By College basketball is officially back.
The 2026-27 college basketball season gets going across the country on Monday with 183 games in what is essentially a marathon slate of games. Notre Dame officially opened the season on Sunday with its comeback win over Villanova in Rome.
While there are only four ranked matchups this entire week, there are plenty of great games ahead on Monday and in the coming days. Top-ranked Florida opens against No. 14 Miami in Tampa, and then No. 5 Arizona will go up against No. 22 UCLA in Las Vegas to close the night.
Here's a look at the biggest games across the country over the first week of the new college basketball season
No. 14 Miami vs. No. 1 Florida
When: Monday, Nov. 2 | 6 p.m. ET
Where: Benchmark International Arena | Tampa, Florida
TV: ESPN
Florida is the top team in the country, and it's easy to see why. Thomas Haugh, instead of entering the NBA Draft where he would've been a lottery pick, is back for one more season alongside Alex Condon and reigning Defensive Player of the Year Rueben Chinyelu.
The Gators are the early favorite to win the national championship this season, which would be their second title in the past three seasons. Naturally, that gave them the No. 1 ranking in the preseason poll for the first time since 2006.
Miami is a great first outing for the Gators, too. Jai Lucas led the Hurricanes to the NCAA tournament in his first season last spring, and Malik Reneau is back for a fifth season after averaging 18.9 points per game last season. Shelton Henderson is back, too, and Lucas picked up five-star recruit Caleb Gaskins. The Hurricanes are undoubtedly in a great spot, and should be able to hold their own in the ACC.
Getting past their in-state rivals to start the season, though, may be tough.
No. 5 Arizona vs. No. 22 UCLA
When: Monday, Nov. 2 | 10 p.m. ET
Where: T-Mobile Arena | Las Vegas
TV: TNT
The second major game on Monday night should be a great old Pac-12 fight.
Arizona, led by projected lottery pick Caleb Holt, is starting out the season with a top-five ranking after winning 36 games and reaching the Final Four last season. Motiejus Krivas was named the Big 12's preseason player of the year, and Ivan Kharchenkov is back after averaging 10.4 points per game last year, too. Oh, and Bryce James, LeBron James' son, is still at Arizona after redshirting last year. This is a team more than capable of running the table in the Big 12.
It will take a lot for UCLA to truly threaten the Wildcats, but it's not out of the question. Mick Cronin's group reached the NCAA tournament for a second straight year last spring, and they landed Jaylen Petty out of Texas Tech and star recruit Nikola Kusturica out of Serbia.
Arizona is the better team on paper, but Mick Cronin is very good at hanging with Arizona and Tommy Lloyd. Last year, Arizona only won by four points in a low-scoring affair in Inglewood. Expect a slow fight if UCLA is going to hang in there on Monday night.
No. 4 UConn vs. No. 16 Michigan
When: Friday, Nov. 6 | 8 p.m. ET
Where: TD Garden | Boston
TV: TNT
We have to wait a few days for a title game rematch, but it'll be Michigan's first true test after last year's national title run. And things look very, very different for the Wolverines. Dusty May left for the Dallas Mavericks, first of all, which led to the program promoting Mike Boynton to replace him. They have also lost star freshman Brandon McCoy Jr. to an ACL injury that he suffered in Europe in September.
But Elliot Cadeau is back from last year's title team, and Kenny Noland transferred in from Columbia to help boost their lineup. Roddy Gayle Jr. was cleared for a fifth season of eligibility, too.
UConn is in a much better spot. The Huskies, who fell to Michigan in the title game in April, have Silas Demary and Braylon Mullins back. Dan Hurley, who just landed a two-year extension, got Nikolas Khamenia (Duke), Najai Hines (Seton Hall) and Nils Machowski (Wofford) in the transfer portal, too. Hurley has turned UConn into a basketball powerhouse once again, and his group looks more than capable of making what would be a fourth trip to the national title game in five seasons next April.
A revenge win over Michigan to start the season would be a huge first step.
No. 12 Arkansas vs. No. 9 Virginia
When: Sunday, Nov. 8 | 1 p.m. ET
Where: Capital One Arena | Washington, DC
TV: ESPN
John Calipari regretted scheduling this game in the first place.
"Our schedule's ridiculous," he said at the SEC's media day last month. "Why I opened the season with Virginia, I must've been on crack."
To his point, the Razorbacks have Virginia, Indiana, Michigan State, North Carolina and Arizona all on their non-conference slate this season. It's going to be a very tough run before SEC play gets going, especially considering Calipari has led his team to the Elite Eight in his first two years with the program. That's a tough standard to live up to.
And Virginia, now in the second year of the Ryan Odom era, appears to have the program back on track after Tony Bennett's departure. The Cavaliers won 30 games last season and were able to hold their own in the ACC. He's got Chance Mallory back, and Thijs De Ridder is the preseason ACC Player of the Year.
This will be a fun game on Sunday afternoon, and one of just three ranked non-conference games the Cavaliers have on their schedule. A win here before ACC play gets going would be significant.
