Duke Blue Devils guard Cooper Flagg will be introduced to a national audience in November with games against Kentucky, Kansas and Arizona. Mandatory Credit: Jaylynn Nash-Imagn Images There are some households that put up Christmas trees on Halloween, and dye eggs while the snow flies.
And there are those homes where college basketball is a foreign concept retrained every year only after college football and NFL seasons hit hibernation.
Don’t be those guys.
College buckets are back next week to make an instant splash landing with marquee matchups, new headlining talents and some familiar faces standing in foreign territory: that you in red, John Calipari?
About the time the 12-team field for the college football playoff starts to be narrowed, the hoops season delivers a smorgasbord of holiday tournaments ripe with potential title-game worthy matchups.
Early season tournaments and the Champions Classic without Calipari wailing on Kentucky’s sideline stand as games to mark on the calendar.
If you need some advance notice for games to circle on the early season calendar, we’ve got you:
Baylor vs. Gonzaga, Nov. 4
The worthy nightcap on the opening day of the season, we offer a few suggestions to be ready for Monday night. Hydrate and go ahead with the afternoon coffee. This is the only game on the schedule between top-10 teams in a rematch of the 2021 national title game. No. 6 Gonzaga and No. 8 Baylor are well-armed for another run this season and the preferred pace points to a track meet. About that caffeine: This is an 11:30 p.m. ET tipoff on ESPN following “Monday Night Football” and you’ll want to catch a glimpse of the newest faces for the Bears — freshman VJ Edgecombe — against the deep, experienced Bulldogs.
North Carolina at Kansas, Nov. 8
A Friday night at Phog Allen Fieldhouse provides a huge hello to hoops in a pairing of bluebloods capable of cutting nets in March and April.
Tennessee at Louisville, Nov. 9
SEC Player of the Year Dalton Knecht was subtracted from the Vols’ roster and landed with the Los Angeles 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)
Yeah, we know Kansas is here too, playing Michigan State in a marquee matchup. We’re here for 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). Don’t worry Jayhawks fans, we’ll be watching when Duke draws Kansas in Las Vegas 14 days later.
Duke at Arizona, Nov. 22
Hello again, Caleb Love. The Wildcats’ scoring guard helped usher Mike Krzyzewski into retirement at the 2022 Final Four in New Orleans with North Carolina and remains a top-of-the-scouting-report assignment with Arizona. Another 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 Motiejus Krivas is another player to watch for the Wildcats.
Houston vs. Alabama, Nov. 26 (Las Vegas)
Entering the season ranked No. 2, Alabama isn’t getting a lot of play nationally. But No. 4 Houston knows headlines and hype are no measure for potential success. The Cougars might look a little different without dynamic engine and first-team All-American Jamal Shead. Rest assured, the plan is the same with the Cougars counting on constricting defense and physical play to grind down the Alabama attack led by preseason All-American point guard Mark Sears.
Duke vs. Kansas, Nov. 26 (Las Vegas)
No. 1 Kansas and presumed 2025 No. 1 pick 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
Alabama could be in play as the No. 1 team in the country exactly one month into the regular season when we reach 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 Armando Bacot for the first time since the 2018 season.
Gonzaga vs UConn, Dec. 14 (Madison Square Garden)
This is how Mark Few does nonconference. 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)
In a risk-it-all type of scheduling swing we can’t help but appreciate, this looks like a game that could define the NCAA Tournament seed line for at least one of these clubs. Illinois has a new-look roster, no longer leaning on Terrence Shannon Jr. or Coleman Hawkins, and that might not be bad news for Brad Underwood. His recruiting class was bonkers. Everyone will be fawning over Lithuanian point guard Kasparas Jakucionis, and there are big things ahead with Will Riley and Morez Johnson Jr. and Arizona transfer Kylan Boswell.
–Field Level Media
