If I had absolutely nothing to do....

My weekly look at the week's college basketball schedule and the games I'd watch if I just sat on the couch all week.

Monday November 9

Florida International at North Carolina -7pm ESPNU - It's the first televised game of the season, so we have to watch it, even if Isiah doesn't want to

Albany at Syracuse - 9pm ESPNU - Insert bad Lemoyne joke here

Murray State at California - 11pm ESPNU - Remember even if California loses they are still going to New York for the semifinals

Wednesday November 11

Robert Morris at Syracuse - 7pm ESPNU - Our first look at the Colonials. And a chance for the Orange to add another W - 801 for Boeheim

North Carolina Central at North Carolina - 9pm ESPNU - This should be over quickly

Detroit at California - 11pm ESPNU - The Bears just have that feeling of a team in the Top 25 that doesn't deserve to be there.

Thursday November 12

James Madison at Ohio State - 7pm ESPNU - Madison eliminated the Mount from the collegeinsider.com tourney last season, this could be somewhat tricky for the Buckeyes

Friday November 13

Drexel at St. Joesph's - 7pm Comcast Network - Good start to the season in College hoops haven of Philadelphia

Bradley at BYU - 9:30pm The Mtn - Bradley and BYU are two underrated programs that consistently produce good teams. Good opener for both.

Southern Utah at Hawaii - 12:30am MyK5TV - Any game after midnight looks good on the TV schedule.

Saturday November 14

Davidson at Butler - 2:00pm WHMB - This game deserves to be seen

Portland at Eastern Washington - 4:00pm SWX - This one probably doesn't

Mississippi Valley State at Gonzaga - 8:00 NBCQ6 - First look at the Zags against a fairly decent Delta Devils team

Sunday November 15

Wake Forest vs East Carolina - 2:00pm MASN - How good will Wake Forest be this year?

Valparaiso at North Carolina - 4:00pm NESN - Valpo's best years are probably behind them, but it still is a matchup with the defending champs

Colorado State at Oregon - 6:30pm CSN Northwest - A good little western matchup. Oregon needs to get better.

Portland State at Washington - 10:00pm FSN NW - Opener for the Huskies against a tough group from the Big Sky

So there you have 17 games in the first seven days of the season. Probably not any real marquee matchups. If we had to pick one, it would probably be that Davidson/Butler matchup and we might not even get to see that. But I think we will get looks at some good basketball teams this week and some of our early questions answered. But the season really begins in earnest next week.