On The Menu: January 3, 2016

Game information courtesy Matt College Sports on TV Website, which has even more games listed.

All times listed are Eastern, adjust accordingly.

Pac-12

No. 8 Arizona Wildcats (12-1) at Arizona State Sun Devils (10-3), 2 p.m. (FS1)
USC Trojans (12-2, 1-0) at Washington Huskies (9-4, 1-0), 3 p.m. (Pac-12 Networks National, Washington, L.A.)
Oregon Ducks (11-2) at Oregon State Beavers (9-2), 7 p.m. (FS1)
No. 21 Utah Utes (11-3, 0-1) at California Golden Bears (11-3, 1-0), 7:30 p.m. (Pac-12 Networks National, Mountain, Bay Area)
No. 25 UCLA Bruins (9-5, 0-1) at Washington State Cougars (8-5, 0-1), 9:30 p.m. (Pac-12 Networks National, Washington, L.A.)
Colorado Buffaloes (11-3, 0-1) at Stanford Cardinal (8-4, 1-0), 10 p.m. (ESPNU)

Keep an eye on the Sun Devils in game one, as they've defeated the Wildcats in Tempe in three of the last four seasons—and Bobby Hurley's first squad looks to be far more competitive than Herb Sendek's last. Note that Kaleb Tarczewski looks to return for Arizona today. The Oregon schools both open conference play today, with the pair looking to build on strong non-conference performances. Given their schedules, however, only the Ducks enter Pac-12 play in strong bid position.

Utah desperately needs a good showing at Cal after Friday's collapse at Stanford, but that will be a tough ask, considering the Golden Bears looked pretty much unstoppable against Colorado in their opener. USC has a great chance to sweep the Washington schools, while the Bruins will look to be more focused in Pullman than they were in Seattle. Finally, Colorado will attempt to give a better account of itself against a Stanford team that looks to build on Friday's big victory over the Utes.

Big Ten

Illinois Fighting Illini (8-6, 0-1) at Ohio State Buckeyes (9-5, 1-0), 5 p.m. (BTN)

Things could get really ugly for the Illini with a loss today in Columbus—a trip to Michigan State and home game with Purdue follows. On the other hand, the Buckeyes have quietly won five in a row and have worked themselves back into the bid picture.

ACC

Wake Forest Demon Deacons (9-3) at No. 18 Louisville Cardinals (11-2), 8 p.m. (ESPNU)

The Cardinals should be able to shut down the Demon Deacons, who are a year or two away from bid contention, in the ACC opener for both.

Atlantic 10 Opening Day, Part II

UMass Minutemen (7-5) at La Salle Explorers (4-6), 5 p.m. (NBCSN)
Fordham Rams (9-2) at George Washington Colonials (11-2), 7 p.m. (NBCSN)

While the first game will likely have little impact on the Atlantic 10 or NCAA races, the Colonials will look to get themselves off to a good early start by topping a Rams team that's started brightly in Jeff Neubauer's first season. Of course, Fordham doesn't yet have a win over a squad in the KenPom top 200. Their best victim? St. John's, ranked 240th.

Other Games Of Note

Vermont Catamounts (7-7) at Harvard Crimson (6-7), 2 p.m. (ESPN3)

This game between conference title contenders wraps up the unofficial America East/Ivy Challenge, which the America East leads three games to two.

Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders (8-4) at UAB Blazers (10-3), 3 p.m. (ASN)

Old Dominion, Louisiana Tech, and UTEP all started their Conference USA campaigns with wins, but only one of these other likely contenders will join them in a first-place tie.

Western Illinois Leathernecks (7-5, 0-1) at South Dakota State Jackrabbits (12-3, 1-0), 3 p.m. (MidCo SN/ESPN3)

Two of the Summit League's leading lights from the non-conference portion of the schedule meet in Brookings, though the Jackrabbits look to have more staying power than the Leathernecks.

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