What We’re Watching Monday: No. 8 Tennessee Hosts Radford, 0-2 Purdue Needs a Win and Syracuse Meets Indiana

What we're watching Monday: No. 8 Tennessee hosts Radford, 0-2 Purdue plays Illinois State, and Syracuse meets Indiana in Indianapolis

Sunday went to the favorites, and Monday is a men’s college basketball night with the Vols at home and a Purdue team that needs a win badly. All times Central.

  1. Indiana vs. Syracuse, 5:30 p.m., FS1. At Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. Both teams are 2-0, Indiana is a 4.5-point favorite and the total is 148.5. Two big brands on a neutral floor in the second week of the season. This is the best game on the board.
  2. No. 8 Tennessee vs. Radford, 6 p.m., SEC Network+. At Food City Center. The Vols opened by beating Wofford 90-59, and they’re 29.5-point favorites here. Radford is 0-2. Get the starters some minutes and get out healthy.
  3. Minnesota at Cincinnati, 6 p.m., ESPN+. Both teams are 2-0 and Cincinnati is laying 7.5. A Big Ten road trip to a Big 12 gym in November is a real test for somebody.
  4. Purdue vs. Illinois State, 7:30 p.m., FS1. Purdue is 0-2. The Boilermakers lost 78-72 at Gonzaga, which happens, then lost 83-80 at home to Valparaiso, which doesn’t. They’re 15.5-point favorites at Mackey Arena. If this one gets close in the second half, Purdue fans are going to need a minute.
  5. App State at Auburn, 8 p.m., SEC Network. App State is 2-0 and Auburn is 1-0 with a 23.5-point spread. Late-night SEC hoops to close it out.

How Sunday went

No. 9 Virginia beat No. 12 Arkansas 91-72 in Washington, and it was 46-27 at halftime. Thijs De Ridder had 16 points and 10 rebounds, and five Cavaliers scored in double figures. No. 10 Houston beat Cal 86-68 at Lake Tahoe behind 20 points from Dedan Thomas Jr. No. 13 St. John’s hung 104 on Iona, and Pitt beat Penn State 82-76 in Philadelphia.

On the football side, the College Football Playoff committee’s next rankings come out Tuesday night. Tennessee beat No. 6 Kentucky 34-6 on Saturday, and I’ll have plenty to say. No picks from us on Monday’s games.

Follow along Monday on X @fiveandafade and Instagram. Schedules, scores, lines and TV from ESPN.

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Jeremy Durham is a sports columnist for TriStar Daily and the founder of Five and a Fade.

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