College Hoops Viewing Guide: January 5, 2014

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, FSN, and Root Sports games (all games listed in these posts marked with an *) are available on which affiliates.

All times are Eastern.

ACC Opening Day, Continued

North Carolina Tar Heels (10-3) at Wake Forest Demon Deacons (10-3), 8 p.m. (ESPNU)

The final two ACC teams to start league play do so in Winston-Salem, and you have to wonder which Tar Heel team will show up for this Sunday night showcase. If good UNC shows up, the Demon Deacons will be overwhelmed, as you would expect. But that squad's appearance is not guaranteed.

Big East Game To Watch

Providence Friars (10-4, 0-1 Big East) at Villanova Wildcats (12-1, 1-0), 7 p.m. (FS1)

The Friars entered the Big East season with high hopes, but thanks to a double OT loss at home to Seton Hall on New Year's Eve, they're staring down an 0-2 start (and three-game losing streak) on this trip to the Pavilion. The Wildcats, meanwhile, will look to join Creighton, Georgetown, and Xavier in a four-way tie for the league lead.

Big Ten Games To Watch

Northwestern Wildcats (7-7, 0-1 Big Ten) at Michigan Wolverines (9-4, 1-0), 12 p.m. (BTN)
Purdue Boilermakers (10-4, 0-1) at Minnesota Golden Gophers (11-3, 0-1), 2:30 p.m. (BTN)
Iowa Hawkeyes (12-2, 1-0) at Wisconsin Badgers (14-0, 1-0), 7:30 p.m. (BTN)

The middle and final games of the Big Ten Network tripleheader are certainly worth a watch. Both Purdue and Minnesota need a win for profile purposes, with the Gophers looking to rebound from a loss in a very winnable home game against Michigan on Thursday. Meanwhile, Wisconsin will surely be tested in its quest to keep the zero in the loss column by an Iowa team that will be able to challenge the Badgers, particularly on the perimeter.

Pac-12 Games To Watch

USC Trojans (9-4) at UCLA Bruins (11-2), 3 p.m. (FS1)
Oregon Ducks (13-0, 1-0 Pac-12) at Colorado Buffaloes (12-2, 1-0), 5 p.m. (FS1)
Washington State Cougars (7-6, 0-1) at Arizona State Sun Devils (11-3, 0-1), 6 p.m. (ESPNU)

In game one, Andy Enfield and Steve Alford get their first tastes of their schools' crosstown rivalry at Pauley. While the Bruins are already thought of in the bid conversation, the Trojans need a strong conference run to go along with good wins against teams they could be compared against come March -- Xavier (in the Bahamas) and Dayton (at UD Arena). Game two sees Oregon travel to Boulder to finish its Rocky Mountain road trip. The Buffs should be able to give the Ducks as much of a fight, if not more, than Utah did on Thursday night. If that's the case, this will be the game of the day. Finally, Washington State and Arizona State will each look for better results than they got on Thursday in their meeting in Tempe. The Sun Devils cannot afford a sweep at the hands of the Evergreen State schools.

Other Conference Action

Patriot

Boston U. Terriers (8-6, 1-0 Patriot) at Lehigh Mountain Hawks (8-6, 1-0), 1 p.m. (CBS SN)

One of the Patriot League's newest members -- and one of the favorites to claim the conference's auto bid -- travels to one of its longtime standard bearers, which naturally happens to be a team that's capable of winning the title itself.

Atlantic Sun

Florida Gulf Coast Eagles (8-7, 2-0 A-Sun) at Stetson Hatters (3-11, 1-1), 1 p.m. (CSS)

The defending A-Sun tourney champs look to keep pace with 3-0 North Florida in the league race. The Eagles will have a great chance against their travel partner, though the Hatters have been playing far better of late. Stetson opened A-Sun play by beating Lipscomb by a bucket before falling to Northern Kentucky in OT by the same margin.

Missouri Valley

Northern Iowa Panthers (7-6, 1-0 MVC) at Wichita State Shockers (14-0, 1-0), 2 p.m. (FS Midwest/CSN Chicago/ESPN3)

The Shockers host a Panther team that will look to show that it's not ready to settle for second or third place in the Valley. Note that UNI has yet to win a true road game and has just twice away from Cedar Falls, with both victories coming in the Paradise Jam. Also keep in mind that the Roundhouse is not paradise.

Non-Conference Game To Watch

San Diego State Aztecs (11-1) at Kansas Jayhawks (9-3), 4:30 p.m. (CBS)

This afternoon, after the AFC playoff game wraps up on CBS, you definitely will want to keep a screen there for this one. Unfortunately, the network is not streaming the contest from Lawrence, making this a more difficult task for most. The Jayhawks enter today looking to wrap up one of the more difficult non-conference schedules in recent memory with a win, while the Aztecs would love to grab a significant non-league win -- one that would certainly establish them as Mountain West favorites -- before jumping back into league play on Wednesday.

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