After an offseason full of court cases with unresolved outcomes for dozens of players fighting for a fifth year of eligibility, 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 on 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. 6 p.m. on ESPN, Fubo (try for free): The key matchup to watch is how Miami's frontcourt stacks up against Florida's, which is arguably the best trio (Thomas Haugh, Rueben Chinyelu and Alex Condon) in the nation. Will Malik Reneau and Somto Cyril be able to limit the damage?
If so, this game will be tight down the stretch. Villanova transfer Acaden Lewis has looked awesome for Miami during its exhibition games. He has a chance to be a real star this season.
I'm picking Florida to win, but Miami to cover. Pick: Miami +5.5 -- Cameron Salerno 7 p.m. on FS1, Fubo (try for free): Memphis big man Nemanja Popovic has been ruled ineligible by the NCAA for the first six games. That's a big deal because the 24-year-old Serbian looks like Penny Hardaway's best player.
His playmaking would've been critical against an Iowa State defense that traps early and often. That forces Memphis bigs like Corneilous Williams and Maxim Logue into bigger roles, and they both aren't razor-sharp playmakers. Iowa State won't have ace defensive guard Killyan Toure (injured shoulder), but fifth-year senior guard Tamin Lipsey is eligible to play.
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