Diehard basketball fans should be able to appreciate the game in the many forms it comes in today. That includes college basketball and especially early non-conference games. There are plenty of those this upcoming season and there are a ton of fantastic games to be seen at the beginning of this year. We’ll dive right into those games between some power players in college basketball. (If you’re looking for our first list of games, take a look here.)
Best Non-Conference Basketball Games
Arizona vs FAU (Dec. 23)
This should be a nice little pre-Christmas treat as the FAU Owls will play the Arizona Wildcats in Las Vegas — where Tommy Lloyd is currently 9-0 as head coach — return the vast majority of a roster that made it to the Final Four and Arizona has a little bit of continuity, but also adds several new faces. Arizona might have lost a flamethrower in Kerr Kriisa, but the Wildcats added Caleb Love from UNC, Jaden Bradley from Alabama, and Keshad Johnson who was in the National Championship game with San Diego State. The guard play should be solid for Arizona, but it’s the frontcourt where they need to prove they can excel.
FAU won 35 games last season and did it on the strength of their rebounding despite being a relatively small team. FAU averaged the 18th-most rebounds per game in the country and kept opponents to 40% shooting from the floor — good for 20th in the country. Under coach Dusty May, FAU should expect to roll again through Conference USA.
Florida vs Michigan (Dec. 19)
This game is being played as part of the Jumpman Classic in Charlotte (home of the Jumpman, of course). Both teams look fairly different from last season’s counterparts. Florida brought in six transfers while Michigan brought in three of its own to go with a couple of freshmen. Florida’s Riley Kugel is expected to break out this year and this Gator squad should have much stronger guard play in year two under coach Todd Golden. Expect them to run the floor and try to get shots off quickly.
Michigan lost one of the best centers in college basketball when Hunter Dickinson decided to transfer to Kansas. Replacing him is no easy task. That unenviable job will likely fall to Tarris Reed Jr. or Tray Jackson (from Seton Hall) or even a combination of them. Dug McDaniel at point guard should bode well for the Wolverines as he came on strong at the end of the season, but the wings will be where questions linger.
Tennessee at UNC (Nov. 29)
This game should be a nice post-Thanksgiving meal for everyone. As part of the inaugural ACC/SEC Challenge, UNC faces its first true test of the season. Will this new-look Tarheels team help coach Hubert Davis get off the hot seat or could this lead to another contentious season? Meanwhile, Tennessee will likely be without the services of point guard Zakai Ziegler as he will be recovering from a torn ACL he suffered in March. However, the Vols still have Santiago Vescovi, Jonas Aidoo, and bring in a top-25 recruiting class (including transfers).
UNC lost Caleb Love, which might be some addition by subtraction for this team. It also brought in a top-10 recruiting class, which includes five transfers. Four of whom come from Power 5 schools. The biggest signing was freshman guard Elliot Cadeau. The freshman looks like he will be in line for major minutes immediately after some scrimmage footage was released. He does just about everything and would have more hype as a top-10 pick if he was two inches taller. Expect big man Armando Bacot to bully some Volunteer defenders. His guard play could be the true X-Factor in this game.
