Although the summer sees a flurry of action and there is no downtime on college basketball, it does feel like forever and a day since Florida cut down the nets. Thankfully, the wait is almost over as we will have basketball again on Monday. While the majority of teams still ease their way into the season schedule-wise, there are a handful of marquee games in the opening week, including the champions vs. Arizona on opening night.
That doesn't mean that the intriguing games are few and far between as the action gets ramped up. On the contrary, there are quite a few games in the first few days that aren't on the national radar that deserve our attention as we get our first look at all these teams.
For some of these teams, even on opening night, these games could become important markers for their seasons if they have postseason aspirations. While this list is far from inclusive, these are five of the more intriguing games to keep an eye on during the first week of the season.
An interesting contrast in roster building at the Mid-major level happens on opening night. Defending Big South champs High Point, who relied heavily on the transfer portal to rebuild its roster for new head coach Flynn Clayman, takes on perennial SoCon contender Furman, who has a strong returning core sprinkled with key transfers.
High Point Panthers vs. Furman Paladins, Nov. 3, 6:30 PM ET, YouTube
After losing nine players to either graduation or the transfer portal, High Point brought in eight transfers of its own. The group is led by three players who averaged more than 13 points per game. Guards Vincent Brady II and Rob Martin come from the state of Missouri, where Brady II averaged 13.5 at Missouri State and Martin netted nearly 15 per game at Southeast Missouri State. Scotty Washington is another senior guard who scored 14.6 per game for Cal State Northridge last season. Add those two to fellow senior transfers CamRon Fletcher and Owen Aquino, as well as returning senior Terry Anderson, and you can see why this roster was picked to win the Big South again.
Despite losing two point guards that averaged over 32 points per game last season, head coach Bob Richey should have his Furman Paladins in contention for a SoCon title once again. Furman returns seven players from last season. Junior center Cooper Bowser returns with a chance for a real breakout season after averaging 8.5 points and 4.7 rebounds as a sophomore. Other names to watch for the Paladins are sophomore guard Eddrin Bronson and the lone transfer on the roster, Asa Thomas, a 6-7 sophomore who saw very limited time at Clemson last season.
James Madison Dukes at Akron Zips, Nov. 3, 7:00 PM ET
Opening night also sees a battle between two teams picked to win their conference. John Groce's Akron Zips, who were picked to win the Mid-American Conference, take on Sun Belt favorite James Madison.
Akron has a very experienced roster with its starting line up consisting of five seniors, led by point guard Shammah Scott. Joining him in the backcourt is another distributor who is the team’s leading assist man, Tavari Johnson dished out 3.8 dimes per contest last season. One of the three transfers, Evan Mahaffey could blossom in an expanded role after spending time at Ohio State last year. With a veteran roster that knows what it takes to win in the MAC and a coach like Groce, the Zips should be a force again.
In the second season under Preston Spradlin, the James Madison Dukes have been picked to win the Sun Belt and hope to improve on their 20-12 record in his first year. Nine subtractions decimated the Dukes’ roster, but Spradlin hit the portal hard, adding 10 new players. The cream of the crop is a pair of senior point guards. Bradley Douglas scored 12.6 points and added 2.3 assists at Georgia Southern last season. Cliff Davis joins the team from UT-Rio Grande Valley, where he scored 12 points and grabbed 4.5 rebounds as a 6-2 guard. Junior forward Eddie Ricks III is the Dukes’ top returner after pouring in 6.7 points and grabbing 4.7 rebounds as a sophomore. The winner of this one gets an early bullet point on their March resume.
Illinois State Redbirds at Ohio Bobcats, Nov. 6, 7:00 PM ET
On Thursday night, one of the contenders in the MAC, the Ohio Bobcats, plays host to Illinois State. Both teams will be a factor in their respective conferences, especially the Redbirds, who are a sneaky pick to win the Missouri Valley.
There’s a reason Illinois State is a trendy pick to win the Missouri Valley. First and foremost, they were able to keep their two stars, Chase Walker and Johnny Kinziger, away from the transfer portal. The duo averaged 28.7 points, over 10 rebounds, and five assists for Ryan Pedon and the Redbirds last season. Another big addition will be Boden Skunberg, who sat out last season but led North Dakota State in both scoring and rebounding in 2023-24.
Head Coach Jeff Boals brings back senior point guard Jackson Paveletzke. Paveletzke averaged 13.8 points, 4.1 rebounds, and a team-high 4.8 assists for the Bobcats last season. Also returning is senior forward Aidan Hadaway and his 10 points and 5.8 rebounds per game. also struck big in the portal, landing, 6-7 Javan Simmons. It’s a face he knows well, as Simmons did a little bit of everything at Toledo last season, averaging 12.5 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 2.2 assists. Add in up-and-coming sophomore Elijah Elliott, and the Bobcats will be a team to keep an eye on in the MAC this year.
VCU Rams vs. Utah State Aggies, Nov. 7, 8:00 PM ET
Yes, it's opening week, and we're already talking Cinderella. Friday night has a game with the ability to put a scare into higher seeds should they make it to March. In what might be the mid-major game to watch, VCU does battle with Utah State in Frisco, Texas.
New VCU head coach Phil Martelli, Jr., brought in seven transfers after seeing most of the Rams’ production graduate. The top returner is senior center Christian Fermin and his four points and three rebounds. Joining Fermin in the frontcourt is Barry Evans, who spent last season with Martelli, Jr. at Bryant and at 6-8 is comfortable with the ball in his hands, averaging 13 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 2.7 assists for the Bulldogs. Keyshawn Mitchell also joins from Bryant. He, along with Lazar Djokovic, a transfer from Charleston who is also 6-11, gives the Rams one of the deepest frontcourts in the Atlantic 10.
Second-year coach Jerrod Calhoun brings back a solid core to Logan, led by junior star Mason Falslev. The guard led the team in rebounding and steals while averaging 15 points and 3.7 assists, both second-best on the team. Also back are leading assist man Drake Allen and junior forward Tucker Anderson. Add to that a five-man transfer class that averaged nearly 40 points and 18 rebounds per game, and the Aggies are well equipped for this early test against VCU.
McNeese State Cowboys at Santa Clara Broncos, Nov. 7, 10:00 PM ET
Another intriguing game on Friday night gives us our first look at the post-Will Wade McNeese State Cowboys. Under new head coach and former Baylor assistant Bill Armstrong, the Cowboys travel to Santa Clara to take on a Broncos team that some think has a chance at an at-large bid in March.
For Armstrong, leading scorer Javohn Garcia has returned, as has fellow backcourt mate DJ Richards, Jr. Running the point should be Seton Hall transfer Garwey Dual, who has shown flashes with his athleticism and vision. The question for the Cowboys comes in the frontcourt, where there is just a lot of uncertainty. There isn’t a lot of length on the roster with four players over 6-5 and just one, Jerrell Cobert, a transfer from SMU played last season.
That could pose a problem for McNeese as Santa Clara is likely to start three players taller than 6-5. Herb Sendek’s team does two things: get to the rim and shoot the three-ball, almost more than any team in the country. Sendek is taking a chance on some underused power-conference transfers like Chris Tadjo (Iowa), Gehrig Normand (Michigan State and Aleksandar Gavalyugov (Villanova). But it was his late addition of Thierry Darlan out of the G-League. He’s a long 6-8 guard who has point guard skills and fits perfectly into Sendek’s pick-n-roll offense.