College Basketball Viewing Guide For Monday, 11/18/2013

The NIT Season Tip-Off, a tournament that actually requires the host schools to win two games at home before advancing to the final site, begins tonight with eight regional semifinal games. While Duke and Arizona should be up to their assignment over the next two nights and, therefore, reach Madison Square Garden easily, things could be a bit more difficult for the other two hosts -- Alabama and Rutgers. Each of those teams see quality mid-majors in their pods, each of whom will look to emulate the surprising performance of VCU in 2010 and Delaware in 2012.

All TV info is courtesy Matt's College Sports on TV site. He has many more games listed, and you'll also want to check out his listings for information on which ACC and SEC regional contests and CSN and FSN games (all games listed here marked with a *) are available on which affiliates.

All times are Eastern.

NIT Season Tip-Off Regional Semifinals

East

UNC Asheville Bulldogs (1-2) at Duke Blue Devils (2-1), 7 p.m. ET (ESPNU)
Norfolk State Spartans (2-1) vs. East Carolina Pirates (3-0), approx. 9:30 p.m. ET (no TV)
Duke's visitors are a combined 3-3 against Division I opposition, with UNCA's Friday night OT win over College of Charleston the most impressive victory of the bunch.

South

McNeese State Cowboys (1-2) vs. Georgia State Panthers (1-1), 5:30 p.m. ET (no TV)
Stillman Tigers (1-2) at Alabama Crimson Tide (1-1), approx. 8 p.m. ET (ESPN3)
Last season, the NIT Season Tip-Off organizers (ahem, the NCAA) were so desperate to fill the field, they had to invite Division II Alabama-Huntsville to fill Kansas State's regional. The Chargers ended up falling to the Wildcats in the regional final. In 2013, two Division II teams are in the fold, with one -- the Stillman Tigers -- a likely speedbump for Alabama tonight. However, if Georgia State, a real contender in the Sun Belt, handles McNeese State tonight, keep an eye on the Panthers' in Tuesday night's final.

North

Drexel Dragons (1-1) vs. Elon Phoenix (2-1), 5 p.m. ET (no TV)
Canisius Golden Griffins (1-1) at Rutgers Scarlet Knights (2-1), approx. 7:30 p.m. ET (ESPN3)
The Scarlet Knights just escaped Yale Bulldogs at home on Thursday night, which does not bode well for this regional, which features a team that should be close to the top of the Colonial Athletic (Drexel), the Southern Conference favorite (Elon), and a team that's improved significantly with Jim Baron in charge (Canisius). Note that Drexel and Elon is a future CAA matchup.

West

Metro State Roadrunners (2-0) vs. Rhode Island Rams (2-1), 8 p.m. ET (no TV)
Fairleigh Dickinson Knights (1-2) at Arizona Wildcats (3-0), 11 p.m. ET (ESPNU)
Even with the presence of the 2013 Division II runners-up, Metro State, Arizona should roll here, though Tuesday's potential matchup with URI could be interesting for a half or so.

Other Games Of Note

Vermont Catamounts (1-2) at Providence Friars (3-0), 7 p.m. (FS1)
The Friars look to continue their hot start against a Catamount team that will again threaten for the America East crown. Vermont's lone win came against Siena last Tuesday night.

Southern U. Jaguars (1-3) at Florida Gators (2-1) (Global Sports Challenge), 7 p.m. (Sun Sports/ESPN3)
The Gators played a bit more uptempo on Saturday en route to a big win over Ark.-Little Rock Trojans in a game that was tied at halftime. They'll need to keep it up against a Jaguar team that may just have one win (against North Florida in this event) but has been very competitive in trips to Marquette and Middle Tennessee.

Miami Hurricanes (2-1) at College of Charleston Cougars (1-2) (Wooden Legacy), 7:30 p.m. (WMMP/CSS)
After splitting a pair of overtime games to start the season, the Hurricanes blasted Texas Southern on Thursday to gain some confidence heading into their first road game of the season, against a Cougar team they may very well see again in Southern California over Thanksgiving weekend. Charleston is no stranger to close games, having defeated Charlotte by a point before falling to UNC Asheville by a point in its last outing.

Southern Miss. Golden Eagles (2-0) at North Dakota State Bison (1-1), 8 p.m. (KVLY 11.2)
This is the best game of the night that hardly anyone will get to see, featuring one of the top teams, if not the outright favorite, in C-USA and the Summit League's likely standard bearer. The Golden Eagles have already won at DePaul in a CBE Hall of Fame Classic preliminary game, while the Bison are coming off a loss at St. Mary's on Thursday night.

Texas Southern Tigers (2-2) at Texas Tech Red Raiders (2-1) (Legends Classic), 9 p.m. (ESPNU)
Fresh of a South Florida sweep, courtesy of Miami and FIU, the Tigers will again look to pull off an upset in Lubbock against a Red Raider team that was handled by Alabama in the first game of the SEC/Big 12 Challenge on Thursday.

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