For all the college basketball played – and displayed on television – throughout Thanksgiving week, the game that might attract the most attention will be played on the holiday itself.
Because there’s NFL football beforehand.
Fox Sports will televise at 4:30 p.m. ET on Thursday the meeting between Big Ten power Michigan State and ACC titan North Carolina in the Fort Myers Tip Off, promoted by Chicago-based Intersport. The game will follow the traditional Detroit Lions Thanksgiving game, this one against NFC North rival Green Bay.
It’s one of two games the promoter has airing on network TV on Thanksgiving, along with a CBS telecast of Duke vs. Arkansas in primetime, at 8 p.m., from Chicago’s United Center.
Televised college hoops on the holiday isn’t anything new; the Battle 4 Atlantis has been played at this time for years. But this is the first time in at least 15 years there will be two college basketball games on major networks on Thanksgiving Day.
So there’ll be the Macy’s parade, and then at least four layup lines on the networks.
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The audience for MSU-Carolina could be significant, because a lot of Lions fans figure to have a vested interest in the outcome.
Michigan State fans will want the Spartans to continue their undefeated start and claim another high-end victim. Michigan fans among the Lions fanbase will, obviously, want State to lose.
Mark Starsiak of Intersport told The Sporting News it wasn’t difficult to arrange the game.
“You have some really high-IQ coaches in terms of who they are, who their brands are, and what they want to accomplish with their non-conference schedule, and what they look at and value in an event from the experience … and what exposure opportunity exists for their team,” Starsiak said. “I don’t think anyone has ever accused North Carolina or Michigan State of ducking anyone from a non-conference scheduling standpoint.”
Michigan State has opened 6-0, including wins over Arkansas and Kentucky and one earlier this week against East Carolina in Fort Myers. The Tar Heels are also 6-0, having defeated Kansas in a home game.
“We tried to thread the needle in relation to both networks. You have to acknowledge what football is and kind of use it to your advantage,” Starsiak said. “And the location matters. You don’t need 10 or 20,000 people to fill the gym in Fort Myers. We sold out the game at 3,500, and it’ll feel like 20,000 based on how that environment can be and how passionate those fans can be that are coming on a holiday to watch their team in a tournament.”
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The Razorbacks and Blue Devils feature several of the best players in one of the elite freshman classes of the 21st century.
Duke forward Cameron Boozer is averaging 21.1 points and 9.9 rebounds to lead the 7-0 Devils and is already considered an All-America candidate. His twin brother, Cayden, is a point guard tied with Cameron for the team lead in assists. Wings Dame Sarr and Nikolas Khamenia are producing a combined 15.4 points per game.
Wing Meleek Thomas (18.3 ppg.) and point guard Darius Acuff (16.8) are the top two scorers for the Razorbacks, whose only loss was at Michigan State.
Duke-Arkansas will also have an NFL lead-in of sorts — a little time will pass between the end of Cowboys vs. Chiefs and tip-off of the hoops game.
“I love it at the start of the season to have high-quality March-type matchups to watch this early,” Starsiak said. “I’m not the guy who waits for conference play, or championships, or March Madness.”
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