The 363: Better-Than-Last-Week Edition
A weekly look at college basketball in exactly 363 words: one for each Division 1 college basketball team.
Reason number 678 why college basketball is great: even when every opening week game sucks, there still manages to be some intrigue. After a week of cupcakes (which somehow still claimed victims) and a pretty solid comeback win on an aircraft carrier, we are moving forward this week with some potentially great basketball.
Because everyone loves rankings, especially unnecessary ones, I have listed below my own personal rankings of every day this week (Monday- Sunday) based on the quality of games being played that day. Use this to properly condition your level of excitement when waking up each morning. Note: if your sole reason for waking up is to watch college basketball, you might want to just not get up next Saturday.
7. Saturday, November 19
I believe this Paradise Jam field is from that five year time-skip at the beginning of Avengers: Endgame, during the years after the Thanos snap when half of earth’s population was eradicated. Only explanation for a Saturday slate this bad.
6. Monday, November 14
Do you like buy games?
5. Thursday, November 17
The final of the Legends Classic, currently listed as TBD vs TBD, will take place. My money is on whichever TBD turns out to be Michigan.
4. Wednesday, November 16
Gonzaga at Texas! Gonzaga’s first top-three Kenpom matchup of the week. All the other games are crap. But hey, Tennessee could lose again! Count me excited.
3. Friday, November 18
Indiana at Xavier, UVA/ Baylor and Illinois/UCLA in Vegas, and Villanova at Michigan St make up a surprisingly strong Friday night for college hoops.
2. Tuesday, November 15
The unofficial beginning of the college basketball season! Tuesday ranks here solely because of the Champion’s Classic. As a bonus, this game being later than normal means we won’t have to mute listen to halftime content solely about the college football playoff rankings, since they were revealed already. Wait…they’re going to talk about them anyway, aren’t they?
1. Sunday, November 20
Houston’s first real test (maybe) on their quest for an undefeated season when they play at Oregon, followed by the most anticipated game of the non-conference with Kentucky semi-at Gonzaga. Of course it’s number one!