A 20-point guide to the new men’s college basketball season

Connecticut is still the defending national champion.

Purdue, even after Zach Edey’s departure to the NBA, is still the Big Ten favorite.

Alabama is still likely to make a bunch of three-pointers.

And Hunter Dickinson, somehow, is still in college.

It might not seem like much has changed in men’s college basketball since last season. That’s not really true, even without taking into account the scattering of the Pac-12 to conferences that are geographically outlandish fits for the most part.

Monday marks the start of another roughly five-month dash from an early November launch to a rendition of “One Shining Moment” after the national championship game in San Antonio deep into the night of April 7, and plenty will get crammed in there. Fittingly, then, here’s a stuffed 20-point rundown of what to expect from men’s college basketball this season.

20 … projected one-bid league champs (plus two more)

Arkansas State (Sun Belt)

Bradley (Missouri Valley)

Colgate (Patriot)

Grambling (SWAC)

Grand Canyon (WAC)

High Point (Big South)

Lipscomb (Atlantic Sun)

Little Rock (Ohio Valley)

McNeese State (Southland)

Norfolk State (MEAC)

Ohio (MAC)

Princeton (Ivy)

Purdue Fort Wayne (Horizon)

Quinnipiac (MAAC)

Sam Houston (Conference USA)

Samford (Southern)

South Dakota State (Summit)

Towson (Coastal)

UC Irvine (Big West)

Vermont (America East)

Wagner (Northeast)

Weber State (Big Sky)

There might not be a more overwhelming preseason favorite in any conference this season than McNeese State, which defeated Michigan, Alabama Birmingham and VCU on the way to a 30-4 record in Coach Will Wade’s first season at the Lake Charles, Louisiana, school.

This year, the Cowboys account for half of the 10 players on the Southland’s preseason all-conference teams, including holdovers Christian Shumate (12.1 points per game) and Javohn Garcia (11.2).

19 … words you won’t hear strung together this season

“We at the NCAA are prepared to provide strong, proactive leadership to help secure needed stability for college basketball.”

18 … words you will hear strung together this season

“There are too many good teams. It’s far past time for the NCAA tournament to expand beyond 68.”

17 … transfers casual fans may remember from their last stop

Robbie Avila, Saint Louis (from Indiana State)

Oumar Ballo, Indiana (from Arizona)

Lamont Butler, Kentucky (from San Diego State)

Desmond Claude, Southern California (from Xavier)

Johnell Davis, Arkansas (from Florida Atlantic)

Coleman Hawkins, Kansas State (from Illinois)

Tyrese Hunter, Memphis (from Texas)

Kobe Johnson, UCLA (from Southern California)

Tramon Mark, Texas (from Arkansas)

Mark Mitchell, Missouri (from Duke)

Norchad Omier, Baylor (from Miami)

Clifford Omoruyi, Alabama (from Rutgers)

Wooga Poplar, Villanova (from Miami)

Kadary Richmond, St. John’s (from Seton Hall)

Jeremy Roach, Baylor (from Duke)

Deivon Smith, St. John’s (from Utah)

AJ Storr, Kansas (from Wisconsin)

Avila, the goggles-wearing center who helped Indiana State crack the national rankings for the first time since Larry Bird was in Terre Haute, became one of last season’s breakout stars while leading the Sycamores to the NIT final. Coach Josh Schertz left for Saint Louis shortly thereafter, and Avila followed him and should be one of the Atlantic 10′s top players.

16 … transfers casual fans may not remember from their last stop

Achor Achor, Kansas State (from Samford)

Jalen Blackmon, Miami (from Stetson)

Tucker DeVries, West Virginia (from Drake)

Sion James, Duke (from Tulane)

Chaz Lanier, Tennessee (from North Florida)

Terrence Edwards Jr., Louisville (from James Madison)

Frankie Fidler, Michigan State (from Omaha)

Ja’Kobi Gillespie, Maryland (from Belmont)

Aidan Mahaney, Connecticut (from Saint Mary’s)

Zeke Mayo, Kansas (from South Dakota State)

Great Osobor, Washington (from Utah State)

JP Pegues, Auburn (from Furman)

Saint Thomas, Southern California (from Northern Colorado)

JT Toppin, Texas Tech (from New Mexico)

Cade Tyson, North Carolina (from Belmont)

Danny Wolf, Michigan (from Yale)

A casual fan on the West Coast surely knows of Osobor, the Big Sky’s sixth man of the year at Montana State in 2022-23 and the player of the year in the Mountain West last year at Utah State. He played for Danny Sprinkle at both stops and followed his coach to Washington and a shot at high-major basketball this season as the Huskies head into the Big Ten.

15 … freshly hired coaches who could reach the NCAA tournament

John Calipari, Arkansas

Jerrod Calhoun, Utah State

Ben Fletcher, South Florida

Pat Kelsey, Louisville

Chris Mack, College of Charleston

Jonathan Mattox, Morehead State

Dusty May, Michigan

Ben McCollum, Drake

Eric Musselman, Southern California

Hank Plona, Western Kentucky

Mark Pope, Kentucky

Ron Sanchez, Virginia

Josh Schertz, Saint Louis

Preston Spradlin, James Madison

Kevin Young, Brigham Young

Fletcher has arguably the toughest task of anyone in Division I as he navigates the Bulls in the wake of deeply respected coach Amir Abdur-Rahim’s death at 43 on Oct. 24 from complications from a medical procedure. Fletcher was on Abdur-Rahim’s staff at Kennesaw State when they led the Owls to their first NCAA berth in 2023, then followed him to South Florida where the Bulls improved from 14-18 to 25-8 last season. There wouldn’t be a better - or more emotional - story in the sport than USF reaching its first NCAA tournament since 2012.

14 … fantastic November nonconference games

Baylor at Gonzaga (Nov. 4, 11:30, ESPN2)

North Carolina at Kansas (Nov. 8, 7, ESPN2)

Auburn at Houston (Nov. 9, 9:30, ESPNU)

Michigan vs. Wake Forest in Greensboro, North Carolina (Nov. 10, ESPN2, 1)

Kansas vs. Michigan State in Atlanta (Nov. 12, 6:30, ESPN)

Kentucky vs. Duke in Atlanta (Nov. 12, 9, ESPN)

New Mexico at St. John’s (Nov. 17, noon, Fox Sports 1)

Purdue at Marquette (Nov. 19, 9, Fox Sports 1)

Duke at Arizona (Nov. 22, 10:30, ESPN2)

Iowa State vs. Auburn in Lahaina, Hawaii (Nov. 25, 9, ESPNU)

Houston vs. Alabama in Las Vegas (Nov. 26, 8, TBS)

Kansas vs. Duke in Las Vegas (Nov. 26, 9, ESPN)

Creighton vs. Texas A&M in Las Vegas (Nov. 27, 6:30, Max)

Illinois vs. Arkansas in Kansas City, Missouri (Nov. 28, 4, CBS)

The clear-cut highlight of the opening night of the season brings Baylor and Gonzaga together for the third time in five seasons. The Bears routed the Bulldogs to win the 2021 national title game, then edged them on a neutral court early in the 2022-23 season. They’ll meet this time at Spokane Arena, just a couple of miles from Gonzaga’s campus.

13 … enticing December nonconference matchups

Alabama at North Carolina (Dec. 4, 7:15, ESPN)

Marquette at Iowa State (Dec. 4, 8, ESPN Plus)

Kansas at Creighton (Dec. 4, 8:30, Fox Sports 1)

Auburn at Duke (Dec. 4, 9:15, ESPN)

Kentucky vs. Gonzaga in Seattle (Dec. 7, 10, ESPN2)

Connecticut at Texas (Dec. 8, 5, ESPN)

Texas A&M vs. Purdue in Indianapolis (Dec. 14, noon, CBS)

UCLA vs. Arizona in Phoenix (Dec. 14, 3, ESPN2)

Tennessee at Illinois (Dec. 14, 5:30, Fox)

Connecticut vs. Gonzaga in New York (Dec. 14, 8, Fox)

Florida vs. North Carolina in Charlotte (Dec. 17, 7, ESPN)

Rutgers vs. Princeton in Newark (Dec. 21, noon, Fox Sports 1)

Purdue vs. Auburn in Birmingham, Alabama (Dec. 21, 4:30, ESPN)

There won’t be a better guard matchup on paper all season. Alabama’s Mark Sears, a consensus second-team all-American last season, tangles with North Carolina’s RJ Davis (a consensus first-teamer) in an SEC/ACC Challenge game at the Dean Dome. It’s a rematch of a memorable NCAA tournament region semifinal in March.

12 … Pac-12 schools in new places

Arizona (Big 12)

Arizona State (Big 12)

California (ACC)

Colorado (Big 12)

Oregon (Big Ten)

Oregon State (West Coast)

Southern California (Big Ten)

Stanford (ACC)

UCLA (Big Ten)

Utah (Big 12)

Washington (Big Ten)

Washington State (West Coast)

The Conference of Champions broke up because of the eternal chase for football dollars, and the result is a dozen schools scattered to four conferences. Two teams to keep an eye on are Oregon and UCLA, who both have a lead guard - Jackson Shelstad for the Ducks, Dylan Andrews for the Bruins - plenty capable of contending for all-conference honors in the Big Ten.

11 … other notable schools in new conferences

Chicago State, Northeast (previously an independent)

Kennesaw State, Conference USA (Atlantic Sun)

Mercyhurst, Northeast (Division II’s Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference)

Merrimack, MAAC (Northeast)

Oklahoma, SEC (Big 12)

Sacred Heart, MAAC (Northeast)

SMU, ACC (American Athletic)

Stephen F. Austin, Southland (WAC)

Texas, SEC (Big 12)

Texas Rio Grande Valley, Southland (WAC)

West Georgia, Atlantic Sun (Division II’s Gulf South Conference)

The Longhorns have reached four consecutive NCAA tournaments, finishing 26th or better in Ken Pomeroy’s rankings in each of those seasons. Their arrival makes an SEC that had four of the top 16 seeds in last year’s NCAA tournament (Alabama, Auburn, Kentucky and Tennessee) even deeper.

10 … tough tickets in conference play

Baylor at Iowa State (Jan. 4, 2, CBS)

North Carolina at Duke (Feb. 1, 6:30, ESPN)

Arkansas at Kentucky (Feb. 1, 9, ESPN)

Connecticut at Creighton (Feb. 11, 9, CBS Sports Network)

UCLA at Indiana (Feb. 14, 8, Fox)

Alabama at Tennessee (March 1, 1 or 4, ABC or ESPN)

Kansas at Houston (March 3, 9, ESPN)

Marquette at Connecticut (March 5, 8:30, Fox Sports 1)

Purdue at Illinois (March 7, 8, Fox)

Arizona at Kansas (March 8, 4, ESPN)

It’s the first of two meetings for the only ACC teams ranked in the preseason Associated Press poll. North Carolina has won in three of its past four trips to Cameron Indoor Stadium, including an 84-79 victory last year. The teams meet again March 8 in Chapel Hill.

9 … non-power-conference players who could be household names in March

Duke Deen, Bradley

Tyson Degenhart, Boise State

Kezza Giffa, High Point

Tyon Grant-Foster, Grand Canyon

Kobe Julien, Arkansas State

Yaxel Lendeborg, UAB

Caden Pierce, Princeton

Max Shulga, VCU

Christian Shumate, McNeese State

The defending Ivy League player of the year, Pierce averaged 16.6 points and 9.2 rebounds as the Tigers went 24-5 and earned an NIT berth. Princeton has a chance to be every bit as dangerous as its Sweet 16 team from two seasons ago, and the 6-foot-7, 220-pound Pierce is the biggest reason.

8 … star players who absolutely refuse to graduate

Johni Broome, Auburn

LJ Cryer, Houston

RJ Davis, North Carolina

Hunter Dickinson, Kansas

Ryan Kalkbrenner, Creighton

Caleb Love, Arizona

Norchad Omier, Baylor

Mark Sears, Alabama

Dickinson has been in college long enough to amass 2,208 points and 1,148 rebounds between stops at Michigan and Kansas and wind up a consensus second-team all-American twice. He is running it back for the Jayhawks, who were tripped up by injuries last season but should be back to their usual Final Four-contending selves with Dickinson manning the middle.

7 … times Gonzaga will face a power-conference team

Nov. 4 vs. Baylor (11:30, ESPN2)

Nov. 10 vs. Arizona State (5, ESPN)

Nov. 27 vs. West Virginia in Paradise Island, Bahamas (2:30, ESPN or ESPN2)

Nov. 28 vs. Indiana or Louisville in Paradise Island, Bahamas (TBA, ESPN or ESPN2)

Dec. 7 vs. Kentucky in Seattle (10, ESPN2)

Dec. 14 vs. Connecticut in New York (8, Fox)

Dec. 28 vs. UCLA in Inglewood, California (8, Fox)

The Bulldogs are in their penultimate season as members of the West Coast Conference before moving into the revamped Pac-12, and as usual they will embark on an ambitious nonleague schedule. Their last major test before WCC play will take them to Southern California to face UCLA at the new Intuit Dome.

6 … active head coaches with a national title

John Calipari, Arkansas

Scott Drew, Baylor

Dan Hurley, Connecticut

Tom Izzo, Michigan State

Rick Pitino, St. John’s

Bill Self, Kansas

Hurley passed on the chance to jump up a level and coach the Los Angeles Lakers, instead remaining at Connecticut after leading the Huskies to consecutive national titles. If U-Conn. makes it a three-peat, Hurley will join UCLA legend John Wooden as the only Division I men’s basketball coaches to oversee such a feat.

5 … freshmen who could land on all-American teams

Ace Bailey, Rutgers

VJ Edgecombe, Baylor

Cooper Flagg, Duke

Dylan Harper, Rutgers

Liam McNeeley, Connecticut

It’s pretty much assumed that Flagg - a 6-foot-9, 205-pound wing who played last season at Montverde Academy in Florida - will be one of college basketball’s best players. That might not manifest itself statistically every night because of the Blue Devils’ loaded lineup, but Flagg still will be mentioned as a possible (likely?) No. 1 pick in June’s NBA draft on a regular basis.

4 … schools in their swan songs in their current conference

Delaware (Coastal)

Massachusetts (Atlantic 10)

Missouri State (Missouri Valley)

Seattle (Western Athletic)

Seattle is headed to the West Coast Conference, while Delaware and Missouri State are set to become the latest spots on the map in far-flung Conference USA as they pursue the Football Bowl Subdivision. Football is also fueling Massachusetts’s move to the Mid-American Conference, ending the Minutemen’s nearly half-century association with the Atlantic 10.

Coach Frank Martin won’t permit sentimentality to seep in, but it’ll still be worth appreciating U-Mass.’s final run through its longtime home - especially because he has a fine backcourt with Rahsool Diggins and Jaylen Curry and collected an influx of rangy, athletic forwards who would fit right in physically with his old teams at Kansas State and South Carolina.

3 … times the attention will be on John Calipari

Nov. 6 vs. Lipscomb (season opener)

Jan. 4 at Tennessee (SEC opener)

Feb. 1 at Kentucky

Calipari bounced from his longtime perch on Kentucky’s sideline to join SEC rival Arkansas, a move that was probably best for all involved given the Wildcats’ lack of March success and the Razorbacks’ desire to be a consistent factor. Nonetheless, it will be a circus - maybe the biggest of the season - when Calipari returns to Rupp Arena for the first time.

2 … schools that could field their best teams in a long time

Boise State

Rutgers

The Scarlet Knights signed two of the top freshmen in the Class of 2024: point guard Dylan Harper and forward Ace Bailey. On the one hand, they’re freshmen and bound to have some ups and downs. On the other, there hasn’t been as much reason for Rutgers to dream this big at any point since its Final Four appearance in 1976. It should be a fun season in Piscataway at the arena formerly known as the RAC, which you may have heard is a tough place to play.

1 … title-winning coach who retired just before the season

Tony Bennett

The Virginia coach called it quits last month after 15 seasons with the Cavaliers, a run that included the 2019 national championship. Bennett is the latest in a string of prominent coaches to head for the exits; while the likes of Jim Boeheim, Mike Krzyzewski and Roy Williams were in their 70s when they stepped away, Bennett is just 55 - even younger than Jay Wright when he retired from Villanova two years ago at 60.