10 best early-season college basketball games to watch

College basketball’s season is starting to hum as it moves closer to hitting its stride. We’re still weeks away from the highs of conference rivals in packed gyms, prepping for March match-ups. That being said, most top teams aren’t just playing a soft schedule until midseason arrives. Every coach knows that a strong non-conference schedule is essential for building a tournament resume and for keeping your team sharp through the season.

The slate over the next month or so features a deep catalog of games that will teach us something important about both teams and the college hoops landscape as a whole. These are the kinds of games that help transition from the uncertainty of preseason rankings to a better understanding of which teams have Final Four hopes.

Here’s a look at the 10 best early-season games to watch.

10. Oklahoma at Wichita State, Dec. 16

Powerful mid-majors like Wichita State usually don’t have an easy time wooing top-level programs into true road games. When they are capable of bringing in a tough test to campus, they need to take advantage and get a win. The Shockers can beat anyone in the nation on any given day. Point guard Landry Shamet is a floor general, surrounded by scoring talent at every position. At the Maui Invitational, Wichita State took care of business in the first several rounds before going toe-to-toe with Notre Dame. The Shockers lost that game in the final seconds, in what felt like a preview of an Elite Eight game.

Despite Wichita State’s early season success, Oklahoma is no pushover. Freshman Trae Young has been one of the most electric players in the nation to date. He’s doing everything for the Sooners, averaging 28.2 points and 8.6 assists per game. Those aren’t just counting stats against lesser competition either; he’s been efficient as well. Young is shooting 40 percent from outside and ranks 6th nationally in assist percentage.

9. Kentucky vs. UCLA in New Orleans, Dec. 23

Thanks to John Calipari’s penchant for bringing in hordes of talented freshman, the Kentucky Wildcats tend to be a mixed bag early in seasons. This year’s team wasted no time diving right into a difficult schedule. We’ve already seen Kentucky lose to Kansas and be pushed to its limit by a very skilled Vermont team at home. Before we flip the calendar to 2018, the Wildcats are thrown a wildly difficult back-to-back on their schedule. On December 23, Kentucky travels to New Orleans to tangle with another blue blood program, the UCLA Bruins. Six days later, Big Blue Nation welcomes in hated rival Louisville. UCLA and Kentucky met twice last season and split the games, with the Wildcats getting the upper hand in the tourney. De’Aaron Fox and Lonzo Ball might not be there anymore to bring us a great 1-on-1 matchup, but this game should entertain nonetheless.

8. Cincinnati vs. Florida in Newark, Dec. 9

Though relatively new on the scene, the Never Forget Tribute Classic, which benefits the families of 9/11 victims, already feels like a staple on the calendar. Last season, Villanova’s Josh Hart played one of the best individual games of any player all season, when his Wildcats topped Notre Dame in New Jersey. This year’s event peaks with the Cincinnati Bearcats and a bout with the Florida Gators on December 9th, following a solid Seton Hall-VCU game.

Fans of fundamental defense will have plenty to check out in this game, as coaches Mick Cronin and Mike White both know how to stifle opposing scorers. The Bearcats will look for a big game from senior forward Gary Clark. He’s been sensational this season. To date this year, he’s been remarkably efficient, averaging 22.8 points and 15.4 rebounds per 40 minutes. He’s only playing 22.8 minutes per game against lower level competition. Against a team like Florida, Clark might not leave the court for long and could stuff the box score with big numbers.

7. Louisville at Kentucky, Dec. 29

Kentucky and Louisville present one of the best rivalries in college basketball thanks to their dominance in the sport and proximity to each other. Kentucky has won 8 of the last 10 meetings between the teams, but Louisville took the most recent contest. Following the ousting of Rick Pitino amid multiple scandals, this game figures to be as heated and as high-pressure as any rivalry game in recent memory. It doesn’t take a very active imagination to envision how rowdy the Kentucky crowd might behave for that game.

6. Louisville at Purdue, Nov. 28

Louisville and Purdue have a chance to be two of the country’s most electrifying teams, scheduled to meet in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge. It seems odd, after everything that happened this summer, to even imagine how Louisville’s program has soldiered on. It feels wrong that they are not only playing games right now, but that they have a good team that can win big games this season. Senior point guard Quentin Snider and top scorer Deng Adel are too good to be held down by the tornado of distractions around this program. Purdue, especially playing in West Lafayette, is an early season challenge for this Cardinals team and first-time head coach David Padgett.

Purdue is paced by sophomore point guard Carsen Edwards and led by senior swingman Vince Edwards (no relation). With 7’2 giant Isaac Haas and dead-eye shooter Dakota Mathias stretching the defense, the Edwards boys have plenty of room to operate. Both are capable of finishing at the rim if help defenders never crash down on their drives, but Haas is a dunk waiting to happen and Mathias has knocked down 13 of 16 threes so far this year. Pick your poison if defending Purdue.

5. Cincinnati at Xavier, Dec. 2

One of the nation’s most underrated rivalries often feels like it’s as much a fist-fight as a basketball game, especially that one time where a fight actually broke out. This season, both teams are real contenders to advance in March, making this match-up on December 2nd even more intriguing. Mick Cronin’s teams at Cincinnati are always able to play lockdown defense, but they become much more dangerous when they can score. This year’s team has the weapons to put points on the board, while blitzing teams on the defensive end.

Xavier, meanwhile, has one of the most exciting players in college basketball. Few guys can score like Trevon Bluiett. His range knows no bounds, with an arsenal of fakes and fadeaways that make him near impossible to pin down in the mid-range. He’s worth watching every time he’s televised.

4. North Carolina at Michigan, Nov. 29

When former preferred walk-on Luke Maye drained a buzzer-beater to top Kentucky in the NCAA Tournament, it felt like a cute story and high watermark of Maye’s career. Instead, Maye has been remarkable this season. He’s averaging 19.3 points and 9.3 rebounds this season. He plays a methodical, under-the-rim style, but has been unstoppable this year. Maye is hitting threes, firing assists, and owning the paint for the Tar Heels. He’ll face a tough test against Michigan big man Moritz Wagner in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge. The German import will force Maye to work at both ends, including a battle for every single available rebound. Wagner is averaging 12 rebounds per 40 minutes, good for the 6th best defensive rebounding rate in the nation.

3. Gonzaga vs. Villanova in New York, Dec. 5

This year’s Jimmy V Invitational features a double-header with some enticing storylines. Syracuse meets former Big East rival UConn, but in the bigger game of the night, Gonzaga travels east to participate, facing Villanova in a showdown of two of America’s most successful basketball schools over the last decade. Jalen Brunson of Villanova could be the best point guard in the nation, and is surrounded by talent. Most notably, junior forward Mikal Bridges has been a revelation for Villanova. He’s been a solid producer in his first two seasons, playing great defense and opportunistic offense. This season though, Bridges has been a go-to-guy for the Cats. He’s scoring 18.3 points per game, grabbing 5.7 rebounds, and nabbing 3.0 steals, while shooting 55 percent from outside the arc. If he keeps playing like an All-American, the sky is the limit for Villanova.

Gonzaga lost a lot of talent from the team that went to the national championship last season, yet could still be a factor in March. Guards Silas Melson and Josh Perkins have been contributors for their entire time in Spokane, but are now leading the Zags. So far, against lesser competition, the Bulldogs have been incredibly balanced. As the team figures itself out, seven players have averaged between 9.7 and 13.3 points per game. This is fairly typical of Mark Few’s unselfish system, though if no player steps out as a real number one option, the Zags’ ceiling starts to look lower.

2. Arizona vs. Texas A&M in Phoenix, Dec. 5

Of the most exciting games on the early season slate, most exist as part of some Classic, Invitational, Tournament, Challenge, or other cheesily named event. This game is just two top teams facing off at a semi-neutral site, in Phoenix on December 5. Both teams currently reside in the top six of the KenPom rankings and feature a likely lottery pick. Arizona freshman DeAndre Ayton and Texas A&M sophomore Robert Williams are both 7-footers with a chance to be top ten picks in the NBA Draft. Scouts and fans will have their eyes on this one, eager to see how the two bigs handle each other.

1. Notre Dame at Michigan State, Nov. 30

It’s rare for the crown jewel final game of the Big Ten/ACC Challenge to not feature a team from Tobacco Road. The Irish are a deserving replacement, featuring two players possible of being First Team All-ACC performers this season. Bonzie Colson is the closest thing the current landscape has to the second coming of Charles Barkley. He is a wide-bodied, undersized big man who dominates the glass. To make things worse for opponents, he complements his low post game with an nice outside shot and a high basketball IQ. Those qualities make him the perfect pick-and-roll partner with senior point guard Matt Farrell. No team in the nation has a more lethal play than a simple high screen by Colson for Farrell, with nearly never-ending possibilities unfolding as Colson rolls or pops.

Michigan State has the talent to challenge Notre Dame, though the Spartans have had some issues early on finding their footing. Miles Bridges’ move to small forward hasn’t gone perfectly, and sophomore Cassius Winston still doesn’t look ready to be the floor general for this team. When push comes to shove, Tom Izzo may have the best roster in America and plenty of time to figure out how to handle his weapons. A home game against a team as good as the Irish could be a nice time for things to gel into a breakout victory.

Shane McNichol covers college basketball and the NBA for Larry Brown Sports. He also blogs about basketball at Palestra Back and has contributed to Rush The Court, ESPN.com, and USA Today Sports Weekly. Follow him on Twitter @OnTheShaneTrain.