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

Ready or not, here it comes.

Baseball's in the deep freeze. And your fantasy football team has been out of it for weeks.

It must be time to get the college basketball season going in earnest.

The undercard bouts have been contested, and the records properly padded. Now separate from its chaff, the wheat faces the wheat in January as conference play gets started, and the next round of metaphorical cuts begin.

The following 10 games are the most entertaining on the month's menu and should aid the effort to continue whittling the field down to that final dance. And if the game contains a few players who might have the potential to shine at the next level, well, that's not a bad little bonus.

Teams, records, dates, times and viewing coordinates (as available) for each matchup are provided. The games are ranked based on the quality of the teams and players involved and the stakes of the matchup.

10. Utah at California, Jan. 3

Ben Margot/Associated Press

Ivan Rabb (left) and Jaylen Brown

Records: No. 21 Utah (10-2), California (9-3)

Time: 7:30 p.m. 

See it on: Pac-12 Network

This was a tough list to make. With so many ranked teams in action against one another, what justification might one have for including any unranked teams in the mix?

Try four first-round NBA draft picks in one game. 

If that's not enough, three of the four are lottery-bound, according to the most recent mock from NBADraft.net. 

Behind super frosh Jaylen Brown and Ivan Rabb, Cal should return to the Top 25 at some point this season. Senior guard and fellow first-round projectee Tyrone Wallace doesn't have as much national buzz, but he's the heart and soul of the Golden Bears.

For Utah, center Jakob Poeltl is having a mammoth season. He's among the Pac-12 leaders in a multitude of stat categories and sits atop the entire nation with a 35.9 player efficiency rating, per College Basketball Reference. No wonder he's expected to go in the top five next summer.

9. Notre Dame at Duke, Jan. 16

Streeter Lecka/Getty Images

Grayson Allen

Records: Notre Dame (8-3), No. 15 Duke (9-2)

Time: 2 p.m.

See it on: ESPN

Buckle up for some offense in this one. According to KenPom, the Blue Devils, behind one of the ACC's top scorers in Grayson Allen, are fourth nationally in adjusted offense with 118.2 points scored on average for every 100 possessions.

Just edging them out for third position, with 118.3 points per 100 possessions, are the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame.

The Irish have had their stumbles and aren't quite as great as last season's Elite Eight squad, but behind senior point guard Demetrius Jackson, they can put the ball in the hole. They will need to win games like this if they want to climb back onto the bubble.

Cameron Indoor Stadium will be rocking, as the kids like to say, for this tasty ACC matchup.

8. Butler at Providence, Jan. 19

Jessica Hill/Associated Press

Kris Dunn

Records: No. 9 Butler (10-1), No. 12 Providence (12-1)

Time: 6:30 p.m.

See it on: Fox Sports 1

Two words: Kris Dunn.

If you haven't seen him yet, take this opportunity to get acquainted. Because Providence's point guard is the truth.

The numbers are pretty convincing. Just to scratch the surface, College Basketball Reference has Dunn seventh in the nation with 7.3 assists per game, second nationally with 3.2 steals per game and third in the Big East with 16.5 points each contest.

Come for Dunn and stay for the Butler Bulldogs, who are the Real McCoy once again this season. They have five players averaging double figures (six if you give Tyler Wideman 0.1 points of charity and some rounding love) and rank second in the nation in scoring average (89.7) and eighth in team field-goal percentage (51.2), per NCAA.com.  

7. Arizona at UCLA, Jan. 7

Chris Coduto/Getty Images

Ryan Anderson

Records: No. 8 Arizona (12-1), No. 25 UCLA (9-4)

Time: 9 p.m.

See it on: ESPN2

Along with Utah, these are the best teams in the Pac-12 this season. 

The Bruins will need this win if they want to remain solidly within the upper half of the Big Dance bracket. Arizona looks like it is once again set to cruise into March behind a foursome of seniors in Ryan Anderson, Gabe York, Mark Tollefsen and Kaleb Tarczewski.

That's a tall order for anyone, but Bryce Alford and the Bruins are balanced and tested, too. Make ready for a rousing church service in the basketball cathedral that is Pauley Pavilion.

6. Virginia at Louisville, Jan. 30

Ryan M. Kelly/Associated Press

Malcolm Brogdon

Records: No. 5 Virginia (10-1), No. 18 Louisville (11-2)

Time: 1 p.m.

See it on: CBS

The Virginia Cavaliers just keep right on winning. Entering ACC play, they might just be the team to beat in one of the country's deepest and most crowded conferences.

The Cardinals are hot on their heels, bruising their opponents with crippling defense. Virginia's pack-line defense is everyone's defensive darling, but Louisville is actually ahead of (behind?) them in points allowed, at 57.4 per contest (third in the nation) to UVA's ninth-best 59.2.

So you know what to expect from this one.

5. Iowa State at Oklahoma, Jan. 2

Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports

Iowa State guard Monte Morris

Records: No. 11 Iowa State (10-1), No. 3 Oklahoma (11-0)

Time: 7 p.m.

See it on: ESPN2

The previously ranked game is a defensive clinic. Flip that around for this matchup.

Oklahoma is 11th in KenPom's adjusted offense rankings, and Iowa State is 15th. Two of the Big 12's Big Three (along with Kansas) are shooting a combined 50 percent from the floor. That is pretty good.

Everyone knows about Iowa State's do-it-all big man Georges Niang and star Sooners guard Buddy Hield. But point guard Monte Morris and his 5.25-1 assist-to-turnover ratio really make the Cyclones go, while Hield's well-rounded backcourt mate Isaiah Cousins is an indispensable part of Oklahoma's attack.

4. Miami at Virginia, Jan. 12

Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

Angel Rodriguez

Records: No. 13 Miami (10-1), No. 5 Virginia (10-1)

Time: 7 p.m. 

See it on: ESPNU

Look out for the Miami Hurricanes.

The NCAA's new 30-second shot clock and stepped-up enforcement of touch-foul rules is working to the advantage of guards: more possessions, quicker pace, more shots. Suddenly, this is Guard Nation that we've got here.

Miami knows it. It's keyed by perhaps the best power-conference backcourt you don't know about: the senior tandem of Angel Rodriguez and Sheldon McClellan. Together they average 28.7 points, 50 percent field-goal shooting, 5.9 assists and 5.1 rebounds per contest. Their squad has already beaten Utah, Butler and Florida.

Traveling to Charlottesville, Virginia, will mark their toughest test. If they can burn a hole in the Virginia fire blanket, they might be for real. Very real.

3. Kentucky at Kansas, Jan. 30

Andy Lyons/Getty Images

Tyler Ulis

Records: No. 10 Kentucky (10-2), No. 2 Kansas (10-1)

Time: TBD

See it on: ESPN 

You know what you can do for this one? What you can do is throw out the record books. Just throw them right out. Few things in college basketball are juicier than this medium-rare matchup between two of its most venerable programs.

It may not have the luster it might have when they're both at the heights of their powers, but UK-KU is still plenty live. It stands to reason that the young Wildcat guns, led by surprise star Jamal Murray, will be more deeply integrated by the end of January. Similarly, late-arriving but wildly gifted freshman Cheick Diallo should be settled in with a seasoned contingent of Jayhawks.

2. Oklahoma at Kansas, Jan. 4

Eugene Tanner/Associated Press

Buddy Hield (right)

Records: No. 3 Oklahoma (11-0), No. 2 Kansas (10-1)

Time: 9 p.m.

See it on: ESPN

If you can't find time to watch this game on a Monday night, you have hereby invalidated your fan card.

Simply put, these teams are juggernauts. Kansas and Oklahoma sit ninth and 11th in KenPom's adjusted offensive rankings, respectively, and eighth and seventh in the defensive version.

To give you another sample of how well they match up, the Sooners are second in the nation with a 46.2 percent team three-point-shooting average, per NCAA.com. The Jayhawks are first at 46.3. 

Don't think they don't get after it on the other end, either. This ain't no The Citadel we're talking about. Oklahoma holds opponents to 35.6 percent shooting from the floor; that's third in the country. Kansas isn't bad, either, with a 39.3 percent mark in that category.

Something has to give, and when it does, we'll know who the best team in the Big 12 is. At least until February.

1. Maryland at Michigan State, Jan. 23

Jim Rogash/Getty Images

Denzel Valentine

Records: No. 4 Maryland (11-1), No. 1 Michigan State (13-0)

Time: TBD

See it on: ESPN

Denzel Valentine. Melo Trimble. If this isn't must-see TV, then I must not understand the meaning of the term.

Teamwise, this battle pits two of the favorites to win not just the Big 10 but maybe the whole shebang. Valentine, who is currently sidelined with a knee injury, will hopefully be back to full form for this one.

Spartans fans should certainly hope so. They'll need his playmaking to contend with that of Trimble, who leads the Terps in points (14.8) and assists (5.8) per game. If Valentine is at full capacity, a back-and-forth game of slash-and-burn could ensue. And everyone's a winner there.

Not that these teams are one-man wonders. Robert Carter, Diamond Stone and Jake Layman form a good-and-getting-better frontcourt for Maryland, while Duke transfer Rasheed Sulaimon teams in the back with Trimble. 

The 6'7" Valentine, who leads the Spartans in rebounds per game (8.3) as well as points (18.5) and assists (7.1), is the clear star in East Lansing, but fellow seniors Matt Costello and Bryn Forbes also are important contributors for Tom Izzo.

But ah, who are we kidding? This is two of the most exciting players playing on two of the most exciting teams playing against each other for conference and national dominance. That story writes itself.

Disclaimers and caveats: All records and rankings are accurate as of Dec. 29. Rankings based on Week 8 AP poll. All game times listed are in Eastern time and subject to change. All statistics are from ESPN.com databases unless otherwise noted.