John Clay's Sidelines

Here’s your college hoops schedule tonight:

• 7:00 Pittsburgh-West Virginia (ESPN)
• 7:00 Connecticut-Duke women (ESPN2)
• 7:00 Morgan State-Hampton (ESPNU)
• 9:00 Missouri-Texas (ESPN)
• 9:00 Texas Southern-Alabama State (ESPNU)

There are a full slate of college basketball games on the tube today, of course. Kentucky-LSU is an SEC Network game with Carter Blackburn and Kyle Macy doing the broadcast honors. That tips off at 4 p.m., after Mississippi State meets Florida in the 1:30 p.m. SEC  Network game.

ESPN’s GameDay travels to the Pac-12 for an Arizona-Washington matchup in Tucson. But the most interesting game might be Kansas at Iowa State, which is led by former Tubby Smith recruit Royce White, who almost ended up at Kentucky.

Click the continue line for the list of today’s games.

Continue reading ‘College basketball games on television today’

Let’s throw Mark Gottfried some credit. Numerous eyebrows were raised when our good friend Debbie Yow plucked the former Alabama head coach to be her new basketball coach at North Carolina State. More remember Yow’s accusatory rant against Gary Williams, her former coach at Maryland, whom Yow believed was trying to circumvent her search in Raleigh, than they do wo was actually hired for the job.

Anyway, here we are on Jan. 26 and Gottfried has the Wolfpack 4-1 heading into tonight’s matchup with North Carolina. State is but a half-game behind Duke and Florida State in the ACC standings. Gottfried’s team is on a three-game win streak as it plays in Chapel Hill. Check it out at 7 p.m. on ESPN.

Tonight’s college basketball schedule on TV:

• 7:00 North Carolina-North Carolina State (ESPN)
• 7:00 Florida-Ole Miss (ESPN2)
• 7:00 Nebraska-Iowa (ESPNU)
• 7:00 Navy-Lehigh (CBS Sports)
• 9:00 Indiana-Wisconsin (ESPN2)
• 9:00 Boston College-Virginia (ESPNU)
• 10:30 Washington State-Arizona (FSN)
• 11:00 Gonzaga-Portland (ESPN2)

When it comes to college basketball on television, it’s former Kentucky coach night. At 7 p.m., you can tune in and find out if Rick Pitino has enough healthy bodies to put on the floor for Louisville to play Villanova. At 8:30, watch Tubby Smith and his Minnesota Gophers attempt to survive the Izzone. Then at 9 p.m., watch Billy Gillispie continue his search for his first Big 12 win at Texas Tech.

If ESPN’s 30 for 30 would do an Eddie Sutton documentary, the night would be set.

I was on Chip Cosby’s new CN/2 show via Skype on Monday. That’s my kitchen, by the way.

(AP photo)

If, for some reason, you don’t want to check out Tennessee-Vanderbilt tonight on the tube, you can keep it on ESPN for the Super Tuesday double header where Michigan meets Matt Painter (above) and Purdue at 7, followed by Kentucky-Georgia at 9.

Jimmy Dykes alert: He’s the color analyst on the Cats and Dawgs.

There are five AP Top 25 teams in action, including Kentucky (1), Baylor (6), San Diego State (13), Marquette (17) and Michigan (20).

Click the continue line to get the charts.

Continue reading ‘Tonight’s TV college hoops schedule and Top 25 roundup’

Full slate of games on Saturday. Kentucky-Alabama is a noon game on CBS. Ian Eagle and Jim Spanarkel are the broadcast team. Two of the most disappointing Big East teams, Louisville and Pittsburgh, meet in the ESPN GameDay game.

College basketball recommendations for tonight:

• 1. Vanderbilt at Alabama – Watch Vandy’s Kevin Stallings attempt to coach when his mind is consumed with the fact that Kentucky doesn’t have to play a Thursday/Saturday rotation. (I’ll Tivo 30 Rock.)
• 2. North Carolina at Virginia Tech – If the Tar Heels lose again tonight, will Roy Williams just leave his walk-ons in Blacksburg?
• 3. Wake Forest at Duke – Wake has absolutely no shot in this game. You’ve been warned.