College basketball opens Monday with Louisville, St. John's and UCLA tests

Louisville starts almost new

Louisville basketball begins its 113th season on Monday night, and the season opener against Chattanooga will be televised on ACC Network at 9 p.m. ET. Louisville won both exhibition games, including an 89-83 victory at Kansas, according to the Louisville team preview. Louisville is 6-6 all time against Chattanooga, and Pat Kelsey is 2-0 in his career against Chattanooga, which gives the opener a balanced history even though the current roster looks very different from recent seasons. m:…2385

The scale of the rebuild is clear in the returning production numbers. Louisville returns 10.3 percent of its scoring from the previous season and 10.5 percent of its rebounding from the previous season, according to the Louisville preview. Adrian Wooley is the only scholarship player to return for Louisville, which means Monday will be an introduction for most of the roster as much as a test against Chattanooga. Seth Trimble and LJ Wells are currently eligible to play following a court ruling in Jefferson County, Kentucky, according to the same preview, which adds eligible depth to a roster built largely from new players. m:…2385

Louisville is ranked No. 11 in the Preseason AP Poll and USA Today Coaches Poll, according to the preview, so expectations remain high despite the turnover. Pat Kelsey is 50-0 under head coach Pat Kelsey when leading with five minutes to play, according to the preview wording, which presents late game leads as a strength to protect once Louisville builds one. Three Louisville players appear on preseason watch lists, with Jackson Shelstad on the Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year watch list, Seth Trimble on the Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year watch list, and Flory Bidunga on the Kareem Abdul-Center of the Year watch list, according to the same preview. m:…2385

St. John's and George Washington open at home

St. John's team will open its 120th season on Monday against Monmouth, according to the St. John's team preview. St. John's is ranked No. 13 in the AP Preseason Top 25 and No. 14 in the preseason USA Today Coaches Poll, which places the opener in a ranked season context from the first night. St. John's finished the preseason with a 3-0 record, including a preseason win over Texas by 87-74, according to the same preview. m:…3149

St. John's has won 12 straight season openers dating back to 2014-15, according to the preview, so Monday carries a streak that predates the current roster. The preview also notes that St. John's won both the BIG EAST Season and Tournament Championship in the 2024-25 season, which sets a recent standard for the program entering the new season. Monmouth finished the 2024-25 season with a 19-15 record, according to the same preview, giving the opener an opponent that finished above .500 last season. m:…3149

George Washington opens its 2026-27 season against Navy on Monday at 7:30 p.m., according to the George Washington team preview. The George Washington roster includes 12 newcomers, and seven of the 12 newcomers are transfers from Power 4 conferences. Jean Aranguren was selected for the Atlantic 10 All-Conference Team, according to the same preview, which gives the new look roster a returning conference honoree to build around. m:…4235

Navy finished the 2025-26 season with a 26-8 record and recorded a 17-1 mark in the Patriot League during the 2025-26 season, according to the George Washington preview. Navy earned an NIT bid in 2025-26, marking its first postseason appearance since 1998, and Navy was picked to finish fifth in the Patriot League Preseason Poll. That combination makes Navy a strong opening opponent, with a winning record last season and a postseason return that ended a long gap, even though the preseason poll places Navy in the middle of its league. m:…4235

UCLA meets Arizona first

No. 22 UCLA will open its season against No. 5 Arizona this Monday evening at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, according to the UCLA team preview. UCLA game against Arizona will follow the Gonzaga-Purdue game at approximately 7 p.m. PT, and the basketball doubleheader will be nationally televised on TNT, truTV and HBO Max. The setting makes the UCLA opener the most immediate ranked test among the Monday games in this set, with two ranked teams meeting before either has played a regular season game. m:…2043

UCLA posted a 24-12 overall record last season, and the Bruins return six players from last season roster, according to the UCLA preview. Mick Cronin has entered his eighth season as UCLA head coach and has totaled 162 victories as UCLA head coach. UCLA four incoming transfer students include Filip Jovic, Sergej Macura, Jaylen Petty, and Azavier Robinson, according to the same preview, so the roster blends returning players with four transfers entering a ranked opener. m:…2043

UCLA has compiled an all time record of 64-51 against Arizona, according to the preview, which gives the matchup a long history beyond the current rankings. UCLA home opener against North Florida is scheduled for Friday, Nov. 6, according to the same preview, so the Las Vegas opener is followed quickly by a home debut later in the week. For Louisville, St. John's, George Washington, and UCLA, Monday is therefore both a beginning and a measuring point, with long season histories, new rosters, and in UCLA case a ranked opponent on the first night. m:…2043