College hoops season is less than a month away.
That means that, yes, it's officially time to whip out the calendar and start marking off your nights for some of the sport's biggest games of the season. Fortunately for you, CBS released its jam-packed 2018 broadcast schedule with tip times and dates on Thursday -- what timing! -- and it's got all the makings you're itching to see as a hoops fan.
All four Final Four teams from 2018 will be represented in the coverage as well as headline matchups in the CBS Sports Classic featuring Ohio State-UCLA, and North Carolina-Kentucky in late-December. The Crossroads Classic is included in CBS' coverage and features a delectable dish of entrées in the form of Notre Dame-Purdue and Indiana-Butler.
"The Crossroads Classic and the CBS Sports Classic jump out at you, because those are eight outstanding programs," said CBS Sports analyst Clark Kellogg. "Really high quality programs, and a lot of intrigue surrounding all of them."
CBS Sports' coverage also features a number of promising matchups in non-event format, too, such as Auburn-Kentucky on Feb. 23, Kentucky-Tennessee on Mar. 2, Florida-Georgia on Jan. 19 and many others.
"In terms of individual games, I've really bulleted the Kentucky-Tennessee game," Kellogg said. "That one jumps out at you, thinking about what Tennessee returns and Kentucky returns. It will be appointment television, and at that point in the season it could have significant ramifications in terms of the SEC race potentially and seeding.
"Michigan State-Purdue in January is another one to circle," Kellogg said. "I love Mackey Arena, one of the great venues in college hoops. Matt Painter has an intriguing team, and Carsen Edwards is one of the best players in the country."
CBS' coverage of the 2018-19 college basketball season will kick off on Saturday, Dec. 8 with an inter-conference battle between Michigan State and Florida, the former of which currently ranks No. 11 in the CBS Sports Top 25 (and one) and the latter of which is one of Kellogg's projected Final Four teams ahead of the season.
"I'm throwing Florida in as a Final Four team, I'm throwing Virginia in -- you know, the Cavaliers, on the heels of being the first No. 1 seed to lose to a 16-seed, I think they'll bounce back in a big way," Kellogg said. "And then Gonzaga, which I think has a really solid group coming back. And finally, I'm going Tennessee for my fourth team. They're experienced, well-coached and hungry."
Below is an index of some of the key dates, matchups and tip times for the 2018-19 season on CBS with the full schedule for games on CBS and CBS Sports Network here.
MATCHUP | DATE | TIP TIME | NETWORK |
Michigan State vs. Florida | Saturday, Dec. 8 | 12 p.m. ET | CBS |
Notre Dame vs. Purdue | Saturday, Dec. 15 | 1:30 p.m. ET | CBS |
Saturday, Dec. 15 | 3:45 p.m. ET | CBS | |
UCLA vs. Ohio State | Saturday, Dec. 22 | 3 p.m. ET | CBS |
North Carolina vs. Kentucky | Saturday, Dec. 22 | 5:15 p.m. ET | CBS |
Indiana vs. Michigan | Sunday, Jan. 6 | 1:30 or 4:30 p.m. ET | CBS |
Michigan State vs. Purdue | Sunday, Jan. 27 | 1 p.m. ET | CBS |
Auburn vs. Kentucky | Saturday, Feb. 23 | 1:30 p.m. ET | CBS |
Sunday, Feb. 24 | 1:30 p.m. ET | CBS | |
Michigan State vs. Michigan | Sunday, Feb. 24 | 3:45 p.m. ET | CBS |
Kentucky vs. Tennessee | Saturday, Mar. 2 | 2 p.m. ET | CBS |
