College Hoops Viewing Guide For January 4, 2017

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.

Overview

in order of bracket impact

Early Window

Villanova at Butler, 6:30 p.m. (FS1)
Iowa State at Baylor, 8 p.m. (ESPN News)
South Carolina at Georgia, 7 p.m. (ESPNU)
Georgetown at Providence, 7 p.m. (CBSSN)
Miami at Syracuse, 7 p.m. (ACC RSNs/ESPN3)
Georgia Tech at Duke, 7 p.m. (ESPN2)
Oklahoma State at Texas, 8 p.m. (LHN)
Rutgers at Michigan State, 6:30 p.m. (BTN)
VCU at Duquesne, 7 p.m. (ASN)
Auburn at Vanderbilt, 7 p.m. (SECN)
Northern Iowa at Loyola-Chicago, 7 p.m. (MVC TV/ESPN3)
Drake at Wichita State, 8 p.m. (Cox-Kansas/ESPN3)
Indiana State at Southern Illinois, 8 p.m. (ESPN3)
Bradley at Evansville, 8 p.m. (ESPN3)
Saint Louis at La Salle, 7 p.m. (Atlantic10.com)
Fordham at Richmond, 7 p.m. (Atlantic 10 on Facebook Live)

Mid-Evening Window

Louisville at Notre Dame, 9 p.m. (ACC Network (Regional)/ESPN3)
Virginia at Pitt, 9 p.m. (ACC RSNs/ESPN3)
Virginia Tech at N.C. State, 9 p.m. (ACC Network (Regional)/ESPN3)
Temple at SMU, 9 p.m. (CBSSN)
Oregon at Washington, 9 p.m. (ESPN2)
Penn State at Michigan, 8:30 p.m. (BTN)
Creighton at St. John’s, 8:30 p.m. (FS1)
Tulsa at Houston, 9 p.m. (ESPNU)
Missouri State at Illinois State, 9 p.m. (MVC TV/ESPN3)
LSU at Missouri, 9 p.m. (SECN)

Late Window

San Diego State at Nevada, 11 p.m. (ESPN2)
New Mexico at Utah State, 11 p.m. (ESPNU)
Boise State at UNLV, 11 p.m. (CBSSN)
Colorado State at San José State, 10 p.m. (MWN)
Wyoming at Fresno State, 10 p.m. (MWN)
Oregon State vs. Washington State, 11 p.m. (Pac-12 Networks)

American Athletic

Temple Owls (9-6, 0-2) at SMU Mustangs (12-3, 2-0), 9 p.m. (CBSSN)
Tulsa Golden Hurricane (7-6, 1-0) at Houston Cougars (11-3, 2-0), 9 p.m. (ESPNU)

One of the most maddening teams in the country heads to Moody Coliseum, where they’ll look to avoid an 0-3 American start (and remain in the at-large hunt) by cooling off the scorching Mustangs. Meanwhile, the Cougars will look to keep their place in the lead pack by handing the middling Golden Hurricane a first league defeat.

ACC

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (9-4, 1-0) at No. 8 Duke Blue Devils (12-2, 0-1), 7 p.m. (ESPN2)
Miami Hurricanes (11-2, 1-0) at Syracuse Orange (8-6, 0-1), 7 p.m. (ACC RSNs/ESPN3)
No. 9 Louisville Cardinals (12-2, 0-1) at No. 23 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (12-2, 1-0), 9 p.m. (ACC Network (Regional)/ESPN3)
No. 11 Virginia Cavaliers (11-2, 1-1) at Pittsburgh Panthers (11-3, 0-1), 9 p.m. (ACC RSNs/ESPN3)
No. 21 Virginia Tech Hokies (12-1, 1-0) at North Carolina State Wolfpack (11-3, 0-1), 9 p.m. (ACC Network (Regional)/ESPN3)

There’s a little bit of everything here—contenders needing to get back on track, middle tier teams aiming to make statements, and disappointments looking to right the ship before it’s too late. It’s a bit disappointing that a potentially fantastic Louisville-ND game will end up getting a smaller audience than deserved.

Atlantic 10

VCU Rams (11-3, 1-0) at Duquesne Dukes (8-6, 1-0), 7 p.m. (ASN)
Saint Louis Billikens (4-9, 0-1) at La Salle Explorers (6-5, 0-1), 7 p.m. (Atlantic10.com)
Fordham Rams (6-8, 0-1) at Richmond Spiders (7-6, 1-0), 7 p.m. (Atlantic 10 on Facebook Live)

Only one of these three games features an NCAA contender—and VCU will attempt to join Dayton and Rhode Island at 2-0 by winning in Pittsburgh.

Big 12

Iowa State Cyclones (9-3, 1-0) at No. 2 Baylor Bears (13-0, 1-0), 8 p.m. (ESPN News)
Oklahoma State Cowboys (10-3, 0-1) at Texas Longhorns (6-7, 0-1), 8 p.m. (Longhorn Network)

Thanks to West Virginia’s overtime loss at Texas Tech, tonight’s winner in Waco will join Kansas (who needed a controversial buzzer beater to beat Kansas State at home) as the lone 2-0 teams left in the Big 12. Meanwhile, the loser in Austin will join Oklahoma (who gacked a game away at TCU) as the lone 0-2 squads in the conference.

Big East

No. 1 Villanova Wildcats (14-0, 2-0) at No. 18 Butler Bulldogs (12-2, 1-1), 6:30 p.m. (FS1)
Georgetown Hoyas (8-6, 0-2) at Providence Friars (10-5, 0-2), 7 p.m. (CBSSN)
No. 10 Creighton Bluejays (13-1, 1-1) at St. John’s Red Storm (8-7, 2-0), 8:30 p.m. (FS1)

On Saturday, the defending National Champs picked up a huge win in Omaha. Tonight, they’ll need to win another on the road—this time at Hinkle—to remain perfect. Elsewhere, the loser in Providence will, temporarily at least, drop below DePaul in the league standings, while Creighton will head to Queens looking to hand the surprising Red Storm a first conference defeat.

Big Ten

Rutgers Scarlet Knights (11-4, 0-2) at Michigan State Spartans (10-5, 2-0), 6:30 p.m. (BTN)
Penn State Nittany Lions (9-6, 1-1) at Michigan Wolverines (10-4, 0-1), 8:30 p.m. (BTN)

In game one, the Spartans continue their relatively easy early Big Ten slate by welcoming a Scarlet Knights team that hasn’t yet been able to translate its improvement to a conference win. Attention shifts south to Ann Arbor for the nightcap, where the host Wolverines will be favored to rebound from Sunday’s surprising overtime loss to Iowa.

MVC

Northern Iowa Panthers (5-8, 0-2) at Loyola of Chicago Ramblers (10-5, 0-2), 7 p.m. (MVC TV/ESPN3)
Drake Bulldogs (3-11, 1-1) at Wichita State Shockers (12-3, 2-0), 8 p.m. (Cox-Kansas/ESPN3)
Indiana State Sycamores (6-8, 0-2) at Southern Illinois Salukis (8-7, 1-1), 8 p.m. (ESPN3)
Bradley Braves (6-9, 1-1) at Evansville Purple Aces (10-5, 1-1), 8 p.m. (ESPN3)
Missouri State Bears (11-4, 2-0) at Illinois State Redbirds (10-4, 2-0), 9 p.m. (MVC TV/ESPN3)

All 10 Valley teams are in action tonight, and there should be a two-way tie for first at the end of the night—assuming the Shockers take care of business against a bad Drake team at home. The winner of the Missouri State-Illinois State showdown in Normal will take early control of the race for the two seed at Arch Madness.

Mountain West

Colorado State Rams (9-6, 1-1) at San José State Spartans (7-5, 0-1), 10 p.m. (MWN)
Wyoming Cowboys (11-4, 1-1) at Fresno State Bulldogs (9-5, 1-1), 10 p.m. (MWN)
San Diego State Aztecs (8-5, 0-1) at Nevada Wolf Pack (12-3, 1-1), 11 p.m. (ESPN2)
New Mexico Lobos (9-5, 2-0) at Utah State Aggies (7-7, 0-2), 11 p.m. (ESPNU)
Boise State Broncos (9-4, 2-0) at UNLV Runnin’ Rebels (8-7, 1-1), 11 p.m. (CBSSN)

Everyone but Air Force is in action tonight, with the biggest game set for Reno. San Diego State heads to the Lawlor Events Center desperate to avoid an 0-2 league start, while the host Wolf Pack cannot afford a second consecutive Mountain West loss either.

Pac-12

No. 15 Oregon Ducks (13-2, 2-0) at Washington Huskies (7-6, 0-1), 9 p.m. (ESPN2)
Oregon State Beavers (4-11, 0-2) vs. Washington State Cougars (8-5, 1-0) at Spokane, 11 p.m. (Pac-12 Networks National/Oregon/Washington)

For the second week in a row, the Oregon schools slide into the Wednesday telecast windows, with Dave Pasch and Bill Walton set to renew acquaintances in Seattle (be overjoyed or warned, depending on your perspective). Honestly, that broadcasting development is the most interesting thing about this set of games.

SEC

South Carolina Gamecocks (10-3, 0-0) at Georgia Bulldogs (9-4, 1-0), 7 p.m. (ESPNU)
Auburn Tigers (10-3, 0-1) at Vanderbilt Commodores (7-6, 1-0), 7 p.m. (SECN)
LSU Tigers (8-4, 0-1) at Missouri Tigers (5-7, 0-0), 9 p.m. (SECN)

The Gamecocks’ trip to Athens is the noteworthy game of this trio, particularly since Sindarius Thornwell will return for S.C. tonight. If Georgia wants to stay in the NCAA hunt, beating Frank Martin’s team at Stegeman is a necessity.

Tonight also features several streaming games in the Big South, Big West (with Long Beach State at UC Irvine on ESPN3), and MEAC (check MattSarzSports.com for specific links).

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