College Hoops Viewing Guide For New Year’s Eve 2016

This list of games is not exhaustive by design. For a full schedule and more specific information about coverage—particularly for ACC RSN, ASN, CSN, and FSN games—visit Matt’s College Sports on TV Website.

If you’re only able to listen today, check out TuneIn’s college basketball lineup.

All times are Eastern, adjust accordingly.

Non-Conference Game Of Note

No. 16 Indiana Hoosiers (10-3) vs. No. 6 Louisville Cardinals (11-2) at Indianapolis, 12:30 p.m. (CBS)

With both teams coming off home losses in their respective conference openers, this one has added importance. The Cardinals will surely be happy to be playing a team not named ‘Virginia,’ while the Hoosiers are aiming for their third Top 10 win of the season.

ACC Openers

No. 5 Duke Blue Devils (12-1) at Virginia Tech Hokies (11-1), 12 p.m. (ESPN2)
Clemson Tigers (10-2) at Wake Forest Demon Deacons (9-4, 0-1), 12 p.m. (ACC RSNs)
No. 9 North Carolina Tar Heels (12-2) at Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (8-4), 12 p.m. (ACC Network/ESPN3)
No. 20 Florida State Seminoles (13-1, 1-0) at No. 12 Virginia Cavaliers (11-1, 1-0), 2 p.m. (ESPNU)
No. 24 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (11-2) at Pittsburgh Panthers (11-2), 2 p.m. (ACC Network/ESPN3)
North Carolina State Wolfpack (11-2) at Miami Hurricanes (10-2), 4:30 p.m. (ACC RSNs/ESPN3)

Okay, three of these teams are playing their second ACC game of the week. Wake will look to avoid an 0-2 start by beating a dangerous Clemson squad in Winston-Salem, while one of FSU or UVa will hold an early 2-0 league lead. Virginia Tech would love to make a statement against Duke, while the Notre Dame-Pitt and N.C. State-Miami matchups will be vital for positioning in what could be a crowded middle tier.

American Athletic

Houston Cougars (10-3, 1-0) at USF Bulls (6-6, 0-1), 12 p.m. (ESPNU)
SMU Mustangs (11-3, 1-0) at East Carolina Pirates (9-5, 1-0), 12 p.m. (ASN/ESPN3)
UConn Huskies (5-7, 0-1) at Tulsa Golden Hurricane (6-6), 2 p.m. (CBSSN)
Temple Owls (9-5, 0-1) at UCF Knights (10-3, 1-0), 4 p.m. (ESPNU)

Tulsa opens league play at home against reeling UConn, while Temple will need to win in Orlando to avoid a disappointing 0-for-2 first week. That won’t be easy with Tacko Fall and improved UCF the opposition.

Atlantic 10 Opener

Richmond Spiders (6-6) at Davidson Wildcats (7-4), 2 p.m. (ASN)

The Wildcats still have a slight at-large chance, one that will disappear if they can’t win games like this one.

Big East

No. 17 Xavier Musketeers (11-2, 1-0) at Georgetown Hoyas (8-5, 0-1), 11 a.m. (FS1)
No. 1 Villanova Wildcats (13-0, 1-0) at No. 10 Creighton Bluejays (13-0, 1-0), 1 p.m. (FS1)

The eyes of the college basketball world will be on Omaha this afternoon, as the Bluejays can firmly establish their national bonafides by knocking off the top-ranked Wildcats. First, Georgetown will aim to rebound from a disappointing opening loss to Marquette by stunning Xavier at the Verizon Center.

MVC

Indiana State Sycamores (6-7, 0-1) at Missouri State Bears (10-4, 1-0), 12 p.m. (MVC TV/FS Midwest/CSN Chicago/ESPN3)

On Wednesday, the Bears opened Valley play by holding off UNI in Cedar Falls. They can move to 2-0 by sending the Sycamores to their second loss in a row and fourth in five.

Mountain West

Utah State Aggies (7-6, 0-1) at Air Force Falcons (7-7, 0-1), 2 p.m. (Root Sports)
Wyoming Cowboys (11-3, 1-0) at UNLV Runnin’ Rebels (7-7, 0-1), 4 p.m. (MWN)
Colorado State Rams (9-5, 1-0) at Boise State Broncos (8-4, 1-0), 6 p.m. (ESPN3)
Nevada Wolf Pack (12-2, 1-0) at Fresno State Bulldogs (8-5, 0-1), 6 p.m. (ESPN3)

The two ESPN3 games hold the most promise, as league favorite Nevada travels to defending tournament champ Fresno State after a pair of decent 1-0 teams meet in Boise.

OVC

Tennessee State Tigers (9-3) at Murray State Racers (5-8), 12 p.m. (CBSSN)

The Tigers, who have already defeated Middle Tennessee, will challenge Belmont for the East Division title, while Murray State is the West favorite, despite a losing record overall.

Other OVC action will be available on the OVC Digital Network.

WCC

BYU Cougars (10-4, 1-0) at Loyola Marymount Lions (7-5, 0-1), 4 p.m. (Spectrum Sportsnet/CSN Bay Area/Root Sports/TheW.tv)
San Francisco Dons (11-3, 1-0) at Santa Clara Broncos (6-8, 0-1), 6 p.m. (CSN Bay Area/Root Sports/Spectrum Sportsnet/TheW.tv)
No. 7 Gonzaga Bulldogs (13-0, 1-0) at Pacific Tigers (6-8, 0-1), 8 p.m. (CSN Bay Area/ESPN3)
Pepperdine Waves (4-9, 0-1) at Portland Pilots (8-5, 1-0), 8 p.m. (CSN Northwest)
San Diego Toreros (7-6, 0-1) at No. 19 Saint Mary’s Gaels (11-1, 1-0), 9 p.m. (TheW.tv)

Why yes, the five-way tie for first could remain in place if all five Thursday winners repeat the feat today and tonight.

There is also Big Sky, Big South, CAA, Conference USA (check the listings), Horizon (ESPN3), MAAC (ESPN3), NEC, SoCon (ESPN3), Southland (ESPN3), and Summit (ESPN3 and others) action on tap for your streaming pleasure today.

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