How to Basketball: Week 6

We took last week off with LSU breaking for finals but now that the fall semester has come to a close and bowl games won’t start till Friday, basketball’s taking center stage across the NCAA landscape. I’m also going to start including women’s games in this segment; now that Kim Mulkey has LSU in the AP poll we need to start paying attention to teams the Tigers may run into come March.

Monday December 13

I can’t find any games of real consequence or intrigue for men or women’s hoops on Monday night. Luckily Monday Night Football figures to be a banger with the Rams going up against the Cardinals, check that out instead.

Tuesday December 14

Northwestern State vs. LSU (Men’s) 6:00 P.M., SEC Network

Tuesday is kind of light but luckily Will Wade’s Tigers are back after a successful trip to Atlanta. Better yet the game will be on actual television.

Wednesday December 15

South Carolina vs. Duke (Women’s), 6:00 P.M., ACC Network

The number one team in the land travels north to take on the Blue Devils in Durham.

Alcorn State vs. LSU (Women’s), 6:00 P.M., SEC Network

Two nights in a row where LSU hoops is on national television! Kim Mulkey’s Tigers made easy work of one SWAC opponent on Sunday, now they try to do the same Wednesday.

Middle Tennessee State vs. Ole Miss (Men’s) 6:30 P.M., SEC Network+

Kermit Davis’s old team goes up against his current team.

Thursday December 16

Georgia vs. North Carolina State (Women’s), 5:00 P.M., ACC Network

Keep an eye on this one as the Dawgs are LSU’s conference opener. They have a big test as they travel to Raleigh to take on the No. 2 team in the country. Now’s the part where I mention NC State has already played one SEC team, Florida, and beat the crap out of them so godspeed Georgia. Other than that, the slate’s pretty bland for both the men and women.

Friday December 17

Villanova vs. Creighton, (Men’s) 7:00 P.M., FS1

The Cats took it on the chin Sunday afternoon in Waco as the defending national champion Bears beat Nova 57-36. They’ll have the whole week to stew over it and come Friday night try to take those frustrations out on a pretty solid Creighton team.

Saturday December 18

Butler vs. Purdue (Men’s) 11 A.M., FOX

Purdue had its heart and No. 1 ranking in America ripped out in Piscataway as the Scarlet Knights beat the Boilermakers on a half court, buzzer-beating heave. Something something Jon Rothstein tweet.

UCLA vs. North Carolina (Men’s), 2:00 P.M., CBS

Ohio State vs. Kentucky (Men’s), 4:15 P.M., CBS

The annual CBS Sports Classic gives us quite a doubleheader.

LSU vs. Louisiana Tech (Men’s), 6:00 P.M., TBD

The second to last game before SEC play begins for the Tigers. LSU needs to work out those last little kinks offensively and hopefully Saturday in Bossier they’ll be able to do just that. At the time of this writing there’s no word on how this game will be carried so be prepared to stream this online.

UNO vs. LSU (Women’s), 12:00 P.M., SEC Network+

LSU gets one more layup opponent against the Privateers before heading to Florida for next week’s West Palm Beach Invitational.

Stanford vs. Tennessee (Women’s), 4:15 P.M., ESPN2

We’ve got another heck of a non-conference women’s game between two of the nation’s best. The defending champion Cardinal travel east to Rocky Top to take on the Lady Vols.