5 Non-Conference Men’s College Basketball Games To Watch This Season

On Monday, the men’s college basketball season begins with 20 of the teams in the Associated Press’s preseason top 25 in action. The schedule is highlighted by the Hall of Fame Series doubleheader at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. No. 3 Florida, the reigning national champion, plays No. 13 Arizona in the opener at 7 p.m. Eastern Time, followed by No. 8 BYU against Villanova in the nightcap. Both games are on TNT and TruTV.

While most casual sports fans do not start paying close attention to college basketball until February or March, the early season games are important to programs that are looking to pad their resumes for the NCAA tournament and earn a high seed.

As such, many top coaches in the past couple of years have begun scheduling more difficult non-conference games as a way to test their teams and help themselves come March. Event organizers have also put together matchups that catch the attention of fans and television executives.

Below, we look at five marquee non-conference games in November and December:

No. 1 Purdue At No. 15 Alabama On Nov. 13

Purdue is first in the Associated Press preseason poll for the first time in program history, and for good reason. The Boilermakers return first team All-American point guard Braden Smith and three other starters from last season’s team that advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament, where they lost by two points to Houston, the eventual national runner-up.

Trey Kaufman-Renn, who averaged a team-high 20.1 points and 6.5 rebounds per game, is also back, as is guard Fletcher Loyer, who averaged 13.8 points per game and has started 110 games in his first three seasons. Purdue added a top transfer in 6-foot-11 center Oscar Cluff, who averaged 17.6 points and 12.3 rebounds last season at South Dakota State, and an NBA prospect in Omer Mayer, a 6-foot-4 guard from Israel who turned 19 earlier this month but played the past two seasons for the Maccabi Tel Aviv professional team.

Alabama, meanwhile, has excelled under coach Nate Oats, winning at least 25 games in each of the past three seasons. The Crimson Tide return two top guards (sophomore Labaron Philon and junior Aden Holloway) from last season’s team that lost to Duke in the Elite Eight. Philon, who averaged 10.6 points per game as a freshman, could have been a first round pick in June’s NBA draft but decided to head back for another year in college. Holloway averaged 11.4 points per game last season and made 41.2% of his 3’s. The Crimson Tide added a few transfers, as well, including Taylor Bol Bowen (Florida State) and Jalil Bethea (Miami), although Bethea isn’t expected to play against Purdue as he recovers from a foot injury.

Alabama and Purdue each have other difficult non-conference games. The Crimson Tide play at No. 5 St. John’s on Nov. 8, face No. 17 Illinois in Chicago and meet No. 13 Arizona in Birmingham, Ala., on Dec. 13. Alabama is also competing in the Players Era tournament in Las Vegas later this month, where they will open with No. 21 Gonzaga and could face ranked teams depending on how the event unfolds.

Meanwhile, Purdue plays No. 16 Iowa State on Dec. 6 at home and No. 20 Auburn on Dec. 20 in Indianapolis. The Boilermakers are participating in the Baha Mar Championship in the Bahamas later this month, as well, where they could face No. 10 Texas Tech in the final.

No. 4 UConn Vs. No. 8 BYU On Nov. 15

This game, which takes place at TD Garden in Boston, features one of the nation’s most accomplished programs in UConn and one of the most hyped prospects in recent years in BYU freshman AJ Dybantsa, who grew up outside of Boston.

The Huskies won the 2023 and 2024 NCAA tournaments, becoming the first program since Florida in 2006 and 2007 to win consecutive national titles. But they are coming off an inconsistent season, when they finished third in the Big East and lost in the second round of the NCAAs to Florida, the eventual national champion. UConn, though, has reloaded and put together a roster capable of winning the title.

UConn has a few players returning, most notably Solo Ball, who averaged 14.4 points per game and made 41.4% of his 3’s last season; forward Alex Karaban, who averaged 14.3 points and 5.3 rebounds per game; and center Tarris Reed Jr., who averaged 9.6 points and 7.3 rebounds in just 19.3 minutes per game. All three of those players were preseason first team All-Big East selections. The Huskies also added a few transfers, including guards Silas Demary Jr. (Georgia) and Malachi Smith (Dayton), plus a top freshman in guard Braylon Mullins, who the Big East’s coaches chose as the preseason freshman of the year. Mullins won’t play against BYU, though, as UConn announced on Oct. 24 that Mullins sustained an ankle injury and would miss about six weeks.

BYU, meanwhile, has its highest preseason ranking in program history, thanks in large part to the addition of Dybantsa, a 6-foot-9 forward who could be the top pick in next year’s NBA draft. Dybantsa was named to the five-player AP preseason All-American team earlier this month. This past summer, he was the Most Valuable Player of the FIBA U19 Men’s World Cup after leading Team USA to the title.

The Cougars aren’t a one-man team, though. They also have a top shooter in forward Richie Saunders, who averaged a team-high 16.5 points per game and shot 43.2% on 3’s last season, and one of the nation’s best point guards in Robert Wright III, a transfer who averaged 11.5 points and 4.2 assists last season as a freshman at Baylor.

UConn’s non-conference slate is loaded and includes games against No. 13 Arizona on Nov. 19 at home, No. 17 Illinois on Nov. 28 at Madison Square Garden, No. 19 Kansas on Dec. 2 on the road and No. 3 Florida in the Jimmy V Classic on Dec. 9 at MSG.

BYU doesn’t have as challenging of a non-conference schedule, but it does open with Villanova Monday night and faces No. 24 Wisconsin at home on Nov. 21. The Cougars also compete in the Jimmy V Classic against Clemson, which will be another big stage for Dybantsa and his teammates.

No. 3 Florida At No. 6 Duke On Dec. 2

Two of last season’s Final Four participants meet in a game that’s part of the ACC-SEC Challenge. Florida, the reigning national champion, could contend for another title. The Gators return forwards Alex Condon, a preseason All-American who averaged 10.6 points and 7.5 rebounds last season, and Thomas Haugh, who averaged 9.8 points and 6.1 rebounds. They also have transfer guards Boogie Fland, who averaged 13.5 points and 5.1 assists last season as a freshman at Arkansas, and Xaivian Lee, who averaged 16.9 points, 6.1 rebounds and 5.5 assists as a junior at Princeton.

Duke, meanwhile, was dominant last season, winning the ACC regular season and tournament titles and 15 consecutive games before losing to Houston in the Final Four. All five starters from that team were selected in the NBA draft in June, including three freshmen in the top 10. But the Blue Devils return forward Maliq Brown and guards Caleb Foster and Isaiah Evans and have another loaded freshman class led by twins Cameron Boozer and Cayden Boozer, whose father, Carlos, played at Duke before embarking on a long NBA career.

Cameron Boozer, a 6-foot-8 forward, could be the team’s best player and should be a top-five pick in next year’s NBA draft. The Blue Devils’ other talented freshmen include wings Nikolas Khamenia and Dame Sarr.

Besides Duke, Florida’s non-conference schedule includes Monday’s opener against Arizona and a neutral site game against No. 3 UConn on Dec. 9 in the Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden. Duke, meanwhile, faces No. 19 Kansas on Nov. 18 in the Champions Classic at MSG, No. 14 Arkansas on Nov. 27 in Chicago, No. 22 Michigan State on Dec. 6 on the road and No. 10 Texas Tech on Dec. 20 at MSG.

No. 5 St. John’s Vs. No. 9 Kentucky On Dec. 20

For St. John’s coach Rick Pitino, this game represents a homecoming, as he coached Kentucky for eight seasons before leaving in 1997 to become coach of the Boston Celtics. Pitino led UK to the 1996 national title, but the Wildcats’ fans scorned him for years for leaving and then for later coaching Louisville for 16 seasons. Still, Pitino isn’t as hated in Kentucky these days, and a captain on his 1996 team, Mark Pope, is now UK’s coach.

The game takes place in Atlanta as part of the CBS Sports Classic, an event that also features No. 25 North Carolina against Ohio State. St. John’s and Kentucky last met in December 2011 when the Wildcats won, 81-59, on their way to winning the NCAA tournament championship.

Both teams now have legitimate national title aspirations, and this will be a good test of where they stand. St. John’s forward Zuby Ejiofor, the preseason Big East player of the year who averaged 14.7 points and 8.1 rebounds per game last season, is the only starter returning. Still, St. John’s signed one of the nation’s top transfer classes. The Red Storm added guards Ian Jackson (North Carolina), Joson Sanon (Arizona State), Dylan Darling (Idaho State) and Oziyah Sellers (Stanford) and forwards Bryce Hopkins (Providence) and Dillon Mitchell (Cincinnati).

Kentucky was also active in the transfer portal, adding point guard Jaland Lowe (Pittsburgh), power forward Jayden Quaintance (Arizona State), center Mouhamed Dioubate (Alabama), guard Denzel Aberdeen (Florida) and guard Kam Williams (Tulane). But the team’s best player should be guard Otega Oweh, the SEC preseason player of the year who averaged a team-high 16.2 points per game last season.

The non-conference schedule for St John’s also includes a home game against No. 15 Alabama on Nov. 8 at Madison Square Garden. The Red Storm are also participating in the Players Era tournament in Las Vegas, where they face No. 16 Iowa State on Nov. 24 and could play other ranked teams if they advance.

Kentucky, meanwhile, plays No. 11 Louisville on Nov. 11 on the road, faces No. 22 Michigan State on Nov. 18 in the Champions Classic at MSG, hosts No. 25 North Carolina on Dec. 2 in the ACC-SEC Challenge and plays No. 21 Gonzaga on Dec. 5 in Nashville, Tenn.

No. 2 Houston Vs. No. 14 Arkansas On Dec. 20

While Houston is No. 2 in the preseason AP poll, analytics gurus Ken Pomeroy, Bart Torvik and Evan Miyakawa have the Cougars first in their projections, meaning they should once again be national title contenders. The Cougars went 35-5 last season, winning the Big 12 regular season and tournament titles before blowing a 12-point second half lead in the NCAA tournament championship game and losing to Florida.

Houston has arguably the nation’s best backcourt with returning guards Emanuel Sharp, who averaged 12.6 points per game last season, and Milos Uzan, who averaged 11.4 points per game. The Cougars also have an elite defensive player in Joseph Tugler, a versatile 6-foot-8 forward, plus two talented freshmen in center Chris Cenac Jr. and guard Isiah Hartwell, who were the No. 6 and No. 13 players in the high school class of 2025, per the 247Sports Composite.

Arkansas, meanwhile, was inconsistent in coach John Calipari’s first season, losing its first five SEC games before regrouping to make the NCAA tournament and upset St. John’s in the second round. The Razorbacks return three starters in D.J. Wagner, Trevon Brazile and Karter Knox and add transfers Malique Ewin (Florida State) and Nick Pringle (Alabama) and freshmen guards Darius Acuff Jr. and Meleek Thomas. In the SEC preseason poll, Arkansas was picked to finish fifth behind Florida, Kentucky, Tennessee and Alabama, all of whom are in the top 15 of the AP poll.

Besides its loaded SEC schedule, Arkansas faces No. 22 Michigan State on Nov. 8 on the road, plays No. 6 Duke on Nov. 27 in Chicago, hosts No. 11 Louisville on Dec. 3 in the ACC-SEC Challenge and meets No. 10 Texas Tech on Dec. 13 in Dallas.

Houston, meanwhile, plays No. 20 Auburn in Birmingham, Ala., on Nov. 16 and is participating in the Players Era tournament in Las Vegas, where the Cougars will face No. 18 Tennessee and could play another ranked team or two depending on the event’s results.