Wednesday Night's College Basketball Schedule Is Absolutely Loaded

12/04/2024 12:36 PM

Usually we have to wait until late in the season for the most compelling college basketball matchups. But the hoop gods have smiled brightly upon us on this fourth day of December in the Year of Our Lord 2024. 

While there are very few in-conference games going on in the world of college basketball today, there are a good number of ranked matchups of top 25 teams as well as a few games between blue blood programs that could very well serve as NCAA Tournament previews.

That schedule consists of a whopping four matchups that feature two top 25 teams, and several more games pitting top 25 teams against other power conference schools.

Here's the slate of ranked matchups (all times are ET):

• No. 15 Baylor at No. 25 UConn - 6:30 p.m. on FS1
• Virginia at No. 13 Florida - 7:15 p.m. on ESPN2
• No. 10 Alabama at No. 20 North Carolina - 7:15 on ESPN
• No. 5 Marquette at No. 6 Iowa State - 8 p.m. on ESPN+
• Louisiana Tech at No. 16 Memphis - 8 p.m. on ESPN+
• No. 1 Kansas at Creighton - 8:30 p.m. on FS1
• No. 2 Auburn at No. 9 Duke - 9:15 p.m. on ESPN
• No. 18 Pittsburgh at Mississippi State - 9:15 p.m. on SEC Network
• No. 24 San Diego State at Fresno State - 10:30 p.m. on FS1
• No. 12 Oregon at USC - 10:30 p.m. on Big Ten Network

This schedule is LOADED 🔥

No. 25 UConn vs. No. 15 Baylor
No. 20 North Carolina vs. No. 10 Alabama
No. 6 Iowa State vs. No. 5 Marquette
Creighton vs. No. 1 Kansas
No. 9 Duke vs. No. 2 Auburn
Mississippi State vs. No. 18 Pitt
USC vs. No. 12 Oregon

We are EATING tonight 🍽️ pic.twitter.com/PQhjjrZXOj

— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) December 4, 2024

That's a lot of good basketball. Five of the teams involved (Florida, Marquette, Kansas, Auburn and Oregon) are currently undefeated, which opens the door for the number of unbeaten NCAA teams to be cut to less than a handful if some of these underdogs can swing a big upset.

As far as spreads go, Alabama-North Carolina has the smallest one with the Tar Heels favored by just 1.5 points over the visiting Crimson Tide. UConn and Duke are both favored by 3.5 points over their higher-ranked visitors.

If you like competitive basketball and want to see games that are on par with what you may see during March Madness, you'll be hard-pressed to find a day quite like this one for the next few months.

Related: A New Sports League Is Coming To ESPN In January 2025