Ten Games to Watch on Black Friday

By on November 23rd, 2017

Black Friday has turned into a dangerous day of discount sales and holiday shoppers looking to save money on the best deals possible. It has caused chaos all across the country and has forced retailers to start opening up on Thanksgiving night instead of waiting until early Friday morning. Not only does it allow national retailers a chance to spread out their sales, it also keeps crowds from forming outside their stores, leading up to a tension filled night of raucous crowds waiting to get in.

However, not everyone enjoys the holiday crowds or the stress of shopping during Christmas time. So what else is there to do during all the madness that has become of Black Friday?

Plenty! We went ahead and put this list of games to enjoy tomorrow instead of wasting time standing in line and spending all of your hard-earned money on stuff you will not want in six months anyways. Happy Holidays!

10) NCAAF : USF @ #15 UCF

  • Game Info: 2:30 PM (CT) on ABC
  • Venue: Spectrum Stadium, Orlando, Florida
  • Details: Since the American Athletic Conference is not a part of the Power Five conferences in college football, the AAC is included in the Group of Five, which guarantees at least one team will be included in a Big “6” bowl game. As confusing as it sounds, this is this rivalry puts the undefeated Knights of Central Florida against the one-loss Bulls of South Florida in their annual “War on I-4”. The winner gets a shot at Memphis next weekend in the AAC Championship game which can lead to a New Year’s Day bowl game, a massive deal for college’s like UCF and USF. South Florida won six of the eight games between the teams, including the last two pretty handily.

9) NHL : Predators @ Blues

  • Game Info: 7:00 PM (CT) on FSTN
  • Venue: Scottrade Center, St.Louis, Missouri
  • Details: In what is to be a rematch of the second round playoff matchup from last season, the Predators and Blues should have a battle that will last every second of the three periods, and possibly overtime too. It is the first time these two times will face each other this season and it comes at the perfect time. St.Louis is on top the Western Conference with 31 points and has the second best record in the NHL while Nashville holds onto a 3rd place spot in the Central Division, just two spots behind the Blues. There will be more fights in this game than at any mall in America on Friday, that is a safe bet folks.

8) NCAAW : LSU vs. #2 Texas

  • Game Info: 5:30 PM (CT) on SEC Network
  • Details: The South Point Thanksgiving Shootout will feature the nation’s second best team, the Texas Longhorns, as they face an unranked, and rebuilding, LSU squad that is looking to remind the country that they have the talent to get back to the top, they just need a little time. This should be a better game than the fans will imagine and do not be surprised if LSU comes out the winner in this Las Vegas tournament game in which they matchup nicely with the Longhorns.

7) NBA : Detroit Pistons @ OKC Thunder

  • Game Info: 7:00 PM (CT) on FS-Oklahoma
  • Details: On Monday, the Cavs pounded the Pistons 116-88. No team in the NBA gets beaten that bad on consecutive nights, unless you are the Philadelphia Sixers about three years ago. So expect the Pistons to show up this Friday night when they head to Oklahoma City to face the mediocre Thunder. After acquiring Carmelo Anthony and Paul George, it looked as if Russell Westbrook had a real chance to win something in the West this season. However, they have not meshed well yet and are standing at 7-9, hoping to bounce back and find a few wins sooner rather than later. Meanwhile, the Pistons remain in the Eastern Conference hunt at 11-6 leading to a defensive matchup against an offensively sound Thunder.

6) NCAAF : Virginia Tech vs. Virginia

  • Game Info: 7:00 PM (CT) on ESPN
  • Details: After last weekend’s beating from Miami (44-28), the Virginia Cavaliers will have to suit up and prepare for an even tougher matchup against the Virginia Tech Hokies, who have had an up and down season after losing to Miami and Georgia Tech two weeks ago. The Hokies were 7-1 before Miami and Georgia Tech turned them into a struggling 8-3 club looking for a ninth win this season. They face their in-state rivals and could be in for a long day if the Cavaliers have anything to say about it.

5) NCAAF : #12 TCU vs. Baylor

  • Game Info: 11:00 AM (CT) on FS1
  • Details: Last season, Baylor was 17th in the nation and 6-1 when they hosted the 4-4 TCU Horned Frogs. When the sixty minutes was up, Baylor walked away with its’ worst home loss since 2005, losing 62-22. They could not stop TCU’s offense and watched as Kyle Hicks destroyed them all by himself, rushing for 192 yards and 5 scores. This year, it is a different story. Baylor is horrible and holds a 1-10 record heading into this game while TCU is 9-2 and holding onto the 12th spot in the polls. As we have seen before, nothing matters when the game starts and this should be another classic, regardless of the records. Baylor has the best chance at upsetting TCU simply because that is the type of rivalry these two teams have with one another.

4) NBA : Bulls @ Warriors

  • Game Info: 9:30 PM (CT) on NBATV
  • Details: What better way to finish off the week than with the NBA’s premier roster playing in front of their home crowd? The Golden State Warriors are going up against one of the NBA’s worst teams this season, the Chicago Bulls, giving them the rare chance to score 200 points and break all kinds of records in the process.

3) NCAAF : #3 Miami vs. Pittsburgh

  • Game Info: 11:00 AM (CT) on ABC
  • Details: If the Miami Hurricanes are going to finish the regular season undefeated, they have to finish off Pitt first. It will be easy to overlook the 4-7 Panthers and their struggling offense and lackluster defense this week because the matchup of the century is lurking around the corner when the Hurricanes will host Clemson on December 2nd. This could end up being a trap game that changes the entire course of the college football playoffs.

2) NHL : Penguins @ Bruins

  • Game Info: 12:00 PM (CT) on NBC
  • Details: NBC kicks off their NHL schedule of games for the 2017-18 season with the annual NHL Thanksgiving Showdown between the defending two-time Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins and Boston Bruins.

1) NCAAM : Phil Knight Invitational

  • Game Info: Second Round Winner’s Bracket Games
  • Details: This is one of the best in-season tournaments ever built and it begins on Thanksgiving Day. The tournament features two brackets, Victory and Motion, and gives college basketball fans a chance to enjoy some incredible basketball. On Black Friday, as the second round commences, it could feature matchups between Duke and Butler, Florida and Ohio State, North Carolina and Oklahoma, and Oregon and Michigan State. This tourney is loaded with talented teams and this should be the easiest thing to do on Black Friday with games starting at 10:30 AM.