FOX 2023-24 college basketball schedule: 10 dates to circle, how to watch
The 2023-24 FOX College Hoops television schedule was announced on Friday, and there is no shortage of marquee matchups on the slate. In total, FOX Sports will provide television coverage of more than 330 combined men's and women's college basketball games this year over a stretch of 131 days.
At least 60 games will be televised on FOX, with FOX Primetime Hoops returning for a second season featuring top-tier matchups across the country every Saturday night beginning on Dec. 9 and running for 15 consecutive weeks on the network. FS1 will televise at least 240 matchups this season, while FS2 will air 30 games in the 2023-24 campaign.
In total, 200 Big East games will air on the FOX family of networks with 22-23 matchups on FOX on the men's side and a record five women's games from the conference on the network. The Big Ten will have 12 men's games air on FOX while five women's basketball matchups will air there as well. The Mountain West Conference features 34 telecasts while the Pac-12 will have 25 games on the family of networks.
FOX Sports will also carry coverage of the Acrisure Classic, the Desert Classic, the Fort Myers Tip-Off, the Hall of Fame Series Toronto, the Motor City Invitational and the first-ever Rady's Children's Invitational.
Among the March highlights to watch for this year, FOX will carry the Big East and Pac-12 men's basketball championship games on Saturday, March 16 at 6:30 p.m. ET and 9 p.m. ET respectively.
For the entire schedule, click here.
And guess what? We did the work for you, picking out 10 dates for you to circle on your calendar, cancel the plans you might have had and gear up for matchups featuring some of the top programs in America.
Nov. 23 - Thanksgiving Day
4 p.m. ET on FOX: Michigan State Spartans vs. Arizona Wildcats (Acrisure Classic)
6 p.m. ET on FOX: Tennessee Lady Volunteers vs. Indiana Hoosiers (Women's Fort Myers Tip-Off)
Following the Packers-Lions NFL showdown in Detroit, it's a double dose of Thanksgiving Day college hoops on FOX with all four teams involved being ranked in the top-12 of their respective AP polls.
It's a beautiful thing that Tom Izzo and Tommy Lloyd scheduled this holiday matchup in Palm Springs, and the showdown in the backcourt between Tyson Walker and North Carolina transfer Caleb Love features two big names with the potential to take over a game if they find their rhythm. The big question in this particular matchup for the Spartans: How will they handle FOX Sports preseason All-American Oumar Ballo on the interior? Veteran Mady Sissoko, Carson Cooper and Xavier Booker will have to find an answer for him. The possibilities of both teams' guard play though carries significant depth and firepower. MSU will ride not only Walker, but A.J. Hoggard, Jaden Akins and Malik Hall while Arizona can counter with Kylan Boswell, Jaden Bradley and Pelle Larsson. I would expect a dramatic, tight finish.
The Big Ten-SEC women's clash in the evening features the ninth-ranked Hoosiers and 11th-ranked Volunteers. The showdown between a pair of fifth-year seniors, Indiana's Mackenzie Holmes and Tennessee's Rickea Jackson, will be quite a battle inside. A key for the Hoosiers: With Grace Berger gone to the WNBA, can Chloe Moore-McNeil lead the ball-handling duties and initiate offense efficiently and consistently? The Vols went to the Sweet 16 last year, while the Hoosiers did so in the two previous seasons including an Elite Eight run in 2021, the best NCAA Tournament performance in program history.
Saturday, Dec. 9
11:30 a.m. ET on FOX - Syracuse Orange at Georgetown Hoyas
1:30 p.m. ET on FOX - Purdue Boilermakers at Alabama Crimson Tide
7 p.m. ET on FOX - UCLA Bruins at Villanova Wildcats
9 p.m. ET on FOX - Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Marquette Golden Eagles
It's going to be strange not seeing Jim Boeheim and someone from the Thompson family tree in a rivalry game between the Orange and Hoyas. The 99th meeting between Syracuse and Georgetown features Adrian "Red" Autry taking on Ed Cooley. The Orange are in a better spot than the Hoyas at the moment with a star in Judah Mintz back for his sophomore season. The full day of hoops continues in Canada with a really awesome game that allows reigning national player of the year Zach Edey to play in his home country at the Coca-Cola Coliseum. I expect a wild scene for that one, and it will be interesting to see Grant Nelson and the Crimson Tide on the other side of this high-caliber résumé game between two NCAA Tournament teams. FOX Primetime Hoops will feature a doubleheader that night with an elite big man matchup between UCLA's Adem Bona and Villanova's Eric Dixon. The bigger question: Can a new-look Bruins backcourt highlighted by Dylan Andrews be able to handle the defensive assignments of Justin Moore, TJ Bamba and company? The night is capped off by Micah Shrewsberry and the Fighting Irish visiting the Golden Eagles in the second leg of a home-and-home series that is fun for two programs with rich history. For Marquette, it's a primetime national home game at Fiserv Forum and a chance for Tyler Kolek and Kam Jones to show why they're as strong as any backcourt duo in America. It will mark the 120th meeting between Notre Dame and Marquette.
Saturday, Dec. 16
12 p.m. ET on FOX - Louisville at UConn (W)
2 p.m. ET on FOX - Alabama at Creighton
8 p.m. ET on FOX - Michigan State vs. Baylor (Detroit)
The day begins with Paige Bueckers, Azzi Fudd and the second-ranked Connecticut Huskies hitting the floor to take on a Louisville program that has reached five consecutive Elite Eights under Jeff Walz. A new-look backcourt of Jayda Curry (Cal transfer), Sydney Taylor (UMass transfer) and Nina Richards (Florida) will look to slow down UConn. The day continues with a trip out to Omaha and a tremendous matchup between Creighton and Alabama, which are starting a home-and-home series themselves this year, something that is awesome for college hoops and that the sport needs more of to build buzz during non-conference play. I'll be intrigued to see how veteran guards Mark Sears for the Crimson Tide and Steven Ashworth for the Jays square off, while Alabama will have the tall task of stopping Baylor Scheierman and Trey Alexander. FOX Primetime Hoops comes from Detroit in the nightcap with a Baylor team that will boast one of the best freshmen in America, 6-foot-5 shooting guard Ja'Kobe Walter. This primetime matchup in Detroit gives Walter a chance to show what he's made of in front of a big audience and gives both teams a great résumé opportunity before conference play. Baylor, which comes in at No. 20 in the AP preseason poll, may be flying under the radar a bit entering the year. I'd give the slight edge to Michigan State in this matchup with a big key being the matchup between Malik Hall and Jalen Bridges at the four.
Saturday, Jan. 13
1 p.m. ET on FOX - St. John's at Creighton
8 p.m. ET on FOX - Indiana at Iowa (W)
Caitlin Clark in primetime? Yes please. The reigning national player of the year gets the Saturday night spotlight that she deserves in this matchup with a Hoosiers team that split the season series with the Hawkeyes last year. Iowa City will be rocking. Earlier in the day, Rick Pitino takes his Red Storm team to Omaha into what will be a raucous Big East showdown. The matchup between Joel Soriano and Ryan Kalkbrenner at the center position should be must-see college hoops.
Jan. 27
12:30 p.m. ET on FOX - Georgetown at Providence
3 p.m. ET on FOX - Indiana at Illinois
5:30 p.m. ET on FOX - Arizona at Oregon
8 p.m. ET on FOX - Notre Dame at UConn (W)
What a monster Saturday this will be. First and foremost, Ed Cooley's return game to Providence is going to be the wildest scene in college basketball this season. Some people have said to me that how rowdy it ends up being could depend a bit on how these two teams, picked seventh and eighth in the Big East preseason poll, will be playing heading into this game. Truthfully, I don't think it matters. All any Providence fans want is to get a taste of revenge on their former coach who left them for the Hoyas. The afternoon features a terrific battle of guards in the Hoosiers' Xavier Johnson and the Illini's Terrence Shannon Jr. while the Pac-12 hits the evening in a game between two of the league's best, the Wildcats and Ducks. Dana Altman's Oregon team features a top-10 nationally ranked recruiting class headlined by wing Kwame Evans Jr. and point guard Jackson Shelstad.
FOX Primetime Hoops comes from Storrs to cap the day with Bueckers, Fudd and Auriemma getting the spotlight treatment against a Notre Dame team that hopes to have junior guard Olivia Miles back from a serious right knee injury suffered last year. That said, veteran Sonia Citron and highly-touted freshman Hannah Hidalgo have looked great in the preseason.
Feb. 3
12 p.m. ET on FOX - UConn at St. John's (MSG)
3:30 p.m. ET on FOX - Utah State at San Diego State
5:30 p.m or 8 p.m. ET on FOX - Maryland at Michigan State
5:30 p.m. or 8 p.m. ET on FOX - Iowa at Maryland (W)
Dan Hurley vs. Rick Pitino at Madison Square Garden? Yes please. I expect The Mecca to be on fire and will be intrigued to see how the Johnnies turn the page to February once Pitino has this roster figured out. The showdown between Jordan Dingle and Daniss Jenkins for the Red Storm going up against Tristen Newton, Stephon Castle, Cam Spencer and company should be a lot of fun to watch. It's great to see San Diego State get a well-deserved national spotlight at Viejas Arena. Get this: I think the Aztecs are good enough to reach the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament, and at that point, anything can happen. It's not out of the question that this team does what Butler did just over a decade ago under Brad Stevens, making it to back-to-back title games.
As for the evening action, Kevin Willard has a Maryland team that is top-20 good in my opinion with an elite point guard in Jahmir Young. My big question: Just how great with the Terps freshman duo of Jamie Kaiser and Deshawn Harris-Smith be, and how much progress will they have made by the time February rolls around? The Spartans are such a tough out at home and it will be interesting to see how star freshman Coen Carr looks in February as he has had time to evolve. In the most recent meeting between the Spartans and Terps, Michigan State took a 63-58 win home behind Tyson Walker's 17 points.
As for the other evening game, Clark and the Hawkeyes have a tall road test in College Park with Shyanne Sellers poised to be the star for Brenda Frese's squad. Maryland has options with NC State transfer Jakia Brown-Turner joining returnees Lavender Briggs and Brinae Alexander. This should be a fun one, and another chance for the national audience to see Clark in primetime.
Feb. 10
12:30 p.m. ET on FOX - Creighton at Xavier
3 p.m. ET on FOX - Villanova at Marquette (W)
5:30 p.m. ET on FOX - UCLA at Cal
8 p.m. ET on FOX - Indiana at Purdue
The game to highlight on this loaded Saturday is the Hoosiers visiting Mackey Arena, where they went last year and completed a season sweep of Purdue. Yes, the Boilermakers lost six games in all of last season. Two of those defeats came to the Hoosiers, with Jalen Hood-Schifino going off for 35 points last year in the IU victory in West Lafayette. Now, Indiana does not have Trayce Jackson-Davis anymore and Edey should enjoy life against his rivals. But at the end of the day, this time of year was the time last year when Purdue showed that they were human. Can Braden Smith and Fletcher Loyer show that they've learned from that and get revenge against the Hoosiers? We shall see. I think SIU transfer Lance Jones should help bolster Matt Painter's backcourt, and we'll get a good gauge of where he's at in this February showdown.
Feb. 17
12:30 p.m. ET on FOX - Creighton at Butler
3 p.m. ET on FOX - Marquette at UConn
5:30 p.m. ET on FOX - Illinois at Maryland
8 p.m. ET on FOX - Michigan State at Michigan
I absolutely love this slate of games. First and foremost, starting Saturday at Hinkle Fieldhouse with the sun peeking in on a February day just feels right. Can Thad Matta's Bulldogs turn a corner this year? We'll see what Posh Alexander adds. The afternoon shifts to Connecticut, where Marquette visits the Huskies in a rematch of an epic Big East Tournament semifinal last year that the Golden Eagles took at Madison Square Garden. It led to some trash talk.
In the evening, you get a matchup between Shannon Jr. and Young, while Hawkins meets a big-time big man in Julian Reese of the Terps and an insane atmosphere in College Park will be showcased. The day is capped off with a Michigan team that I think could be hovering around the bubble with Dug McDaniel and Olivier Nkamhoua getting a precious résumé game potentially at home in a rivalry showdown with the Spartans. That one should carry major implications.
March 2
12 p.m. ET on FOX - Villanova at Providence
2:30 p.m. ET on FOX - Marquette at Creighton
8 p.m. ET on FOX - Michigan State at Purdue
There is one meeting between the Spartans and Boilermakers in the regular season. It comes on the first Saturday of March between two teams that could realistically be vying for a 1-seed in NCAA Tournament projections if all goes as they would like it to this year. Last year, the two teams split, with the notable showdown coming on Martin Luther King Jr. day as Walker scored 30 but it wasn't enough as Edey went for 32 and 17 in a win.
Can Michigan State find a formula to defend big men better this year than last season? That's the key to the game, along with Smith, Loyer, Morton and company handling the Spartans' defensive pressure.
Elsewhere on the first Saturday of March, earlier in the day, Marquette and Creighton could be squaring off in a game with major Big East regular season championship implications as those teams make up the top two in the conference preseason poll. A visit by Villanova to Providence will pit Moore and Bryce Hopkins against each other, both of whom could be player of the year candidates in the conference. Any time the Wildcats visit Rhode Island, the Friar faithful hit another level at Amica Mutual Pavilion. Expect elite atmospheres in Providence, Omaha and West Lafayette this day on FOX.
March 9
12 p.m. ET on FOX - Georgetown at St. John's
2:30, 5 p.m. or 8 p.m. ET on FOX:
UConn at Providence
Creighton at Villanova
Marquette at Xavier
The final day of the regular season in the Big East brings a high-level marathon that the conference got right when composing the schedule. First off, Georgetown and St. John's meeting on the hardwood matters again with big name coaches, Cooley and Pitino, squaring off at The Garden ahead of the Big East Tournament. The UConn/Providence rivalry is real and hits a wild level when played in Rhode Island. Creighton and Villanova split their regular season series last year before the Jays took the Big East Quarterfinal win over the Wildcats in the league tournament. Plus, the Golden Eagles visiting the Musketeers is a rematch of the Big East championship game from last March that Marquette took. Expect Sean Miller's team to be a lot better on March 9 than they will be on November 6 after being dealt a very difficult injury card this past summer. The leader for Xavier: Desmond Claude. The dynamic sophomore is a big-time wing who you should monitor this year. More than anything, this day will have major conference tournament and NCAA Tournament implications and it's a marathon of four games before Championship Week fully revs up. This will be fun.
One added bonus game on the final weekend of the regular season…
March 10
12:30 p.m. ET on FOX - Wisconsin at Purdue
FOX has what could very well be Edey's final game at Mackey Arena in what will surely be a highly emotional senior day celebration in West Lafayette. The emotion of this matchup should come through your TV for those watching at home and could provide one of the defining scenes of the season. On the other side of the matchup is a tough test against a Wisconsin team that is the first team outside of my top 25 and is filled with experience. The Badgers have nine of their top 10 scorers back from last year, the entirety of their starting lineup and Greg Gard brought in an impact transfer on the perimeter, AJ Storrs (St. John's). I am buying the Wisconsin hype and think this could very well be a ranked vs. ranked matchup at Mackey that will carry lots of seeding implications for the Big Ten Tournament, if not seed line projections for the big dance.
John Fanta is a national college basketball broadcaster and writer for FOX Sports. He covers the sport in a variety of capacities, from calling games on FS1 to serving as lead host on the BIG EAST Digital Network to providing commentary on The Field of 68 Media Network. Follow him on Twitter @John_Fanta.
