ESPN's Tip-Off Marathon Guide

College Basketball tipped off on Friday night and as usual, ESPN's Tip - Off Marathon will go through the night and all during the day tomorrow. The marathon will conclude Tuesday night when the Kansas Jayhawks will take on Tom Izzo's Michigan State Spartans.

Over the years, this has been one of my favorite nights of the year. In the past, I have alway had school or something in the way of me watching every game. This year, I have nothing on the to do list for tomorrow. November College Basketball is great, a lot of pre-season  tournaments and the addition of this event, really makes it seem that College Basketball has arrived.

Also an excuse to stay up doing something I love. College Basketball is 10X better than the NBA. The kids are hungry, they are passionate and in the end. A lot of the players are unselfish. More importantly, in the NBA, 53% of the teams make the playoffs. It's an 82 game season. In college, Only 19% of the teams will make the NCAA tournament and only 30 games to show the selection committee your worth it. All 30 games matter.

The last few years, I've tried to stay up all night watching. First year, I made it to 11pm. I believe I was in Grade 12 that year. Next year, I made it further to 12:30am, still fell asleep. Every year I have made it farther and farther, last year I think I crashed at 3am.  

Here is the schedule for Tonight into tomorrow:

7 p.m.
Tennessee at Georgia Tech
Tom Hart, Cory Alexander
ESPNU

Two teams that have had recent success but have fallen off the radar in the past few years. Should be a good game. 

7:30 p.m.
No. 6 Virginia at George Washington
Jason Benetti, Jim Calhoun
ESPN2

Tony Bennett has built an amazing program at Virginia. They are just as strong this year in a loaded ACC as they go on the road to face George Washington 

Oral Roberts at South Carolina
Dave Neal, Chris Spatola
SEC Network

Oral Roberts is a nightmare matchup in the NCAA tournament some years. They will be looking for a win then they play South Carolina.

9 p.m.
Legends Classic: Kennesaw State at No. 21 LSU
Mark Jones, Daymeon Fishback
ESPNU

LSU has arguably the best player in College Basketball this year in Ben Simmons. He could be the #1 pick in next years draft. This shouldn't be that close of a game.  

9:30 p.m.
San Diego State at No. 16 Utah
Dave Pasch, Sean Farnham
ESPN2

This should be a really good game. Old Mountain West foes will meet up and both are very strong programs that have the potential to go far in the NCAA Tournament. It is never too early to early to get a key win on the resume and it will be a good win for the conference for which ever team can get the win.

11:30 p.m.
No. 22 Baylor at Oregon
Dave Flemming, Corey Williams
ESPN2

This would be a very intriguing football game that would produce a tun of points. The same could be said about the two schools in basketball. Don't be surprised if both teams crack 100. Both teams like to get up and down the floor very quickly. This might be the best game of the night. 

Tue, Nov 17

1:45 a.m.
BYU at Long Beach State
Steve Quis, Brad Daugherty
ESPN2

WCC power BYU have been a thorn in the chest for the last few years. Unfortunately for BYU, they need every win they can get because of how weak the bottom of the conference. This wouldn't be a loss the Cougars want on their resume come March. 

4 a.m.
Nevada at Hawaii
Kanoa Leahey, Adrian Branch
ESPN2

Hawaii is involved in the Tip-Off Marathon every year. This year is no exception. Nevada is the opennet this year. I wish Hawaii was better and they would be on ESPN more. That way we can stay up watching college basketball more consistently. 

6 a.m.
Green Bay at East Tennessee State
Allen Bestwick, Brooke Weisbrod
ESPN2

Not much in this game for me. This could be the game I fall asleep during. If Green Bay wins, it would be a mild consolation prize for what happened with the Packers embarrassing loss to the Lions yesterday. 

8 a.m.
Stephen F. Austin at Northern Iowa
Rich Hollenberg, Mark Adams
ESPN2

I'm really looking forward to this game. Rematch of last years Tip-Off Marathon game which Northern Iowa prevailed in to snap SFA's long home court winning streak. 

10 a.m.
Valparaiso at Rhode Island
Sean McDonough, Tim Welsh
ESPN2

One image comes to mind when I think of Valparaiso. That image is the Bryce Drew shot. They take on Rhode Island in what should be a competitive game. 

1 p.m.
Alabama at Dayton
Ryan Ruocco, Jeff Van Gundy
ESPN

Dayton will be looking for a good non conference win when they host Alabama. 

3 p.m.
Colorado at Auburn
Jon Sciambi, Fran Fraschilla
ESPN

5 p.m.
No. 8 Oklahoma at Memphis
Dave O’Brien, Miles Simon
ESPN

Besides the four teams we will see tomorrow night. Oklahoma is one of the few Few Final 4 contenders that we will see before. The Memphis Tigers will be ready for them as it is an opportunity for Memphis to get a program building win against a top Big 12 team. 

Gavitt Tipoff Games: DePaul at Penn State
Clay Matvick, Sean Harrington
ESPNU

Depaul isn't as bad as they were a few years ago and Penn State is getting better as well. The two will play in a game where both teams will have the rare chance to be on National TV, 

7 p.m.
College GameDay Covered by State Farm (United Center, Chicago)
Rece Davis, Jay Bilas, Seth Greenberg, Jay Williams
ESPN

7:30 p.m.
State Farm Champions Classic (United Center, Chicago): No. 2 Kentucky vs. No. 5 Duke
Dan Shulman, Jay Bilas, Shannon Spake
ESPN

Duke vs Kentucky is always special. The 1992 Elite 8 game was one of the greatest finishes in sports. Hopefully we will get an amazing game. 

9 p.m.
Gavitt Tipoff Games: Georgetown at No. 3 Maryland
Mike Tirico, Dan Dakich
ESPN2

Maryland is back to where they were in the late 90's early 2000's. George Town will look to spoil the party. 

10 p.m.
State Farm Champions Classic (United Center, Chicago): No. 4 Kansas vs. No. 13 Michigan State
Dan Shulman, Dick Vitale, Shannon Spake
ESPN

Last game of the night. Tom Izzo is one of my favorite coaches in College Basketball and they'll get a good test from #4 ranked Kansas. 

There you have it. It's a great night to pull an all-nighter and just do nothing tomorrow. When it is over, just remember there is a whole College Basketball season still left and its one of my favorite sports to follow as there is always great basketball through out the year!