On-Court Obsession: All Conference Play Underway

Saturday is the busiest day for college basketball. On any Saturday during the season, there can be well over 40 games on TV. Unfortunately, many are completely unwatchable. Every Friday, FanHouse puts together a handy guide of the best options for how to spend your Saturday on the couch watching college hoops.

No more excuses. It's 2010. The NFL playoffs do not kick off until later. College football is done. Saturdays now belong to college hoops.

While some conferences like the Big East, Pac-10 and Big Ten have been playing conference games for over a week, the conferences that only play 16 games get things started this weekend. Now the games take on the bigger meaning.

By my count, there are some 50 games (or even more) airing on TV somewhere. Hope you have your FullCourt paid, because there is a lot to keep you watching for a good twelve hours.


12 PM ET
UConn-Georgetown, ESPN: Some good Big East hate to start the day. Georgetown is ranked #12 and UConn #13. Both sitting with 2-1 conference records.

Florida-Vanderbilt, ESPN2: The SEC begins conference play with two teams hoping to finish second behind Kentucky in the surprisingly deep East division. Florida has the talent, while Vandy has the experience (and home court).

1:30 PM ET
Mississippi St-Ole Miss, SEC Network (check local Fox or Comcast sports channel) and ESPN FullCourt: The likely top two teams in the much weaker West division of the SEC start off the season in a full-on hated in-state rivalry game. One of the best frontcourts by the Bulldogs against a strong Rebel backcourt. The 240th meeting and the most-played SEC rivalry.

Purdue-Wisconsin, Big Ten Network: Hope you like defense and strong fundamental basketball. Not the most exciting game, but very possibly one of the lower scoring.

2 PM ET
Duke-Georgia Tech, ESPN: Georgia Tech has had plenty of talent come through Atlanta since their run to the Championship game in 2004, yet little to show for it. Having missed the NCAA Tournament three of the last four years. Despite having Derrick Favors, Gani Lawal, Iman Shumpert and other highly touted recruits, the Yellow Jackets have not yet shown they can beat the good teams (or Georgia). Duke. Well, they are Duke. Love or hate them, they are a top-5 team with only a loss at Wisconsin.

Kansas St.-Missouri, ESPN2: Mizzou is coming off a surprising Elite Eight run and has been solid as they rebuild this year. K-State, despite being completely overshadowed in their own state has been quietly impressive. Their only loss came to Ole Miss. Possibly one of the most underrated games of the day. Why Texas-Colorado gets to tip-off at 1:30 to claim the start of Big XII play instead, I have no idea.

4 PM ET
Northern Iowa-Illinois St., ESPN2: It has been a while since the Missouri Valley Conference has had the attention it got in the first half of the prior decade. If the conference is going to have the relevance it seeks, then UNI and Illinois St. are going to have to carry their strong non-con play and start in the conference the entire way. UNI is 4-0 in the MVC and Illinois St. is 3-1 along with Wichita St.

Boston College-Clemson, Raycom Sports (check local Fox or Comcast sports channel) and ESPN FullCourt: Unpredictability is the theme here. I really do not know what to expect in this one. BC has beaten Miami, San Diego St. and Providence, but lost to St. Joe's, Northern Iowa and Maine (Maine?). BC's reputation is to develop overlooked talent that have drive.

Clemson is still trying to overcome the stigma of blowing a 20 point lead at home to Illinois and getting absolutely demolished by Duke. They have a nice win over Butler, but the rest of their non-con says very little about whether they are any good. They have talent, but heart is in question.

6 PM ET
Wake Forest-Miami, ESPNU: Miami has played the weakest non-con of any BCS conference team. They have looked good for the most part with every non-con win but one by a double-digit margin. They lost their first conference game, though, so they are have a big question mark. Wake Forest's only losses came at Purdue and to surprisingly good William & Mary. They own nice wins over Gonzaga (in Spokane) and Xavier.

Cinci-Seton Hall, Big East Network ( FoxSports Ohio, Cincinnati, SNY, MASN) and ESPN FullCourt: Very desperate times for Seton Hall. The trendy dark horse pick in the Big East has played close to teams like UConn, Syracuse and WVU, but still has not gotten a conference win. Cinci did beat UConn in Storrs, and was a rather popular pick to finish in the upper-half of the BIg East and make the NCAA Tournament for the first time since Bob Huggins was fired. They need to avoid losses like this to stay out of a very fluid middle-of-the-conference.

8 PM ET
West Virginia-Notre Dame, ESPNU: Notre Dame has not shaken the image that they do not play defense. If they do not, they stand a good chance at being buried for a second straight year in the Big East. West Virginia under Huggins was expected to play good defense, but have really struggled with that portion since mid-December. This could be a very entertaining game, or WVU might bludgeon the Irish.

Texas Tech-Oklahoma St., FoxSports Southwest (and other local outlets) and ESPN FullCourt: Two 12-2 teams that have gotten off to good starts. Texas Tech has the bigger wins over Washington and UTEP. Both like to play uptempo so it should be very entertaining.

9 PM ET
BYU-UTEP, CBS College Sports: This is the only non-con game on the list. Mountain West vs. Conference USA. Both are contenders to win their respective conference. BYU has worked their way into the rankings, while UTEP has looked very good. The name that gets attention is Derrick Caracter for the Miners. The once can't-miss prospect has been surprisingly impressive in his last chance to salvage his present and future. The Cougars have one of the best shooters in the country with Jimmer Fredette. Contrasting styles as the Miners like to get inside more, while BYU is much more of a perimeter team.

10 PM ET
Gonzaga-Portland, ESPNU: Some hot West Coast Conference action gets underway. The Pilots started the season strong with wins over Oregon, UCLA and Minnesota (before anyone realized that these teams were not that good). They have stumbled since, but still look like a team to fight for the WCC. Gonzaga, well, they are a brand now and still the face of -- and team to beat in -- the WCC.

USC-Cal, check local FoxSports, Comcast and regional sports channels: As bad as the Pac-10 looks this year, there had to be something worth watching. USC looked lifeless in their first game after finding out the team had been sacrificed for the sins of O.J.Mayo. If they get it back together, they can really make life miserable for the rest of the conference. As for Cal, the Golden Bears inexplicably blew a home game to UCLA. They and Washington may be the only teams from the conference to make the NCAA Tournament. They can't afford anymore stumbles, though.