Much has been made about the underwhelming schedule opening men’s college basketball this year. In the season’s first four days, there were a total of only four games between two high-major opponents, and just two of those featured a ranked team. That hasn’t meant an absence of drama: Michigan State going down at the hands of James Madison was a stunner, and the Baylor vs. Auburn showdown Tuesday was a high-level game between two teams with major upside. Still, there’s been a real absence of marquee matchups, a problem the sport needs to address moving forward.
That all changes Friday. It’s an action-packed slate of games featuring multiple potential national title contenders. And perhaps the best part: Most are being played on campuses rather than neutral courts, meaning we should get some pretty epic atmospheres as well. Here’s a primer on the games to watch and what to expect.
All game times are Eastern.
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No. 12 Arizona at No. 2 Duke, 7 p.m., ESPN2
This is the headliner of Friday’s slate and one of the best individual games of the entire nonconference season. Duke may well be the nation’s most complete team, with an impressive combination of NBA talent (three potential first-round picks in Tyrese Proctor, Kyle Filipowski and Jared McCain) and experience (senior PG Jeremy Roach and returners like Proctor and Filipowski). We get our first real look at the Blue Devils as potential title contenders against an Arizona team that dropped 122 points in its opener against Morgan State.
One story line that will get plenty of attention is the return of Caleb Love to Tobacco Road. Love’s mercurial career at North Carolina will forever be remembered for his epic performance against Duke in the Final Four in 2022. Now, he’s at Arizona looking to bounce back after a rough ’22–23, and his first big test comes at Cameron Indoor Stadium against the Blue Devils. How he and backcourt mate Kylan Boswell handle the pressure of that environment will determine whether the Wildcats can pull the upset in Durham.
No. 15 Texas A&M at Ohio State, 7 p.m., Peacock
The Aggies enter 2023–24 with major acclaim after last season’s strong finish. Texas A&M started 6–5 last year, but then won 19 of its next 22 games and challenged for the SEC title before fizzling in the NCAA tournament against Penn State. Star point guard Wade Taylor IV is back, as is Buzz Williams’s patented high-intensity defense that ranked among the top 50 nationally in forcing turnovers a year ago. That should be a big test for a young but talented Ohio State backcourt that features sophomores Bruce Thornton and Roddy Gayle Jr. Thornton’s strong finish a season ago has some pundits believing he could be among the nation’s best guards, and he poured in 17 points on opening night in the team’s opener against Oakland.
This is an important year for the Chris Holtmann era at Ohio State after losing 19 games a year ago. Beating a top-15 team during the season’s first week would be a strong early statement that this will be a bounce-back year.
Virginia vs. Florida, 7 p.m., Charlotte, N.C., ACC Network
Neither of these teams cracked the preseason AP poll, but both have major sleeper potential in their respective conferences. Tony Bennett has a new-look Virginia roster with a pair of transfer starters and a talented young core, but will rely on senior point guard Reece Beekman early against a Florida team that some metrics consider having the best transfer class in the country. It’s a great test for a backcourt that features the likes of star sophomore Riley Kugel and transfer Walter Clayton Jr. against UVA’s stingy defense, and the winner gets to add a potential résumé win during the season’s first week.
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No. 9 Tennessee at Wisconsin, 9 p.m., Peacock
Consider this one a great early litmus test for two teams with plenty of preseason buzz. Tennessee’s offensive improvement was one of the major stories of the preseason, and pouring in 89 points against Michigan State without two starting guards in a charity exhibition in late October only added fuel to that fire. Northern Colorado transfer Dalton Knecht looks like the real deal on the wing, and USC Upstate transfer Jordan Gainey adds shooting behind Zakai Zeigler, who’s coming off an ACL injury. But the Badgers also believe they’re much improved offensively after missing the NCAA tournament a year ago, and hanging 105 points (with just six made threes) against Arkansas State was a quality early sign.
Both these teams have loaded schedules coming up: Tennessee also has the Maui Invitational, a road game at North Carolina and a home date with Illinois in the next month, while Wisconsin will get Providence next week, Virginia the week after and December dates with Marquette and Arizona. We’ll get a chance to learn a lot about these two squads starting Friday, and it should be tons of fun.
Memphis at Missouri, 9 p.m., SEC Network
In a weakened AAC post-realignment, Memphis needs to do work in the nonconference to avoid its season coming down to conference tournament week. That makes early-season tests like this one on the road against an SEC foe in Missouri loom large.
The good news for Memphis is that the Tigers have an extremely old team: The top nine minute-getters in Monday’s opener against Jackson State were in their fourth, fifth or sixth year of college hoops. The bad news: Seven of those nine players played their first game together Monday, and they’re going up against a Missouri team with similarly impressive experience. The Tigers replace a lot of key faces from last year’s group that won a game in the NCAA tournament, but veterans like Sean East II, Nick Honor and Noah Carter are back. Missouri is a work in progress defensively, but hung 101 points on Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Monday, and Dennis Gates is one of the sharpest offensive coaches in the sport.
