The attractive 5 month journey begins once more on Monday night time. Whereas the primary night time of the season may not be essentially the most star-studded of the non-conference portion of the season, it nonetheless figures to have its fair proportion of moments.
Listed here are 5 issues to be looking out for on day one of many males’s faculty hoops season:
Hoop heads gained’t have to attend lengthy for the primary marquee sport of the 2025-26 season.
Reigning nationwide champion Florida could have its standing as a menace to chop down the nets in back-to-back years challenged proper out of the gate when it faces No. 13 Arizona at 7 p.m.ET in Las Vegas (TNT/TruTV). The Gators determine to have one of many strongest frontcourts within the sport this season, however most eyeballs Monday night time shall be fixated on how the brand new UF Backcourt of transfers Boogie Fland (Arkansas) and Xaivian Lee (Princeton) appears to be like.
Arizona could also be on Florida’s degree in relation to pure expertise, however the Wildcats are unquestionably the much less skilled group. Senior level guard Jaden Bradley ought to present a pleasant early check to the Florida backcourt, however he’ll be joined within the beginning lineup by a pair of very proficient true freshmen in Koa Peat and Brayden Burries, each high 15 prospects from the 2025 class. If Peat and Burries can deal with the intense lights, Arizona has an opportunity to spoil the opening night time social gathering for the reigning champs.
I do know it’s simply night time one, however I can virtually assure that that is going to be value staying up for.
Essentially the most anticipated season within the historical past of BYU basketball will get underway with a Las Vegas showdown in opposition to Villanova that may tip-off round 9:30 p.m. ET on TNT and TruTV.
The Cougars return main scorer Richie Saunders (16.9 ppg), lured freshman All-American level guard Robert Wright III (11.5 ppg/4.9 apg) away from Baylor, and signed preseason First Staff AP All-American and potential No. 1 NBA Draft choose AJ Dybantsa. Kevin Younger’s group goes to be appointment tv all season lengthy, and that begins on the opening night time of the season.
There are harder inquiries to reply on the aspect of Villanova, which kicks off the Kevin Willard period after a disastrous (relative to program requirements) three-year run underneath Kyle Neptune. Freshman level guard Acaden Lewis is supremely proficient and greater than keen to take dangers, which ought to add to the leisure already current on this contest.
Have that 7 p.m. cup of espresso. It’s going to repay.
3. 17 different ranked groups in motion
Opening night time sometimes offers us at the very least one large upset or one preseason high 25 group being pushed to the brink in a approach that nobody noticed coming. Why ought to the 2025 model be any completely different?
Listed here are the opposite high 25 video games happening Monday night time:
- No. 2 Houston vs. Lehigh, 8 p.m. | CBSSN
- No. 4 UConn vs. New Haven, 7 p.m. | ESPN+
- No. 5 St. John’s vs. Quinnipiac, 6:30 p.m. | FS1
- No. 7 Michigan vs. Oakland, 8:30 p.m. | FS1
- No. 11 Louisville vs. South Carolina State, 9 p.m. | ACC Community
- No. 12 UCLA vs. Jap Washington, 10:30 p.m. | Huge Ten Community
- No. 14 Arkansas vs. Southern, 7 p.m. | SEC Community
- No. 15 Alabama vs. North Dakota, 8 p.m. | SECN+
- No. 16 Iowa State vs. FDU, 8 p.m. | ESPN+
- No. 17 Illinois vs. Jackson State, 8:30 p.m. | Huge Ten Community
- No. 18 Tennessee vs. Mercer, 7 p.m. | SECN+
- No. 19 Kansas vs. Inexperienced Bay, 8 p.m. | ESPN+
- No. 20 Auburn vs. Bethune-Cookman, 8 p.m. | SECN+
- No. 21 Gonzaga vs. Texas Southern, 9 p.m. | ESPN+
- No. 22 Michigan State vs. Colgate, 7 p.m. | Huge Ten+
- No. 24 Wisconsin vs. Campbell, 8 p.m. | Huge Ten+
- No. 25 North Carolina vs. Central Arkansas, 7 p.m. | ACC Community
Each single one in every of these ranked groups is favored to win by at the very least 21.5 factors, however … anticipate the sudden early within the season.
4. Boston Faculty vs. FAU must be enjoyable too
The No. 3 sport on KenPom’s “thrill issue” rankings (behind the opposite two beforehand listed) is Boston Faculty vs. Florida Atlantic, which is able to go down in Boca Raton at 7 p.m. on ESPNU.
BC head coach Earl Grant is sitting on one of many hottest seats within the sport, and kicking issues off with a highway win over a revered opponent can be a pleasant technique to calm everybody down. Plus, the preseason last-place group within the ACC occurring the highway and scoring a strong victory can be a pleasant jump-start to the non-conference season for an influence league with one thing to show in 2025-26.
Donald Hand Jr.’s considerably stunning resolution to return to Chestnut Hill offers the Eagles at the very least a shot to do one thing this season. When he will get sizzling, there are few gamers within the sport extra entertaining to observe.
5. The Discipline of 68’s Opening Day Marathon
It’s not fairly the outdated 24 hour tip-off marathon, however by God it’s shut sufficient.
The Discipline of 68 crew has organized an all-day marathon of video games on its YouTube channel to kick off the season, and a number of the matchups are legitimately strong. Bradley-St. Bonaventure, Omaha-Murray State, Drake-Northern Arizona and South Dakota State-Merrimack are all matchups worthy of ignoring work/class/household/no matter for.