Welcome to #wouldwatch, a weekly-ish feature whenever I remember, or have time, chronicling this week’s college hockey TV games, plus the best non-televised game AKA the one I would watch.
Outdoors, indoors, it doesn’t matter. There is college hockey on television this weekend.
Every conference outside the ECAC has at least one game televised locally. CBS Sports Net, NBCSN (with an old friend calling the action - congrats Alex!) and BTN all have national games Friday night. Out in New England fans can watch an outdoor Frozen Fenway doubleheader from the comforts of their indoor chairs.
The number of options makes this week’s #wouldwatch fairly easy.
College Hockey on TV (All Times Local):
Friday January 6
6:00 pm ET: UMass-Lowell at New Hampshire (ASN/NESN)
7:00 pm ET: Sacred Heart at RIT (Time Warner Cable locally)
7:30 pm ET: Michigan Tech at Notre Dame (NBCSN)
7:00 pm CT: North Dakota at Nebraska-Omaha (NET locally)
7:30 pm CT/6:30 pm MT: Colorado College at Minnesota Duluth (CBS Sports Net)
8:30 pm ET/7:30 pm CT: Bemidji State at Bowling Green (ASN syndication - check local listings)
8:00 pm CT/9:00 pm ET: Michigan State at Wisconsin (BTN)
7:30 pm MT: Arizona State at Denver (Altitude)
Saturday January 7
1:30 pm ET: Boston University vs UMass at Fenway Park (NESN)
5:00 pm ET: Boston College vs Providence at Fenway Park (NESN)
7:05 pm ET: Sacred Heart at RIT (Time Warner Cable locally)
7:00 pm ET: Michigan Tech at Notre Dame (NBCSN)
7:00 pm CT/8:00 pm ET: Michigan State at Wisconsin (BTN)
7:00 pm CT: North Dakota at Nebraska-Omaha (ASN syndication)
Sunday January 8
1:30 pm ET: Boston University vs UMass at Fenway Park (NESN/TSN)
5:00 pm ET: Boston College vs Providence at Fenway Park (NESN/TSN)
Note: The Frozen Fenway games have been postponed a day until Sunday.
HM: Princeton at Dartmouth; Quinnipiac at Harvard (both Friday)
The combination of these two ECAC games (Princeton and QU on Saturday play Harvard and Dartmouth, respectively) leaves a lot to watch, whether it’s Dartmouth fans throwing tennis balls on the ice against a Princeton team that is 7-2 in its last nine games, or a rematch of last year’s ECAC championship game between two teams ranked in the top 15.
Why honorable mention? Both are free streams on ESPN3.
#1: Penn State at Ohio State
Several questions will be answered at the end of the weekend. Questions like: Who stands in front of the Big Ten? Ohio State split on the road against Minnesota in its only series, finally defeating the Gophers after losing six straight.
Or: How will Penn State fare in a tough road test? The Nittany Lions leave the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for only the second time this season, which, along with a 10 game homestand against sub-.500 teams, has led to questions about how much stock to put into its 13-1-1 record. Two convincing road wins over a team that has been in the top 10 would go far in that regard.
Will there be any defense between two of the top three offenses in the nation? Probably not. Would I be entertained if this series was on TV? Yes. Yes. Yes.
It’s an easy decision. Between stakes and entertainment I would watch these games over any other on TV this weekend.
Updated 1:00 pm CT on January 7th with the Frozen Fenway news.