games, though, as they open against Pittsburgh (in Japan) and also get to host Arizona, UCLA and Tennessee and late in the season will go to SMU.
No. 10 Arizona Wildcats
16 of 25
Dec. 5 at Gonzaga
Arizona is normally one of the elite teams that does its best to put together a rigorous preseason schedule to help provide early tests and give coach Sean Miller an idea of how good his team can be. The 2015-16 slate is good, with several potential strong matchups, but its lone road game is by far the best of the lot.
The Wildcats are making a trip to Spokane, Washington, to play Gonzaga, one of the biggest opponents to face the Bulldogs on their home court. Arizona's previous games with Gonzaga have either been at home, in Seattle or in the NCAA tournament, but after beating the Zags in overtime at home last season it's making the return trip in a matchup of two of the West's premier programs.
The remainder of Arizona's non-league schedule will be played in Anaheim or Tucson, where it has won 36 straight games. Home games are set against Boise State, Missouri and UNLV, among others, while the Wildcats could potentially face Providence and/or Michigan State in the Wooden Legacy in California.
No. 9 Villanova Wildcats
17 of 25
Dec. 19 at Virginia
Villanova has won the last two Big East regular-season titles, but when the NCAA tournament has come around the Wildcats' lofty records have belied their true ability as each year has ended with a third-round exit. Somewhat unchallenging nonconference schedules were among the criticisms they faced, but that won't be the case in 2015-16 with the lineup they're set to face.
First and foremost, only seven of their 13 games outside of the Big East will be at home, with three on the road and three more at neutral sites. That includes a game against Oklahoma in Hawaii as part of the Pearl Harbor Classic, while they also play Stanford and either Arkansas or Georgia Tech in Brooklyn in the NIT Season Tip-Off.
Two of the road games are part of the annual Big 5 series between Philadelphia-area teams, with Villanova traveling to St. Joseph's and Temple. It's the road game that's on its own, though, that will be where we really see what 'Nova is made of.
The start of a home-and-home series, it will be the Wildcats' first trip to an ACC court since winning at former Big East rival Syracuse in December 2013. Its last game against an ACC team was its most recent, the third-round NCAA loss to North Carolina State last March.
No. 8 Oklahoma Sooners
18 of 25
Dec. 7 vs. Villanova (in Honolulu)
It's not uncommon for a major program to visit Hawaii during the nonconference season, since the Maui Invitational is one of the top preseason tournaments and the Diamond Head Classic routinely draws some good teams to the islands around Christmas. Oklahoma is among the latter, though when it goes to Honolulu in late December that will be its second trip there this season.
The game against Villanova is part of the Pearl Harbor Classic, a doubleheader—Oregon and Navy play in the nightcap—set for the 74th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. The game itself will be big enough, as it pits Oklahoma against the two-time defending Big East regular-season champions, but the events surrounding the contest could lead to a distracted team.
According to SoonerSports.com, Oklahoma plans to partake in several activities on its trip beyond the game.
"One of the casualties in the Pearl Harbor attack was the USS Oklahoma," the website noted. "The 583-foot battleship capsized and sank after it was hit by Japanese torpedoes. A total of 429 of the ship's officers and crew were killed."
No. 7 Iowa State Cyclones
19 of 25
Dec. 22 at Cincinnati
New Iowa State coach Steve Prohm inherits an immensely talented team that's capable of winning the Big 12 and making a deep run in the NCAA tournament, one that's much better than what we saw seven months ago when the Cyclones were shocked by UAB in the second round. Too bad we won't see many chances for them to show this against top competition until the league schedule begins.
ISU opens against Colorado in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and will face Virginia Tech and either Illinois or UAB in the Emerald Coast Classic in Florida, and it also has matchups with in-state foes Iowa at home and Northern Iowa on the road. Those should all be good games, but none of them stand out as barnburners or ones where the Cyclones will be at risk of losing.
The Jan. 30 trip to Texas A&M, as part of the Big 12/SEC Challenge, will be tough though after having faced Kansas five days earlier it won't compare.
That leaves an intriguing trip to Cincinnati, an NCAA tourney team from a year ago that under coach Mick Cronin (and for much of last season under interim coach Larry Davis) is traditionally one of the more plodding and physical teams in the country. ISU was a very uptempo team under Fred Hoiberg and figures to continue to be with Prohm at the reins, so this contrast in styles will make for an interesting matchup.
No. 6 Virginia Cavaliers
20 of 25
Dec. 19 vs. Villanova
As Virginia furthers its resurgence as a premier program under Tony Bennett, the Cavaliers have quickly become the kind of team that other notable schools want to test themselves against. With Bennett's reputation for staunch defense and a roster that fits this mindset, the opportunity to get challenged by such an approach has made it very easy for Virginia to fill up its nonconference schedule lately.
Consider the 2015-16 slate, which could see the Cavs face as many as seven power-conference opponents depending on how things play out in the Charleston Classic (where it could play the likes of Oklahoma State, Ole Miss or Seton Hall).
They're also playing at George Washington and Ohio State, the latter a part of the Big Ten/ACC Challenge, and then in late December face a very tough three-game stretch right before diving into their attempt at a third straight ACC regular-season title.
In between facing West Virginia in New York City in the Jimmy V Classic and hosting California, Virginia welcomes two-time Big East regular-season champ Villanova to Charlottesville. The 'Nova game stands out mostly because Villanova will be looking to show it can do more than just dominate its league, and there's no better way than to win on the road against a powerhouse.
No. 5 Kansas Jayhawks
21 of 25
Jan. 30 vs. Kentucky
Kansas is regularly at the forefront of quality nonconference scheduling, and this upcoming slate is no different. The Jayhawks' preparation for a potential 12th straight share of a Big 12 regular-season title will call for them navigating a November and December that's tougher than nearly every power-league team in the country.
Yet their most challenging out-of-conference game will come smack dab in the middle of Big 12 play, thanks to the moving of the Big 12/SEC Challenge to late January.
In an effort to give it "the attention it deserves," Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby said, per former Fox Sports reporter David Ubben, the 10-game event similar to the longstanding Big Ten/ACC Challenge will be played in its entirety on Jan. 30, 2016, instead of during the preseason.
For Kansas, that means taking on powerhouse Kentucky for the second year in a row but under much different circumstances. Last year's game (won in blowout fashion by Kentucky) was in Chicago in mid-December in the Champions Classic, while this one will be in Allen Fieldhouse and only five days after what should likely be a tense game at Iowa State.
Though at that point in the season the main focus for the Jayhawks will be on conference play, this game with the Wildcats will offer a chance to avenge an embarrassing 72-40 loss from 2014 and potentially boost confidence only less than two months before the start of the NCAA tournament.
No. 4 Duke Blue Devils
22 of 25
Nov. 17 vs. Kentucky (in Chicago)
For much of the 2014-15 season, Duke and Kentucky looked to be the class of the country and many of us hoped these premier programs would end up playing for the NCAA title. That didn't happen after Kentucky lost for the first time in the Final Four, with Duke ending up claiming its fifth championship against Wisconsin instead.
At least we know for a fact the Blue Devils and Wildcats will play this season, albeit with completely different rosters than a year ago.
Between them, 11 star performers either graduated or turned pro after last season, though each has reloaded with by bringing in the top two recruiting classes, per 247Sports. As a result, they are both among the top four in the USA Today coaches preseason poll and we get to see them clash only days into the 2015-16 season as part of the Champions Classic.
"Two preseason top-5 five teams with a Hall of Fame coach on each sideline should be enough to get you to tune in," NBC Sports' Terrence Payne wrote.
No. 3 Maryland Terrapins
23 of 25
Dec. 1 at North Carolina
Maryland was surprisingly successful last year in its first season of Big Ten play, finishing in second place and winning 28 games, most since the 2001-02 national title team. However, a third-round loss to West Virginia cut short the Terrapins' run and got the clock started even earlier on the hype for 2015-16.
The Terps have their highest preseason ranking in 13 years and now have to try and live up to that billing, despite losing veteran Dez Wells to graduation. Sophomore Melo Trimble leads a strong cast of returners, while head coach Mark Turgeon landed a stud recruit in center Diamond Stone, and together that's led to the No. 3 ranking.
Maryland has a few notable preseason games, such as against Georgetown at home and against Connecticut in the Jimmy V Classic in New York, but the one that will give us the best indication of whether the Terps are ready to be a legitimate national title contender early on will be when they visit an old rival.
The Terps played in the ACC from its creation in the 1950s until 2014, and during that time they faced North Carolina almost 180 times. The last meeting in the series was a 12-point loss in Chapel Hill in February 2014, and each team has a handful of players left from that game.
No. 1 (tie) North Carolina Tar Heels
24 of 25
Dec. 1 vs. Maryland
Since a six-year run that saw North Carolina win a national title and get to at least the Elite Eight four other times, the Tar Heels have been somewhat of an underachiever the past three seasons. Twice they were eliminated during the first weekend of the NCAA tournament and last year they went out in the Sweet 16.
Head coach Roy Williams brings back almost his entire team from 2014-15, save for JP Tokoto, and as a result his top nine is made up of three seniors, three juniors and three sophomores. That's the kind of experience you rarely find on a power-conference team nowadays, and thus the Tar Heels are getting pegged by many as a serious national title contender.
We'll get a strong idea of if this is the case when they play the rigorous ACC schedule, but before that happens the Heels' non-league slate will provide some solid tests. None more so than via the resumption of an old ACC rivalry.
North Carolina has a 122-57 lead in the all-time series, including a 19-8 mark at the Dean E. Smith Center. After Maryland left for the Big Ten in 2014, outside of the NCAA tourney the most likely chance for UNC and the Terrapins to play again was via the Big Ten/ACC Challenge.
No. 1 (tie) Kentucky Wildcats
25 of 25
Nov. 17 vs. Duke (in Chicago)
We've already described the collective disappointment that many college basketball fans had last April when Kentucky failed to create a dream national championship game with Duke, instead coming up two wins short of a prefect season by losing to Wisconsin in the Final Four.
We haven't discussed how those associated with clothing Web site 40and0.com felt because of this, though it's likely they still sold plenty of shirts by Kentucky fans prior to that national semifinal loss. The same couldn't be said for the previous two years, when any hope the Wildcats would go unbeaten went out the window within the first three games of the season with losses in the Champions Classic. That includes a 2012 loss to Duke in November 2012.
After sending its top seven scorers to the NBA via early entry this past spring, there hasn't been much substantive talk about Kentucky going 40-0 in 2015-16. But that in no way takes away from arguably the best game of the first month of this season, one pitting two of the winningest programs in college basketball history against each other.
Follow Brian J. Pedersen on Twitter at @realBJP.
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