42 glorious games of NCAA Division 1 basketball coming at you to start the 2024-25 season.
It’s the first week of the season!
We’re bringing this first 2024-25 edition of the What To Watch to you on Sunday…… mostly because I’ve got no reason not to! Schedules are set, there’s no AP poll this Monday to adjust the rankings after the fact, and heck, St. John’s gets the season started with a women’s basketball game at 1pm Central time on Monday. We’ve got to get out ahead of things!
As always, the full men’s and women’s basketball schedules are down at the bottom of the page, but we’ll point out some notable highlights and give some context before we get there. Let’s get to it!
Monday, November 4: RV St. John’s Red Storm vs Fordham Rams (5:30pm Central, Fox Sports app) — I’m putting this one on the list not because we’re expecting Fordham to be some kind of world-beaters this season, but instead because this is the first game of the FS1/Big East Whip-Around coverage on Opening Night of the season. This is just me reminding you that you will not be able to watch any of the eight games on the opening night of the season in their entirety on a broadcast channel, only on the Fox Sports app. Now, as it turns out, Fordham is also the best projected team that’s facing a Big East squad on Monday night, with KenPom.com starting them off at #164 this season.
Thursday, November 7: Seton Hall Pirates vs Wagner Seahawks (6pm Central, FloSports) — Anti-congratulations go out to Tony Bozzella, as putting Wagner in the opening spot for his team gives Seton Hall the worst ranked BartTorvik.com team in the entire women’s basketball league this week. The Seahawks start the year at #361 out of 362 teams.
Thursday, November 7: Marquette Golden Eagles at UCF Knights (6pm Central, ESPN+) — And now for something completely different, as Cara Consuegra is not only opening her season but opening her entire tenure as MU head coach by playing the very first road game of the season for either men’s or women’s basketball in the Big East. This also happens to be one of eight BartTorvik.com top 100 games for WBB this week, and the first of two for the Golden Eagles…. and both of them are coming on the road. More in a minute.
Friday, November 8: RV Xavier Musketeers vs IU Indy Jaguars (5pm Central, FS1) — I just wanted to point out that Xavier takes the prize for playing the worst team on the men’s basketball schedule this week, as IU Indy starts the season at #361 out of 364 teams in the KenPom.com rankings.
Friday, November 8: #21 Creighton Bluejays at RV South Dakota State (6pm Central, Summit League Network) — This isn’t the sternest test of the women’s basketball schedule this week in terms of preseason BartTorvik.com rankings — we’ll get to it — but it is probably the most interesting test of the week. This is the only game of opening week for Lauren Jensen & Company, and they’re taking their preseason top 25 ranking on the road against a team earning votes in the AP poll to start the year to boot.
Friday, November 8: #18 Marquette Golden Eagles vs George Mason Patriots (8pm Central, Peacock) — Three things here. First, GMU is the best team that any men’s basketball team in the Big East is playing this week, with KenPom.com ranking the Patriots at #98 in the preseason rankings. In fact, they’re the only top 160 team on anyone’s schedule for the opening week of men’s basketball. Second, this game is at the McGuire Center, not Fiserv Forum, and therefore it should be a pretty wild atmosphere since attendance is limited to MU students only. Third: This is the first Big East game to be broadcast on Peacock, so this serves as your reminder to subscribe to Peacock if you want to watch every game this season.
Saturday, November 9: Seton Hall Pirates vs Fordham Rams (11am Central, FS2) — Two things here. First, this is Fordham’s second appearance on the Big East men’s basketball schedule this week, making it one of just four men’s games against top 160 KenPom teams. Second, this is the first game of a quintuple-header on FS2 on Saturday. You can turn on FS2 at 10:59 am Central and just leave it there until after 9pm, and get nothing but Big East basketball. You can flip over to Alabama/LSU football if you want, we won’t tell anyone.
Sunday, November 10: Marquette Golden Eagles at RV Illinois Fighting Illini (7pm Central, Big Ten Network) — And here we arrive at the last women’s basketball game of the schedule this week, and it’s the biggest test that anyone has for either side of the conference. Illinois starts the year at #34 in the BartTorvik.com rankings, the best of any team, and the Illini are sitting at the unofficial #29 spot in the preseason AP poll, better than any other team on the slate. Oh, and it’s also Marquette’s second straight road game against a top 75 team to open the season. I don’t want to make predictions here, but if MU is 2-0 to start the year, it feels like they should be earning AP votes.
Here’s the full Big East men’s basketball schedule for the first week of the season!
Here’s the full women’s basketball schedule for the first week of the season!