Game 1
Who: UConn Huskies vs. Stanford Cardinal
When: 7:30 p.m. EDT on ESPNU
Where: Hartford, CT
Preview: Banking on Freshmen: UConn & Stanford in the Same Boat | Team stats via WBBState.com
What: Rich Elliott of the Connecticut Post calls Stanford-UConn the top rivalry in the women's game. And while reasonable people could certainly debate whether that's true, none have had quite the stakes of these games in recent years (as Elliott details in his piece). Read more >>>
Game 2
Who: New Mexico State vs. Arizona Wildcats
When: 9:30 p.m. EDT on FSN/ESPN3.com
Where: Las Cruces, New Mexico
Preview: NMSU Women's Basketball Set to Host Arizona Monday | Team stats via WBBState.com
What (on earth are making me watch this Pac-12 team for?): Since many of you probably don't have many opportunities to see Arizona, I recommend this game tonight as an opportunity to see Wildcats guard Davellyn Whyte, who's a top 15 scorer in the nation (23.3 points per game) and, perhaps more importantly, far more efficient thus far this season (shooting 51.3% from the field thus far this season). Defensively, she's also off to a good start as one of the Pac-12's leaders in steals.
Obviously these are three games of early season non-conference game stats and don't really mean a whole lot, but the point - if you didn't follow - is that she's a very talented player who's become considerably more productive this season as a junior and is worth watching. Arizona suffered some losses in the off-season - including the athletic former Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Year and Seattle Storm draft pick Ify Ibekwe - so it's not entirely clear how they'll fare in Pac-12 play, but they'll probably go as far as the talented Whyte can take them.
Of course there are other games being played tonight that aren't being televised nationally, so feel free to post your thoughts on those games if you're watching them - it's an open-minded open thread that's open as of now.