Women's basketball watchlist: 12/6 edition

Big Ten play starts tomorrow and there’s plenty of good action elsewhere. Here’s my watchlist.

BE SEATED AT ALL COSTS

These are the games you’re going to want to skip work for – the ones that will tell us a whole lot about the best of the best.

12pm: Indiana at Illinois (BTN)

Big Ten play is here. Indiana and Illinois are both having slight down years this season, so this is actually a really important matchup. The Hoosiers have been without their post player, Zania Socka Nguemen, so we’ll see how they fair at Champaign.

1pm: Nebraska at Penn State (Big Ten+)

This should be a really fun matchup. Nebraska remains undefeated, but hasn’t truly been tested quite yet. Penn State has had a solid start to their year and looks much-improved from last season.

2pm: Princeton at Belmont (ESPN+)

Belmont could really use a big win here against a Princeton team that’s currently in my Top 25. The Tigers have been hot lately, but we’ll see if they can take one on the road in Nashville.

THIS COULD BE COMPETITIVE/FUN

These matchups are more than just your run-of-the-mill easy blowouts. While some of them have the potential to be, these games are an opportunity to see good teams test themselves early.

12pm: UMass at Army (ESPN+)

1pm: Kent State at Marshall (ESPN+)

2pm: Idaho at Denver

2pm: McNeese at Nevada

3pm: UNLV at Rice (ESPN+)

8pm: BYU at Portland (ESPN+)

9pm: UC Davis at Gonzaga (ESPN+)

A DECENT LOOK AND/OR AT OPTIMAL TIMES

These games will either be a solid look at a team or they just fall at optimal times. If you’re in need of basketball to watch all day (like me), these are games to add to your list. 

1pm: Quinnipiac at Cornell (ESPN+)

2pm: UTEP at TCU (ESPN+)

2pm: Coastal Carolina at Jacksonville (ESPN+)

2pm: Northern Iowa at Toledo (ESPN+)

3pm: Murray State at Austin Peay (ESPN+)

3pm: Cal Baptist at Boise State 

4:30pm: San Francisco at Arizona State (ESPN+)

6pm: Iowa at Rutgers (FS1)

8pm: Pepperdine at Fresno State

WATCH YOUR TEAM WIN A BLOWOUT

The rest of the games here will likely provide no true competitive value – but you never know. These games are just a look at some P5’s playing teams they should beat with ease. 

3pm: MVSU at Oklahoma State (ESPN+)