NCAA Basketball: Top 10 “must see” games in November for 2023-24 season
By Jay George
No. 7 – #9 Tennessee Volunteers at #19 North Carolina Tarheels
When: Wednesday. November 29 – 7:15pm EST
Where: Dean E. Smith Center — Raleigh, North Carolina
The Volunteers of Tennessee have been on a tear recently with some promising teams. They’ve gone deep into the postseason as of late, Although like a lot of teams, they’re rebuilding a bit, there’s still a lot of promise coming to Knoxville this season. UNC is a lot like Tennessee in the fact that there’s some new faces in the program with the departure of Pete Nance, Leaky Black, and Caleb Love.
That being said, one of the ACC’s most productive bigs in Armando Bacot returns for another season in what could be his best yet. Both teams have a rigorous non-conference schedule with this matchup being one of the toughest games to that point for both teams this season. It should be a close matchup throughout with UNC having the home court advantage.
No. 6 – #5 Marquette Golden Eagles at #25 Illinois Fighting Illini
When: Tuesday, November 14th – 8:00pm EST
Where: State Farm Center — Champaign, Illinois
Shaka Smart has led programs into greatness wherever he’s been. Last year, his Golden Eagles were one of the best teams to really blow up out of nowhere after a quiet few seasons prior. Illinois is really in a bounce back year after a bit of a letdown in last season.
The great test here will be to see if Marquette is able to truly hold up to some of Illinois returning pieces such as Main Danja who showed flashes of dominance in the paint also having homeport advantage. Both teams really have a promising look with Marquette looking like they might really shine through this year under Smart.
No. 5 – #2 Duke Blue Devils at #14 Arkansas Razorbacks
When: Wednesday, November 29th – 9:15pm EST
Where: Bud Walton Arena, Fayetteville, Arkansas
One of the few teams that can match Duke in their size and talent is the Arkansas Razorbacks. The Razorbacks have a perfect mix of transfers and returning talent. They picked up El Ellis who should be a great matchup on Tyrese Proctor. They also got Houston transfer Tramon Mark who should bring some defensive prowess with a lot of returning key players as well.
If there is a team that matches up with Duke pound for pound, it may be the Arkansas Razorbacks who will also be running off of a home court atmosphere.