College Basketball Season Openers, Previews and Coverage

Texas A&M's new coach Bucky McMillan has installed his high‑tempo “Bucky Ball” system; the Aggies are almost entirely new (14 additions, only Chris McDermott returns) and could be hampered early by injuries to Mackenzie Mgbako and Pop Isaacs, and are unranked and projected 13th in the SEC. A&M is set to open against Northwestern State on Monday on SEC Network+. Women's college basketball TV coverage has expanded significantly this season, with ESPN carrying more than 240 games on linear networks and roughly 3,000 on ESPN+, while FS1, FOX, truTV, Peacock, The CW and CBS Sports Network also broadcast games; Duke and UConn each have 24 national linear TV games and an early neutral‑site Duke–Tennessee meeting in Paris is a high‑profile matchup. A broad slate of men's season openers Monday includes many home openers across the Midwest and beyond — examples include Loyola Chicago (25–12, 73.5 ppg) vs. Milwaukee, Cleveland State (27–10, 74.5 ppg) vs. Chicago State, Minnesota vs. Gardner‑Webb, Ohio State (17–15, 78.8 ppg) vs. IUPUI, Texas State vs. Ohio, Central Michigan vs. Appalachian State, and Ohio vs. Arkansas State — framing early expectations based on last season's records.