The college basketball season doesn’t actually begin to heat up for most casual fans until after the Super Bowl when the road to the March Madness moves in to the spotlight. However, there are a number of early season games that are definitely worth tuning in to watch if you are a fan of the game. Here is a look at the most highly anticipated college basketball games for the month of November.
Notre Dame Fighting Irish @ Michigan State Spartans
Thursday November 30th – 7:00 PM ET
We don’t often see a featured showcase game that pits the ACC versus the Big Ten without North Carolina or Duke involved. However, Michigan State will be coming off a run in the PK80 tournament and this will be an intriguing test at home. All-American Bonzie Colson and company could be the last true test for the Spartans until they get in to the heart of their Big Ten schedule. Notre Dame will be rested and waiting, which makes this a very intriguing early season matchup. We’ll see if they can take care of business on the road.
Miami Hurricanes @ Minnesota Golden Gophers
Wednesday November 29th – 9:15 PM ET
There are plenty of question marks surrounding the Hurricanes in the wake of the unwanted attention that has come with the FBI’s investigation in to their basketball program. Miami is still loaded with talent but they will need to put the distractions behind them in order to play to their potential early on in the year. This ACC vs Big Ten Challenge game will be a perfect test as the Golden Gophers are expected to compete for a top-four seed once the March Madness tournament rolls around. Minnesota is talented enough to beat the Hurricanes at home. All eyes will be on Miami to see if they can ignore the noise and pull out a big early season college basketball win.
Louisville Cardinals @ Purdue Boilermakers
Tuesday November 28th – 8:00 PM ET
Another ACC versus Big Ten challenge game that will be worth tuning in to watch will feature the Cardinals and Boilermakers in Purdue at the end of the month. These teams met in the same event a year ago when Louisville pulled out a 71-64 win at home. Both teams should be in the national rankings when they meet again this year. This will be the first substantial test of the season for the Cardinals so it will be interesting to see how they perform. It’s hard to get a good read on Louisville’s potential heading in to the season but a trip to Purdue should help to gauge their overall potential for this season.
Texas A&M Aggies @ USC Trojans
Sunday November 26th – 10:00 PM ET
This matchup will feature two of the best projected frontcourts in the nation as the Aggies visit USC. Both teams are loaded with athletes and talented guards so they should match up fairly well against one another. One name to keep an eye on is Trojans big man Chimezie Metu, who will face one of his toughest tests of the season. Both teams have the potential to make some noise on the national stage so this will be an intriguing matchup that pits the SEC against the Pac-12 early on.
Baylor Bears @ Xavier Musketeers
Tuesday, November 28th – 6:30 PM ET
Both of these teams have started 2-0 and now find themselves in the Top 25. Baylor is currently the No. 25 program in the country while Xavier is up to No. 15. The Musketeers really haven’t been challenged to date as they crushed Morehead 101-49 and Rider 101-75. Baylor also hasn’t had to sweat too much as they smoked the Central Arkansas Golden Bears 107-66 and then topped the Texas A&M CC-Islander 70-46.
Both teams will actually play Wisconsin before they face each other, so we should know more about them after this matchup. At any rate, this Top 25 matchup is something to look forward to as both teams are viewed as quality college basketball contenders in their respective conferences. This contest will be featured on FS1.
The 2018 March Madness futures are out. There has been plenty of news to keep up with in the offseason but keep an eye on the betting lines as they move around at Diamond Sportsbook! Get the latest college basketball betting lines right here.
