Games of Interest - Dec. 25, 2017 through Jan. 1, 2018

[njhoya78]

Merry Christmas!

No changes into or out of the Associated Press Top 25 this week. The Big East Conference continues to have four ranked teams: Villanova retained the #1 spot for the third consecutive week, followed by Xavier (up three slots to #6), Seton Hall (remaining at #23) and Creighton (remaining at #25). Biggest drops this week belong to Miami (Florida), down nine slots to #15 after losing to New Mexico State in the Diamond Head Classic in Honolulu, and to Kentucky, down nine slots to #16 after losing to UCLA in Chicago. North Carolina fell eight slots to #13 after losing at home to Wofford, and Gonzaga dropped eight slots to #20 after losing at San Diego State.

Conference play finally begins, in earnest, this week.

All times listed are Eastern Standard Time.

Monday, December 25

BIG EAST CONFERENCE
No games scheduled

OUT-OF-CONFERENCE
No games scheduled

ASSOCIATED PRESS TOP 25
#15 Miami (Florida) vs. Middle Tennessee State at Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic, Honolulu HI, 6:00 pm (ESPN-U)

Tuesday, December 26

BIG EAST CONFERENCE
No games scheduled

OUT-OF-CONFERENCE
No games scheduled

ASSOCIATED PRESS TOP 25
No games scheduled

Wednesday, December 27

BIG EAST CONFERENCE
Butler at Georgetown, 6:30 pm (Fox Sports 1)
#1 Villanova at DePaul, 7:30 pm (CBS Sports Network)
#6 Xavier at Marquette, 8:30 pm (Fox Sports 1)

OUT-OF-CONFERENCE
Eastern Michigan at Syracuse, 7:00 pm (ESPN 2)

ASSOCIATED PRESS TOP 25
No games scheduled

Thursday, December 28

BIG EAST CONFERENCE
#25 Creighton at #23 Seton Hall, 6:30 pm (Fox Sports 1)
Providence at St. John’s, 7:00 pm (Fox Sports Network)

OUT-OF-CONFERENCE
North Carolina A&T at Virginia Polytechnic Institute, 12:00 noon
Middle Georgia State at Jacksonville, 7:00 pm (ESPN 3)
North Texas at Texas-El Paso, 7:00 pm

ASSOCIATED PRESS TOP 25
Pacific at #20 Gonzaga, 9:00 pm (ESPN 2)

Friday, December 29

BIG EAST CONFERENCE
No games scheduled

OUT-OF-CONFERENCE
Mount St. Mary’s at Wagner, 7:00 pm

ASSOCIATED PRESS TOP 25
Louisville at #16 Kentucky, 1:00 pm (CBS)
Cleveland State at #2 Michigan State, 6:00 pm (Big Ten Network)
#7 West Virginia at Oklahoma State, 7:00 pm (ESPN-U)
#18 Baylor at #22 Texas Tech, 8:00 pm
#11 Kansas at Texas, 9:00 pm (ESPN 2)

Saturday, December 30

BIG EAST CONFERENCE
DePaul at #6 Xavier, 2:00 pm (Fox Sports 1)
#1 Villanova at Butler, 4:00 pm (CBS)
Georgetown at Marquette, 4:30 pm (Fox Sports 1)

OUT-OF-CONFERENCE
Howard at Hawai’i, 1:00 am
Coppin State at Pennsylvania State, 2:00 pm (Big Ten Network)
Davidson at Richmond, 4:30 pm
Jacksonville at Michigan, 6:00 pm (Big Ten Network)
North Texas at Texas-San Antonio, 8:00 pm

ASSOCIATED PRESS TOP 25
Wake Forest at #13 North Carolina, 12:00 noon (ESPN 2)
#8 Wichita State at Connecticut, 12:00 noon (CBS)
#19 Tennessee at Arkansas, 1:00 pm (SEC Network)
Boston College at #9 Virginia, 2:00 pm (ACC Network Extra)
#24 Florida State at #4 Duke, 2:00 pm (CBS)
#12 Oklahoma at #10 Texas Christian, 2:00 pm (ESPN-U)
#15 Miami (Florida) at Pittsburgh, 4:00 pm (ACC Network Extra)
#5 Texas A&M at Alabama, 6:00 pm (ESPN 2)
Santa Clara at #20 Gonzaga, 7:00 pm (ESPN 3)
Lipscomb at #14 Purdue, 8:00 pm (Big Ten Network)
#3 Arizona State at #17 Arizona, 9:00 pm (Pacific 12 Network)

Sunday, December 31

BIG EAST CONFERENCE
Providence at #25 Creighton, 2:30 pm (Fox Sports 1)
St. John’s at #23 Seton Hall, 5:00 pm (Fox Sports 1)

OUT-OF-CONFERENCE
Mount St. Mary’s at Long Island-Brooklyn, 2:00 pm
Central Pennsylvania College at Maryland Eastern Shore, 3:00 pm
Virginia Polytechnic Institute at Syracuse, 6:00 pm (ESPN-U)

ASSOCIATED PRESS TOP 25
Savannah State at #2 Michigan State, 12:00 noon (Big Ten Network)
Memphis at #21 Cincinnati, 4:00 pm (ESPN-U)
Georgia at #16 Kentucky, 8:00 pm (ESPN)

Monday, January 1

BIG EAST CONFERENCE
No games scheduled

OUT-OF-CONFERENCE
Alabama A&M at Grambling State, 8:30 pm

ASSOCIATED PRESS TOP 25
#7 West Virginia at Kansas State, 5:00 pm (ESPN-U)

[EtomicB]

PC put it on St. John's on the road tonight with a 94-72 win..

www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/boxscore?gameId=400988551

Seton Hall came back from 13 down to beat Creighton at home 90-84..

www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/scoreboard

[McBricks]

My hatred of all things orange runs deep. Watching football tonight on ESPN I notice the ticker says Orange, so naturally I not so patiently wait for the breaking news to come up. I assume it’s another scandal at Cuse. So I’m a bit disappointed when I find out that it’s news about the Orange Bowl.

[augustusfinknottle]

Did anyone hear III doing analysis on the Temple-Tulane game? What did you think?

[iheartdurenbros]

Dec 29, 2017 10:01:04 GMT -5 augustusfinknottle said:

Did anyone hear III doing analysis on the Temple-Tulane game? What did you think?

This was my second time listening to him—neither time for a full game. Last night I caught last 8 minutes of game. It was refreshing to hear him talk basketball in a relaxed way. I like him very much as a color commentator. He is knowledgable and balanced. While he seemed pleased for the mild upset last night, he wasn’t over the top and just rooting for the competitive balance in his league. And he didn’t let his friendship with Fran Dunphy become part of his commentary. Perhaps not surprisingly, he didn’t coach the game himself. So many commentators talk about what they would do, without at least dignifying the choices made by the coaches in real time.

I would like to check back in to see how the chemistry between him and the play-by-play develops. I hope he sticks with it for at least a while.

[GUJook97]

Not sure they will hold on but DePaul looks pretty good against Xavier.

[SSHoya]

DePaul doing its Hoya impression by losing a 16-point second half lead --- but at least it is on the road at Cintas Center.