NCAA Basketball: Top 10 “must see” December games for 2023-24 season

No. 2 – #4 UConn at #5 Kansas

When: Friday, December 1st – 9:00pm EST

Where: Allen Fieldhouse — Lawrence, Kansas

Coming off of their historic National Championship season, the UConn Huskies have demolished opponents this first leg of the season. Kansas will be their second ranked matchup. They dominate the glass ranking first in defensive and total rebounds as it stands right now. They find a lot of success on the interior and should give a short beach in Kansas a tough time.

Hunter Dickinson will have his work cut out for him quite a bit with this matchup. His success on the court is vital to that of Kansas. What is tough for them is the speed that UConn can go will be a race for the Jayhawks to run. Both of these squads match up well with size, but UConn can run the floor a bit quicker, although Kansas does have the ability to be a scoring machine themselves. Although not as dominant inside, they are the 7th most efficient team from the field.

No. 1 – #2 Arizona v. #1 Purdue

When: Saturday, December 16th – 4:30pm EST

Where: Gainbridge Fieldhouse — Indianapolis, Indiana (Indy Classic)

As it stands right now, these are some of the two best teams going head-to-head. Teams ranging from Gonzaga, Tennessee, and even Marquette have taken their best shot at the Boilermakers, and fell just short. You can say a lot about the team’s previous post-season endings, but it’s safe to say this is one of the safer picks as a top team through the season because they play a tried and true successful style running through the man, the myth, the legend Zach Edey.

That isn’t going to stop the current #2 team in the country from trying. The Wildcats have a deep rotation stacked with veterans and new younger talent alike. Like their counterparts, they were able to overcome some elite teams from Duke at Cameroon Indoor Stadium or a now overlooked but respectable Michigan State team. This will be the first of Arizona’s ranked consecutive matchups after a decent break, so they will be at their best and can face-off with Edey well having two 7-footers to match his size.

Although both these teams should theoretically make it far in the tournament, only one can win here, and Purdue might be the safe bet, but if there is anyone left that has the best shot at taking them down, it’s Arizona.

It is easy to see just how stacked this month is with great games all around. As we round out non-conference play and teams begin to settle into their place for the season more, we can look ahead to a great month of rare face-offs and the excitement of conference play. In many ways, it is still hard naturally to tell who the true front runners are, and this time next month we may have a new slate of teams to talk about at the forefront. Many missed this list that very well should make it as time goes on, but only time will tell.