Watch, Monitor, Don't: December 9, 2022
The college basketball schedule is a bit hiccupy this week as finals happen across the nation, because this is still amateur athletics, pay no attention to the billions being passed around.
That, mercifully, is not our problem. With college hoops, the NFL, college football and any NHL/NBA interests you might have, there’s just so much. So much to watch, keep track of, gamble on (if that’s your thing), tweet about while you can. You’re but one person, with a phone and a tv and a laptop, maybe an iPad, perhaps another tv or two… my point is, you have a finite number of screens to devote to Division I hoops the next couple of days. Let me help you with your weekend viewing plans.
As always, the weekend starts at 7 p.m. ET on Friday; apologies to the Stony Brook-Bryant game; Bryant, wyd scheduling back-to-back home games during happy hour?
Must Watch (Times ET)
No. 8 Alabama at No. 1 Houston, 3 p.m., Saturday (ABC)
It would be dumb to categorize this as a matchup with March implications, but dumb is stock-in-trade around here.
Here’s what a win does for Alabama in March if things go as expected. If the Crimson Tide win 25 games, win a couple in the SEC Tournament games and maintain status among the top 15 or so teams in America this year, while Houston romps through the American, it’s likely the difference between a two or a three (or a three and a four) seed for Alabama, the difference between Longwood and Liberty or Liberty and UC Irvine. That would be a massive skin on the wall for Nate Oats.
Here’s what a win does for Houston if things go as expected. If the Cougars beat ass through the American, go something like 27-4 or 28-3 and only enter Selection Sunday with losses to (closes eyes, stabs schedule) Virginia, Cincinnati and Memphis, and Alabama remains a high-performing SEC team top-lining its own high seed? That’s the difference between the Cougars being a one or a two, or (possibly) the top overall seed and getting choice regional selection closest to Houston. For a program that behaves like a major but isn’t in one of the biggest conferences, being in Des Moines or Denver (as opposed to Albany or Sacramento) could make a substantial difference.