PHOTO USA Today Sports Images Still almost 50 days out, college basketball doesn’t make a splash landing until the first week of November.
About the time the 12-team field for the college football playoff starts to be narrowed, the hoops season gets going with a slow buildup to a beefy menu of marquee matchups.
Early season tournaments and the Champions Classic without John Calipari stand as games to mark on the calendar.
Here are the games our staff is jotting down in Sharpie.
North Carolina at Kansas, Nov. 8
A Friday night at Phog Allen Fieldhouse provides a huge hello to hoops in a pairing of bluebloods sure to generate an audience and endless closeups of Roy Williams in the stands.
Tennessee at Louisville, Nov. 9
SEC Player of the Year Dalton Knecht was subtracted from the Vols’ roster and landed with the Lakers as a first-round draft pick. Now it’s up to Rick Barnes to keep Tennessee atop the SEC in the first spotlight game for new Cardinals coach Pat Kelsey.
Kentucky vs. Duke, Nov. 12 (Atlanta)
source: Getty Images The Champions Classic also features Kansas-Michigan State, but we’re dialed in on the Cooper Flagg primetime matchup with the Wildcats. Mark Pope arrives in Calipari’s stead with a potpourri roster that might make its mark with a common defensive DNA and a dash of star power. Among newcomers at UK are 3-point specialist Koby Brea (Dayton), 6-11 forward Andrew Carr (Wake Forest) and 6-10 center Brandon Garrison (Oklahoma State). Duke draws Kansas in Las Vegas 14 days later.
Duke at Arizona, Nov. 22
Old friend Caleb Love, who helped usher Mike Krzyzewski into retirement at the 2022 Final Four in New Orleans with North Carolina, and the Wildcats are another likely top-10 team on the Duke schedule in November. Among new helping hands at Arizona are Campbell transfer Anthony Dell’Orso, who averaged 19.5 points per game last season. Sophomore center Montiejus Krivas is another player to watch for the Wildcats.
Duke vs. Kansas, Nov. 26 (Las Vegas)
source: Getty Images Likely preseason No. 1 Kansas and presumed 2025 No. 1 pick Cooper Flagg should be enticing enough. Hunter Dickinson returned for redemption and the Jayhawks are heavy on experience. Duke’s recruiting class tracks as the stuff of heavyweights and borders on ridiculous behind Flagg with 7-foot-2 center Khaman Maluach and 6-6 wings Isaiah Evans and Kon Knueppel.
Baylor at UConn, Dec. 4
A potential matchup at the Maui Classic with Michigan State (Nov. 26) in the second round at Lahaina would make this list, but that one isn’t set in stone. The two-time defending national champions might not be beatable again this season even after losing Stephon Castle, Donovan Clingan and Cam Spencer to the NBA. That’s because coach Dan Hurley scored a transfer portal win landing Aiden Mahaney via Saint Mary’s and picking up a heralded recruiting class headlined by Liam McNeeley.
Alabama at North Carolina, Dec. 4
Can the Tide roll all the way to San Antonio? Alabama could be in play as the No. 1 team in the country by the time this one rolls around as part of the SEC-ACC Challenge. It’s a rematch of the 2024 Sweet Sixteen matchup. North Carolina has experience and guard depth. But the Tar Heels have big questions to answer inside without Armondo Bacot for the first time since the 2018 season.
Gonzaga vs UConn, Dec. 14 (Madison Square Garden)
This is how Mark Few does non-conference. Matchups with Baylor, Kentucky and a potential meeting with Arizona in the Battle 4 Atlantis headline the Bulldogs’ buildup to the WCC schedule.
Duke vs. Illinois, Feb. 22 (Madison Square Garden)
If all goes according to plan for these teams, this is a rare late February matchup that could define an NCAA Tournament seed line. Illinois has a new-look roster that doesn’t include Terrence Shannon Jr. or Coleman Hawkins, and that might not be bad news for Brad Underwood. His recruiting class headlined with Will Riley and Morez Johnson Jr. and Arizona transfer Kylan Boswell brings a needed dimension in the backcourt.
