Your College Basketball Saturday Viewing Guide: January 3, 2026

HELLO AND WELCOME TO 2026!

It’s the first Saturday of the year, and since we’re past the majority of the college football playoffs/bowl games, there is A TON of college basketball on national television today! I’m counting 37 games in total, split 36 for the men and one for the women. The one women’s game on national TV? You better believe it’s UConn, as the top ranked Huskies are hosting Seton Hall.

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13 of the men’s games have at least one ranked team involved. There’s just one game between two ranked opponents, and that’s #19 Tennessee visiting #18 Arkansas. I suppose that automatically makes that one your game of the day.

Still, there are nine other ranked teams on the road against an unranked foe here, so the chances for BLOOD SATURDAY~! are kind of high. The first game of the day might be the best chance for an upset, as #21 Virginia visits NC State. I also like Wisconsin’s chances at home against #5 Purdue, but that’s more “the Kohl Center is a bear to deal with” more than “actually, the Badgers are good.”

There are, of course, a bunch of games that are streaming only, so they’re not on the calendar below. #4 UCLA hosts #17 USC on Peacock is the top streaming women’s game of the day, while #17 Kansas visiting 11-1 UCF for the Big 12 opener for both teams is best streaming-only men’s game today.

Here’s your full schedule for the day, with all times Central as always. If you latch on to something great, sound off in the comments so everyone can tune in!