In mid-October, I decided this would be the year I finally built a proper multi-view setup. Four screens. One A game, one B game, two C games, all running at once, like a woman at NASA control monitoring four rocket launches, three of which are Sun Belt teams.
I bought a used monitor off Facebook Marketplace from a guy named Dale, who asked, unprompted, if I was “a day trader.” I told him no, I was preparing for Arkansas State at Ball State. He knocked $20 off, which I can only assume was pity. I bought a second monitor from a college kid who threw in a mini-fridge I did not ask for and now cannot get rid of. I ran an extension cord across my living room in a way that violates at least two building codes.
On Friday, I ran a test with four archived games at once. Within 11 minutes, the breaker tripped, and the only screen still on was a WAC game from two years ago, a league that doesn’t even exist anymore, playing to an empty room with the confidence of a team that knew it had won.
What I learned, besides where my breaker box is: you cannot watch everything. You have to choose. That’s what this column is for.
Seven months of portal moves, coaching changes, and preseason polls are over. Real games start today. Welcome to the first women’s edition of the Watchlist.
Every game below is here for a reason. Here’s how they’re sorted:
A Games are the ones to plan your night around. The best of these is the A+ Game, the Game of the Week.
B Games are good games a step below the A tier. They’re worth having on, even if they aren’t your main game.
C Games are your backups for when the main games end or get out of hand. Each one has a reason to be on the list, whether it’s a debut, a mid-major test, a possible upset, or just a good game to keep tabs on.
All lines and team rankings are via Bart Torvik’s T-Rank. It’s Week 1, so those rankings are mostly built on last season. Take them with a grain of salt until we’ve seen some real games. All times Eastern.
Sunday, November 1
A Game
#19 Notre Dame (-0.2) vs. #20 Villanova, 12 PM ET, FS1 (Rome, Italy)
The first Division I game ever played in Italy, and it’s happening because Pope Leo XIV went to Villanova. The women play after the men at the Palazzo dello Sport.
The AP has Notre Dame 13th and Villanova unranked. Torvik has it as a coin flip. Hannah Hidalgo is the only player left from last spring’s Elite Eight team, so Niele Ivey is building a whole new rotation around her and Princeton transfer Madison St. Rose.
The matchup I’m watching is Hidalgo’s hands against Jasmine Bascoe, a unanimous first-team All-Big East pick last year at 18.9 points a game. Villanova took care of the ball last season (85th percentile in turnover rate) but rarely got to the free-throw line (bottom 1% nationally in free-throw rate), so it has to win this with jumpers. If Nova doesn’t hand Hidalgo easy runouts, it can steal it.
Monday, November 2
Opening day. More than 150 games, and the first ones tip before most of us have had coffee.
A Games
#18 Maryland vs. #2 South Carolina (-10.3), 12 PM ET, ESPN (Paris, France)
South Carolina’s first game since losing the title game to UCLA by 28, and it’s in Paris. Joyce Edwards is back with 19.2 points per game, and Dawn Staley added Jordan Lee from Texas and Oliviyah Edwards. The expectation is the same as always: April.
Maryland isn’t a throwaway opponent, though. Oluchi Okananwa (17.8 PPG) and Nunu Agara (15.3 and 8.7 at Stanford) create one of the best duos in the sport, and Brenda Frese always puts up a fight with how hard her players play. Can Maryland pull off an upset? It’ll need the offensive glass. Maryland grabbed 43% of its own misses last season, 99th percentile nationally, and that’s how you get extra shots against a South Carolina defense that held opponents to a 40% effective field goal percentage.
#16 Oklahoma vs. #9 North Carolina (-2.7), 2:30 PM ET, ESPN2 (Paris, France)
My favorite matchup of opening day. Oklahoma was the fastest team in the country last season at about 79 possessions per 40 minutes, and it rebounded 39% of its misses. Jennie Baranczyk’s teams want to run. Courtney Banghart’s team wants to grind. Whoever controls the pace probably wins.
The real draw is Kate Harpring’s debut. She was the Naismith and Morgan Wooten National High School Player of the Year, and her first college assignment is Aaliyah Chavez, the ESPN National Freshman of the Year, who already has a year of SEC physicality under her belt. UNC lost its top four scorers, so Nyla Harris (11.4 PPG) and a group of transfers will be figuring it out on the fly. I’ll be watching that matchup more than the score.
B Games
#96 Davidson at #59 Columbia (-7.4), 11 AM ET, ESPN+
One of the first tips of the day, and a good one. Columbia will be without head coach Megan Griffith, who is suspended for the first three games, which is all of Columbia’s Week 1. Riley Weiss, the Ivy Player of the Year (20.1 PPG, 37.8% from three), is back. The question is the frontcourt: Columbia rebounded 42% of its misses last season (99th percentile), but starting forwards Perri Page and Susie Rafiu are gone. Davidson plays slow and has Katie Donovan, who shot 45.8% from deep.
#50 Stanford (-2.1) vs. #65 Arizona, 12:30 PM ET, CBS Sports Network (Las Vegas)
Hall of Fame Women’s Showcase at T-Mobile Arena. These two have only met three times outside of conference play, and the last time was in 1980. Stanford has missed two straight NCAA Tournaments and lost Courtney Ogden, Nunu Agara, Chloe Clardy and Lara Somfai to the portal. Kate Paye brought in Ilse de Vries from Miami (OH) and two other transfers. Which Stanford team will we see? Will it be the one that lost to UC Santa Barbara in an exhibition?
Year two for Becky Burke at Arizona, coming off a 12-18 first season, and our first real look at what she’s built. Arizona was in the 2nd percentile in offensive rebounding last year. If the Wildcats make shots in an NBA arena, they can win this. If they miss, they don’t get second chances.
#74 Harvard at #29 Minnesota (-11.8), 6 PM ET, B1G+
One of the best true road games of the night. Harvard brings back 13 players, the most in the Ivy, including Karlee White (15.0 PPG, 45.9% from three). It plays slow and lives on turnovers: Harvard forced them on 25% of possessions last season, 95th percentile nationally. That runs straight into Minnesota, which had some of the best ball security in the country (99th percentile in turnover rate). Minnesota is coming off its first Sweet 16 since 2005 and added Gracie Merkle from Penn State, who averaged 19.2 points on 72.5% shooting inside the arc.
#197 Duquesne at #17 Tennessee (-32.3), 6:30 PM ET, SECN+
First game of a make-or-break season for Kim Caldwell. Tennessee has zero returning players. All 15 are new: 13 transfers and two freshmen. The system (press, run, shoot, sub in waves) isn’t changing. A chance for Tennessee to start the season off right.
#71 James Madison (-0.7) at #100 Miami (OH), 7 PM ET, ESPN+
The best game of the MAC-Sun Belt Challenge, which is played entirely at MAC sites. JMU won the Sun Belt tournament as a four seed last March, but Peyton McDaniel (18.8 PPG, 7.5 RPG) is gone. Miami went 28-5 and forced turnovers on 24% of possessions (93rd percentile), but it lost Ilse de Vries to Stanford and Tamar Singer to Butler. Two good programs replacing their best players. This is a road game JMU needs to win.
#70 Creighton at #51 South Dakota State (-5.5), 8 PM ET, MidCo Sports
Two programs with real March history, and Brookings is a tough place to win in November. SDSU won its fourth straight Summit tournament and had a 54% effective field goal percentage last season (98th percentile). Emilee Fox led the country at 49.1% from three. Creighton went 16-15 and had a bottom-20% defense, but the Big East coaches still picked it third. Credit to Creighton for making the trip and the best true road game of the “real” opening day.
#72 North Dakota State at #47 Gonzaga (-6.7), 9 PM ET, SWX
The best big-on-big matchup of opening night. NDSU went 29-5 with a 23-game win streak and won the Summit regular-season title, and Avery Koenen, the Summit Player of the Year, is back after averaging 19.6 points and 11.2 rebounds on 63.4% inside the arc. Gonzaga answers with Lauren Whittaker, who was WCC Player of the Year as a freshman (19.1 points and 10.2 rebounds). It’s Gonzaga’s first season in the Pac-12. Both of these teams could be on the hunt for at-large bids.
C Games
#110 Hofstra at #68 Georgia Tech (-8.4), 10:30 AM ET, ACCNX
The earliest tip of the day. Hofstra added six transfers after a historic CAA tournament run, including Merrimack’s Paloma Garcia, the reigning MAAC Defensive Player of the Year. Georgia Tech brings back four starters and leading scorer Talayah Walker (17.5 PPG) in Year 2 under Karen Blair.
#151 Lehigh at #11 UCLA (-30.8), 2:30 PM ET, B1G+
Banner night for the defending champs, and it’s Field Trip Day at Pauley. It will be loud.
#3 USC (-20.4) vs. #81 UNLV, 4 PM ET, CBS Sports Network (Las Vegas)
The Hall of Fame nightcap. The return of JuJu Watkins. Can UNLV keep it close?
#282 Cleveland State at #106 Penn State (-19.6), 5 PM ET, B1G+
First game of the Bob Dunn era. First game of the Tanisha Wright era. Could Penn State be on upset alert?
#170 Southern at #24 Oklahoma State (-26.2), 6 PM ET, ESPN+
Audi Crooks’ debut in Stillwater. She’s scored in double figures in all 98 games of her college career, the longest active streak in the country.
#136 Arkansas State at #104 Ball State (-7.1), 6:30 PM ET, ESPN+
Counterprogramming for those of us who love mid-major ball, and the game that got me $20 off a monitor. It’s also a rematch: Ball State opened last season in Jonesboro in this same event. Since then, Ball State won its second straight MAC regular-season title, and Arkansas State tied its program record with 27 wins.
#123 Temple at #98 George Mason (-5.9), 7 PM ET, ESPN+
Mason went 16-2 in the A-10, shared the regular-season title and lost the conference final by two. Temple is in the middle of a roster reset under Diane Richardson. A good early read on where both teams are.
#89 Murray State (-4.5) at #164 Southern Indiana, 7 PM ET, ESPN+
Halli Poock’s senior debut. She was last season’s Missouri Valley Player of the Year at about 22 points a game. Southern Indiana is no slouch of a program.
#132 Belmont at #61 Princeton (-12.6), 7:30 PM ET, ESPN+
Princeton has been the Ivy standard for most of the last decade. Belmont doesn’t schedule soft in the non-conference.
Tuesday, November 3
Pretty light. Monday took most of the oxygen.
B Game
#94 Rhode Island at #33 West Virginia (-13.3), 7 PM ET, ESPN+
The defending Big 12 champs against the defending A-10 tournament champs, and neither looks much like last year’s team. Rhode Island has a new coach, Colleen Mullen from Albany, after Tammi Reiss left for Florida, and a roster built mostly from transfers, including Delanie Hill (14.0 PPG), who played for Mullen at Albany. West Virginia brings back one starter and reloads mostly with players from the A-10, including Zahirah Walton (18.1 PPG) and Kennedy Harris (14.1 PPG) from George Mason, which URI beat by two in the A-10 final. What should carry over is Mark Kellogg’s pressure: WVU forced turnovers on 27% of possessions last season, 98th percentile nationally.
C Games
#102 Green Bay at #6 Duke (-24.5), 7 PM ET, ACCNX
Duke opens at Cameron, and we get our first look at Toby Fournier and the new-look Blue Devils. Green Bay has been a Horizon power forever and doesn’t rattle in loud gyms.
#122 FGCU at #42 Indiana (-14.6), 7 PM ET, B1G+
FGCU has been the measuring stick in the ASUN for a decade and never ducks a road test. Assembly Hall in Week 1 counts.
Wednesday, November 4
By far the worst night of the week. From January on, Wednesdays will be packed, so enjoy the breather.
C Games
#214 La Salle at #49 Rutgers (-23.0), 7 PM ET, B1G+
First game of the Gary Redus era! He has a lot to build at Rutgers, and this is our first look at where he’s starting.
#142 Saint Mary’s at #50 Stanford (-15.2), 10 PM ET, ACCNX
Stanford’s home opener, two days after Vegas. If you’re still up, it’s on.
Thursday, November 5
A Game
#1 UConn (-8.0) at #7 Michigan, 6:30 PM ET, FS1
The best game of the week that nobody’s talking about yet. Michigan brings back its top five scorers from an Elite Eight team: Olivia Olson, Syla Swords, Mila Holloway (injured), Te’Yala Delfosse, and Ashley Sofilkanich. It also added Courtney Ogden from Stanford (12.9 PPG, 37.2% from three). That basically never happens anymore.
UConn is the preseason #1 for a reason. Sarah Strong averaged 18.4 points, 7.7 rebounds, and 3.4 steals while shooting 66.5% inside the arc. But the Huskies only won last year’s meeting by three after Michigan erased most of an 18-point halftime deficit. This one is at Crisler, where Michigan went 17-1 last season, and it’s UConn’s first game ever in Michigan. It’s also four days into life without Azzi Fudd.
How Michigan wins: extra possessions. The Wolverines were 97th percentile in both offensive rebounding and forcing turnovers last season, and they play fast. If Michigan’s guards can make UConn’s new backcourt uncomfortable early, this will be closer than people think.
B Games
#45 Virginia (-3.7) at #96 Davidson, 7 PM ET, ESPN+
Aaron Roussell made his name in the A-10, and now he brings a Virginia team coming off a Sweet 16 to Belk Arena. Virginia was the first First Four team ever to reach the Sweet 16, and Kymora Johnson (19.5 PPG, 5.9 APG, a program-record 103 threes) pulled her name out of the portal to come back. Davidson lost Charlise Dunn to the WNBA, but it had a top-15% defense last season and won’t make this easy.
#172 Boston College at #74 Harvard (-14.5), 7 PM ET, ESPN+
A P4 team is an outright underdog at an Ivy gym. BC went 5-26 last season with a bottom-1% defense nationally, allowing a 55% effective field goal percentage. A win here stays on Harvard’s résumé all season. It might not mean much, but it’ll be there!
#90 George Washington at #33 West Virginia (-12.5), 7 PM ET, ESPN+
Another A-10 team in Morgantown, and George Washington can make life difficult. GW was one of the slowest teams in the country last season (4th percentile in pace), and Gabby Reynolds (14.8 PPG) is back. The question is whether GW can hold the ball long enough against WVU’s pressure.
#114 Illinois State at #115 Dayton (-2.7), 7 PM ET, ESPN+
One spot apart in T-Rank. Illinois State made the WNIT championship game but lost Doneelah Washington (16.7 points and 8.6 rebounds) to Ole Miss. Dayton turned it over on 22% of its possessions last season, bottom fifth nationally, and has to replace Nayo Lear and Nichole Stephens. Neither will be ranked, and both could be near the bubble by February. Valley vs. A-10 games like this come up on Selection Sunday.
C Games
#240 North Florida at #34 Florida State (-30.9), 11 AM ET, ACCNX
It’s a morning game, so why not? FSU likes to run, so it should move quickly.
#135 UIC at #111 Robert Morris (-4.8), 4 PM ET, ESPN+
Robert Morris went 18-12 in Chandler McCabe’s second season and lost in the first round of the Horizon tournament. UIC was the seven seed in the Valley. Both are trying to climb into the top half of their leagues. A good late-afternoon option.
#127 UCF at #40 Florida (-16.6), 4:30 PM ET, SECN+
Battle of Florida, with new coaches on both sides. Florida hired Tammi Reiss away from Rhode Island. First games for a new staff are always a little chaotic.
#17 Tennessee (-31.0) at #352 Coppin State, 7 PM ET, MEAC Network
The Lady Vols and their eight national titles at a MEAC gym, three days into the season. It’s the sixth straight year Coppin has gotten a P4 team to come to Baltimore. More programs should do this.
#164 Southern Indiana at #66 Kansas State (-15.3), 7:30 PM ET, ESPN+
T-Rank says K-State by a lot. I’m not sure if I buy it.
#105 Portland at #44 BYU (-13.1), 9 PM ET, ESPN+
Portland brings back one of the WCC's most intact rosters and was picked second in the league. BYU might be playing their toughest non-conference game in this one.
Friday, November 6
Lots of good mid-major games tonight. Clear the evening.
B Games
#94 Rhode Island vs. #59 Columbia (-4.0), 6 PM ET, ESPN+ (Nashville)
Part of Belmont’s event at the Curb Center. A-10 vs. Ivy on a neutral floor. Columbia is still without Griffith on the bench, so Riley Weiss has to carry it. Rhode Island is in game two with a new coach and a mostly new roster.
#131 Northern Iowa at #51 South Dakota State (-14.5), 7 PM ET, MidCo Sports
Two of the best mid-major programs of the last decade. UNI’s streak of five straight national postseason trips ended last year, and Tanya Warren, in her 20th season, will want it back. Jenna Twedt (14.7 PPG, 84 threes) is the one to watch if UNI wants to pull off the upset. UNI never gives away a night.
#117 Rice vs. #89 Murray State (-3.6), 8:30 PM ET, ESPN+ (Richmond)
Murray went 31-4, won the Valley and made the NCAA Tournament, and four starters are back: Halli Poock (22.7 PPG), Sharnecce Currie-Jelks (17.5 PPG and 11.7 RPG), Haven Ford (16.9 PPG) and Keslyn Secrist (12.9 PPG). Murray plays fast, takes care of the ball, and gets to the line (96th percentile in free-throw rate). Its weakness is defense, which was in the bottom quarter nationally. Rice went 29-6 and 17-1 in the American, and its defense held opponents to a 42% effective field goal percentage (94th percentile). Rice will have to keep up in a points game, or slow it down enough to make Murray guard.
#62 South Florida (-4.8) at #132 Belmont, 8:30 PM ET, ESPN+
Two programs starting over. USF hired Kristy Curry from Alabama (554 career wins, 14 NCAA Tournament bids) and added seven transfers, including Amourie Porter (16.9 PPG at Winthrop). Belmont lost its top five scorers and brought in UT Martin’s Kenley McCarn (16.3 PPG). Belmont is rarely an easy trip.
#84 Colorado State at #67 Utah (-4.4), 9 PM ET, ESPN+
A Mountain West team at a Big 12 gym, and one of the week’s better true road games. Colorado State won the Mountain West tournament and made its first NCAA Tournament appearance in a decade. It plays slow, doesn’t turn it over (98th percentile), and held opponents to a 41% effective field goal percentage. It also added Camryn Runner from Evansville (18.2 points, 5.6 rebounds, 5.3 assists). Utah turned it over on 22% of its possessions last season. That’s the matchup.
C Games
#175 Drake at #38 Kansas (-22.6), 12 PM ET, ESPN+
A Valley team at Allen Fieldhouse at lunchtime. Drake is coming off a 12-20 season, which is weird to see from a program that’s been at or near the top of the Valley for most of the last decade. Hanging around in Lawrence would be a good first sign.
#130 Loyola Marymount at #133 Utah State (-2.2), 4 PM ET, MW+
What else are you doing at 4 PM on a Friday? Coin flip in Logan.
#137 Middle Tennessee at #125 Memphis (-4.2), 7 PM ET, ESPN+
Two new head coaches. Matt Insell takes over at MTSU for his dad, Rick, who retired after 21 seasons, 505 wins, and 12 NCAA Tournament trips. Memphis hired Hana Haden from Georgia Southern, where she won Sun Belt Coach of the Year after taking a team picked 10th to its first regular-season title in 25 years.
#241 Binghamton at #73 Fairfield (-19.9), 7 PM ET, ESPN+
The preseason favorite in the America East at the class of the Metro. Fairfield won its third straight MAAC title last year, went 19-1 in league play, and led the country in made threes. Binghamton lost a four-point semifinal to Maine. This tells us if the Bearcats are ready for the next step.
#57 Missouri (-14.2) at #275 Little Rock, 8 PM ET, ESPN+
An SEC team playing a true road game at an OVC school. Love it. Year 2 for Kellie Harper, and this is a game a Year 2 program should win without much drama.
#139 Idaho at #47 Gonzaga (-17.0), 9 PM ET, SWX
Idaho won the Big Sky tournament last March, its first since 2015-16, beating Montana State 60-57 in the final. Gonzaga is starting its first season in the Pac-12. A good late-night second screen.
#120 UTSA at #81 UNLV (-7.2), 9:30 PM ET, MW+
UTSA was the six seed in the American tournament and won the whole thing, beating top-seeded Rice 54-40 in the final for its first NCAA Tournament trip since 2009. UNLV’s home opener.
Saturday, November 7
B Games
#76 High Point (-0.4) at #104 Ball State, 1 PM ET, ESPN+
The first real road test for High Point’s rebuilt roster, against a MAC team that wins a lot at Worthen. High Point went 27-6, won back-to-back Big South titles and was picked first again. Ball State played at one of the fastest paces in the country last season (96th percentile) and brings back Tessa Towers (14.9 points and 8.4 rebounds) and Grace Kingery (40.8% from three). High Point’s defense held teams to a 42% effective field goal percentage last year. We’ll see how much of that survived the rebuild.
#121 UMass at #109 Providence (-3.5), 1 PM ET, ESPN+
UMass won 23 regular-season games last year and entered the MAC tournament on a five-game win streak. Yahmani McKayle (16.5 PPG, 4.9 APG) is back, and UMass forced turnovers on 23% of possessions. Providence went 15-18 with a bottom-third offense nationally and was picked seventh in the Big East. A MAC team going to a Big East gym, and it might be the better team.
#99 Navy at #123 Temple (-0.6), 2 PM ET, ESPN+
Navy is a Patriot League contender, and this is a coin flip on the road at an American school. Zanai Barnett-Gay, the Patriot League Player of the Year, averaged 17.0 points, 8.5 rebounds, 4.1 assists, and 2.8 steals as a 5-foot-8 guard. Navy went 15-2 in the league before losing in overtime in the semifinals. Worth knowing about now, not in March.
#29 Minnesota (-6.8) at #82 Marquette, 3 PM ET, ESPN+
A Big Ten team going to a Big East gym in Week 1 doesn’t happen often. The Al McGuire Center is a real first road test. Marquette shot it well last season (90th percentile in effective field goal percentage) but turned it over too much. Minnesota barely gave up offensive rebounds (98th percentile), and now it has Merkle in the middle.
C Games
#106 Penn State at #92 Cincinnati (-4.9), 2 PM ET, ESPN+
Game 2 of the Tanisha Wright era, and a true road test at a Big 12 gym.
#30 Michigan State (-10.4) at #119 Toledo, 2 PM ET, ESPN+
Toledo has led the MAC in attendance for 30 straight seasons, and this is its first home game against a P4 opponent since December 2023. T-Rank says Michigan State comfortably. The crowd will help Toledo a little bit.
#136 Arkansas State at #122 FGCU (-4.5), 2 PM ET, ESPN+
Arkansas State is calling this a reload, not a rebuild: nine newcomers after a 27-win season that ended with an at-large WNIT bid. Alico Arena is a tough Week 1 road game.
#264 Detroit Mercy at #294 Valparaiso (-1.6), 2 PM ET, ESPN+
SICKO GAME. Can Valpo win a game? Find out at 2 PM on a Saturday.
#93 Missouri State (-3.7) at #179 Wyoming, 9 PM ET, MW+
Your late-night game. Laramie sits above 7,000 feet, and the Arena-Auditorium has been tough to play in for years. Conference USA at Mountain West in Week 1 is a real test.
Sunday, November 8
The best day of the week, and it’s not close. Clear your afternoon and check your breaker.
The A+ Game of the Week
#4 Iowa at #1 UConn (-11.5), 2 PM ET, FS1
The best game of the week. The AP has Iowa 10th. I think that’s too low, and so does T-Rank.
These two split their last two meetings: Iowa won 71-69 in the 2024 Final Four, and UConn won 90-64 at Barclays last December. Both lost a pillar, so this becomes a battle of the stars in Sarah Strong and Ava Heiden. Heiden averaged 18.0 points on 64.4% inside the arc. Strong shot 66.5% and does everything else too. That’s the matchup I’m watching all afternoon.
Iowa had the 97th-percentile effective field goal percentage last season, and it added Dani Carnegie from Georgia (17.8 PPG) plus McKenna Woliczko, its highest-rated recruit since Caitlin Clark. The issue was defense, which ranked around the 65th percentile. That isn’t good enough against a UConn team that forced turnovers on 29% of possessions.
The scheduling makes it even better. It’s UConn’s second top-10 test in four days after Thursday at Michigan, and if that one goes sideways, the Huskies get to answer at home. Jan Jensen scheduled up after a 27-7 season that ended against Virginia in the second round.
A Games
#22 Kentucky (-1.2) vs. #27 NC State, 3 PM ET, ESPN2 (Charlotte)
The Ally Tipoff opener, and close to a coin flip. Clara Strack (16.9 points, 10.1 rebounds, 2.5 blocks) faces Khamil Pierre (16.7 points, 11.9 rebounds). Zoe Brooks (16.0 PPG) is back for NC State too. One quirk: NC State rarely fouled last season (best in the country at keeping teams off the line) but also rarely forced turnovers (5th percentile). Kentucky only plays one true road game in its entire non-conference schedule, so this is about as close to a road test as the Wildcats get before December.
#2 South Carolina (-5.5) vs. #9 North Carolina, 5:30 PM ET, ESPN (Charlotte)
The Ally Tipoff nightcap at Spectrum Center. Both teams played in Paris six days earlier, so we’ll actually have tape on them, which is more than I can say for anything else in this column.
Charlotte is about as close to a road game as South Carolina will see in November. If UNC keeps the Gamecocks off the offensive glass and makes it a half-court game, Harpring gets a lot of big possessions against one of the best defenses in the country in her second college game. It’s either a coming-out party or a learning experience.
B Games
#89 Murray State vs. #61 Princeton (-3.4), 12 PM ET, ESPN+ (Richmond)
The weekend's best style clash. Murray played at a 94th-percentile pace last season. Princeton was in the 13th percentile. Princeton went 26-4 and won the Ivy, but it has a new coach in Lauren Gosselin and lost Madison St. Rose to Notre Dame. It still has four senior guards, including Skye Belker (43.0% from three) and Fadima Tall (13.0 points, 7.4 rebounds, 2.5 steals). Whoever controls the pace probably wins.
#94 Rhode Island vs. #62 South Florida (-3.5), 1 PM ET, ESPN+ (Nashville)
URI’s third game in six days, against one of the best teams in the American. Two new coaches, two mostly new rosters. Rhode Island is a new team this year, and we will know a lot about them after this game.
#33 West Virginia (-4.0) at #68 Georgia Tech, 2 PM ET, ACCNX
The defending Big 12 champs’ first true road game, at McCamish. Georgia Tech went 14-19 and played in the WBIT, but Talayah Walker (17.5 PPG, 40.4% from three) is back, and Karen Blair used the portal to add shooting and guard depth. Georgia Tech’s guards will need to handle WVU’s pressure. Big 12 vs. ACC games like this come up in March.
#59 Columbia (-5.3) at #132 Belmont, 3:30 PM ET, ESPN+
Columbia went 11-3 in the Ivy and lost its Ivy Madness semifinal to Harvard by two in overtime. Belmont got upset by Evansville in the Valley quarterfinals. Two teams with something to prove, and Columbia is favored on the road. The last game of Griffith’s suspension.
#71 James Madison at #43 Virginia Tech (-7.0), 6 PM ET, ACCNX
A shot at a P4 road win for a Sun Belt contender. Virginia Tech went 23-10 and brings back Carleigh Wenzel (15.1 PPG). JMU’s defense held teams to a 42% effective field goal percentage last season, so this could get ugly in a good way.
C Games
#98 George Mason at #18 Maryland (-19.5), 1 PM ET, B1G+
Maryland’s first home game after Paris, against an A-10 contender.
#32 Alabama (-13.3) at #178 Tulane, 1 PM ET, ESPN2
An SEC team playing a true road game at an American school in Week 1. Love it.
#6 Duke (-23.2) vs. #138 North Texas, 2 PM ET, ESPNU (Dallas)
At American Airlines Center, which is pretty much a road game for Duke. North Texas gets a home crowd and a shot at the biggest win in program history.
#91 Northwestern (-1.6) at #135 UIC, 2 PM ET, ESPN+
A Big Ten team playing a true road game at a Valley gym across town. That doesn’t happen enough.
#46 Mississippi State (-18.3) at #317 UT Martin, 3 PM ET, ESPN+
An SEC team at an OVC gym on the Kentucky border. More of this, please.
#8 Louisville (-22.0) at #164 Southern Indiana, 4 PM ET, ESPN+
A Sweet 16 team playing a true road game at an OVC school in Evansville. Big afternoon for USI.
#105 Portland at #56 Montana State (-10.2), 4 PM ET, ESPN+
A rematch of last March’s WNIT game, which Montana State won. Montana State’s defense is the whole story here, and I’ve already written that story.
