The beautiful five month journey begins again on Monday night. While the first night of the season might not be the most star-studded of the non-conference portion of the season, it still figures to have its fair share of moments.
Here are five things to be on the lookout for on day one of the men’s college hoops season:
Hoop heads won’t have to wait long for the first marquee game of the 2025-26 season.
Reigning national champion Florida will have its status as a threat to cut down the nets in back-to-back years challenged right out of the gate when it faces No. 13 Arizona at 7 p.m.ET in Las Vegas (TNT/TruTV). The Gators figure to have one of the strongest frontcourts in the sport this season, but most eyeballs Monday night will be fixated on how the new UF Backcourt of transfers Boogie Fland (Arkansas) and Xaivian Lee (Princeton) looks.
Arizona may be on Florida’s level when it comes to pure talent, but the Wildcats are unquestionably the less experienced team. Senior point guard Jaden Bradley should provide a nice early test to the Florida backcourt, but he’ll be joined in the starting lineup by a pair of very talented true freshmen in Koa Peat and Brayden Burries, both top 15 prospects from the 2025 class. If Peat and Burries can handle the bright lights, Arizona has a chance to spoil the opening night party for the reigning champs.
I know it’s just night one, but I can almost guarantee that this is going to be worth staying up for.
The most anticipated season in the history of BYU basketball gets underway with a Las Vegas showdown against Villanova that will tip-off around 9:30 p.m. ET on TNT and TruTV.
The Cougars return leading scorer Richie Saunders (16.9 ppg), lured freshman All-American point guard Robert Wright III (11.5 ppg/4.9 apg) away from Baylor, and signed preseason First Team AP All-American and potential No. 1 NBA Draft pick AJ Dybantsa. Kevin Young’s team is going to be appointment television all season long, and that begins on the opening night of the season.
There are tougher questions to answer on the side of Villanova, which kicks off the Kevin Willard era after a disastrous (relative to program standards) three-year run under Kyle Neptune. Freshman point guard Acaden Lewis is supremely talented and more than willing to take risks, which should add to the entertainment already present in this contest.
Have that 7 p.m. cup of coffee. It’s going to pay off.
3. 17 other ranked teams in action
Opening night typically gives us at least one big upset or one preseason top 25 team being pushed to the brink in a way that no one saw coming. Why should the 2025 version be any different?
Here are the other top 25 games going down Monday night:
- 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 Network
- No. 12 UCLA vs. Eastern Washington, 10:30 p.m. | Big Ten Network
- No. 14 Arkansas vs. Southern, 7 p.m. | SEC Network
- 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. | Big Ten Network
- No. 18 Tennessee vs. Mercer, 7 p.m. | SECN+
- No. 19 Kansas vs. Green 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. | Big Ten+
- No. 24 Wisconsin vs. Campbell, 8 p.m. | Big Ten+
- No. 25 North Carolina vs. Central Arkansas, 7 p.m. | ACC Network
Every single one of these ranked teams is favored to win by at least 21.5 points, but … expect the unexpected early in the season.
4. Boston College vs. FAU should be fun too
The No. 3 game on KenPom’s “thrill factor” rankings (behind the other two previously listed) is Boston College vs. Florida Atlantic, which will go down in Boca Raton at 7 p.m. on ESPNU.
BC head coach Earl Grant is sitting on one of the hottest seats in the sport, and kicking things off with a road win over a respected opponent would be a nice way to calm everyone down. Plus, the preseason last-place team in the ACC going on the road and scoring a solid victory would be a nice jump-start to the non-conference season for a power league with something to prove in 2025-26.
Donald Hand Jr.’s somewhat surprising decision to return to Chestnut Hill gives the Eagles at least a shot to do something this season. When he gets hot, there are few players in the sport more entertaining to watch.
5. The Field of 68’s Opening Day Marathon
It’s not quite the old 24 hour tip-off marathon, but by God it’s close enough.
The Field of 68 crew has organized an all-day marathon of games on its YouTube channel to kick off the season, and some of the matchups are legitimately solid. Bradley-St. Bonaventure, Omaha-Murray State, Drake-Northern Arizona and South Dakota State-Merrimack are all matchups worthy of ignoring work/class/family/whatever for.
