After an offseason full of court cases with unresolved outcomes for dozens of players fighting for a fifth year of eligibility, the 2026-27 college basketball season is here at last. For the rest of the season, actual basketball games will be the focus in the coming days and weeks to follow. Twenty of the preseason AP Top 25 teams will be in action Monday, including two ranked-on-ranked matchups that will set the table for what should be a season full of intriguing storylines.
Florida enters the season ranked No. 1 and seeks its second title in three years but will be tested early against in-state foe No. 14 Miami in Tampa. One of the final games of the night will see a former Pac-12 rivalry renewed when No. 5 Arizona faces No. 22 UCLA in Las Vegas. That game will represent the debut for two of the best freshmen in the sport: Arizona's Caleb Holt and UCLA's Nikola Kusturica.
Last season, Arizona defeated UCLA in a thrilling neutral site matchup in Los Angeles. Other teams that will be in action include No. 15 Gonzaga against Purdue, No. 18 Iowa State facing Memphis and Ohio State matchuping up against No. 15 BYU. All three of those games will be played at neutral sites. 10 p.m. on TNT: Arizona is a bit short-handed without bruising forward RJ Godfrey, who is still stuck in 5-in-5 legal purgatory, but the Big Three of Caleb Holt, Ivan Kharchenkov and big man Mo Krivas is extremely intimidating.
Arizona's guards are so much bigger than UCLA's, and the Bruins won't have much of an answer for Mount Krivas in the paint. But this UCLA outfit is no slouch. Texas Tech transfer guard Jaylen Petty is a flat-out baller, and prized 17-year-old freshman Nikola Kusturica is a high-motor wing who may be the best prospect in the world.
Forward Eric Dailey Jr. is also a tough matchup for Arizona's short-handed frontcourt. Plus, UCLA coach Mick Cronin knows that you have to bring the game to a crawl to limit Arizona's mighty transition attack. Six of the last seven matchups between Cronin and Tommy Lloyd have landed in the mid-60s from a possessions standpoint.
If Arizona wants to win, it's going to have to do it on Cronin's terms. The under is easily the best play on the board here, but we're forced to pick a side, too. I lean UCLA because it has its full arsenal.
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