Your College Basketball Saturday Viewing Guide: February 17, 2018

Here’s a weird sensation that I don’t think I ever expected: When a game in your team’s conference is the best game in the entire country for the day, it somehow doesn’t help boost up the overall feeling of thrills for a slate of Saturday games.

Today’s pretty standard: 12 ranked teams in action in 10 different games through a schedule of 30 nationally televised college hoops games. The best game of the day is clearly #3 Villanova visiting #4 Xavier, made all the more important because the Musketeers currently hold the advantage in the Big East standings. Even if that wasn’t the best national game of the day, I would have still been interested in watching at least part of it, just because of Marquette’s affiliation with the league.

Perhaps that’s what takes the edge off of it, then: I’m not extra drawn to that game as a contest of national interest or importance.

The second best game of the day is #20 West Virginia heading into Lawrence to tangle with #13 Kansas. No pressure on Bill Self and the boys, but if they were to drop this one, then that definitely clears the path for Texas Tech to take the Big 12 title. Presuming, of course, that the #7 ranked Red Raiders get through their game at Baylor with a win.

Counting that TTU game, I count seven games on national television with a ranked team playing on the road against an unranked foe. One of them is of particular importance to Marquette fans, as Georgia gets a home crack at #18 Tennessee. It certainly wouldn’t be a bad thing for MU if the Bulldogs were to grab the win here and sneak their way into the NCAA tournament. It doesn’t involve a ranked team, but the same “hey, could you do us a solid” mentality applies to today’s LSU game, where the Tigers are hosting Missouri.

A quietly important game on the schedule comes later on in the night, and I don’t mean Marquette’s 9:15pm tipoff with Creighton. Yale heads over to Harvard in an Ivy League clash on ESPNU, and the Elis desperately need the win to keep themselves in the top four in the conference with five games to play.

If you find yourself hunting for something to watch, let me remind you that Marquette men’s lacrosse kicks off the 2018 season at noon, which you can stream through GoMarquette.com. If that doesn’t catch your interest, can I offer you #4 Albany at #7 Syracuse in men’s lacrosse, also at noon Central, but more importantly, on WatchESPN? The Great Danes have a Large Adult Son named Tehoka Nanticoke who is a freshman listed at 6’1” and 235 lbs, but he’s also the #1 recruit in the country and plays attack. That has to at least tickle your curiosity, right?

Here’s your schedule for the day! Enjoy!