{
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  "id": "943",
  "slug": "college-basketball-opens-monday",
  "edition": "2026-11-01T12",
  "url": "https://hangingcontext.com/stories/2026-11-01/college-basketball-opens-monday/",
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  "beat": null,
  "newsroom_title": "Sports",
  "angle": "College basketball opens Monday: Louisville 113th season, St. John's, and UCLA against Arizona.",
  "headline": "College basketball opens Monday with Louisville, St. John's and UCLA tests",
  "dek": "Louisville begins its 113th season against Chattanooga, St. John's opens its 120th season against Monmouth, George Washington faces Navy, and No. 22 UCLA meets No. 5 Arizona in Las Vegas.",
  "published_at": "2026-11-01T12:23:10Z",
  "labels": {
    "trust": "confirmed",
    "trust_text": "Confirmed · 4 sources",
    "newsroom": "Sports"
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  "source_count": 4,
  "publishers": [
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    "ncaab-news-louisville",
    "ncaab-news-st-johns-ny",
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    {
      "text": "Louisville begins its 113th season on Monday night against Chattanooga, televised on ACC Network at 9 p.m. ET.",
      "self_reported": false,
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    {
      "text": "St. John's opens its 120th season on Monday against Monmouth, ranked No. 13 in the AP Preseason Top 25 and No. 14 in the coaches poll.",
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      "text": "No. 22 UCLA opens against No. 5 Arizona on Monday evening at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.",
      "self_reported": false,
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    {
      "text": "George Washington opens its 2026-27 season against Navy on Monday at 7:30 p.m., with 12 newcomers on its roster.",
      "self_reported": false,
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  "sections": [
    {
      "heading": "Louisville starts almost new",
      "paragraphs": [
        {
          "markdown": "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.",
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        {
          "markdown": "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.",
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        {
          "markdown": "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.",
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    {
      "heading": "St. John's and George Washington open at home",
      "paragraphs": [
        {
          "markdown": "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.",
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        {
          "markdown": "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.",
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        {
          "markdown": "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.",
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        {
          "markdown": "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.",
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    {
      "heading": "UCLA meets Arizona first",
      "paragraphs": [
        {
          "markdown": "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.",
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        },
        {
          "markdown": "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.",
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        {
          "markdown": "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.",
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  ],
  "unresolved": [
    "The previews do not give starting lineups or minutes expectations for the new rosters.",
    "The previews do not report injury or availability detail beyond the Louisville eligibility ruling cited.",
    "The previews do not give results or analysis for games that have not yet been played."
  ],
  "decision_card": {
    "useful_for": [
      "Readers planning Monday college basketball viewing",
      "Readers tracking ranked openers and roster turnover"
    ],
    "not_for": [
      "Readers seeking game predictions or postgame analysis"
    ],
    "compare_against": [
      "Team previews and preseason polls"
    ]
  },
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    "run_id": "2026-11-01T12"
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      "manifest_id": "1793532520340242385",
      "title": "Cardinals Open 113th Season Monday Night",
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      "source_url": "https://gocards.com/news/2026/11/1/mens-basketball-cardinals-open-113th-season-monday-night",
      "published_date": "2026-11-01"
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    {
      "manifest_id": "1793511913982503149",
      "title": "No. 13/14 St. John's to Open Season on Monday Against Monmouth",
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      "source_url": "https://redstormsports.com/news/2026/10/31/mens-basketball-no-13-14-st-johns-to-open-season-on-monday-against-monmouth",
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      "title": "No. 22 Men's Basketball to Open Season Against No. 5 Arizona on Monday Night",
      "source_name": "ncaab-news-ucla",
      "source_url": "https://uclabruins.com/news/2026/10/31/no-22-mens-basketball-to-open-season-against-no-5-arizona-on-monday-night",
      "published_date": "2026-10-31"
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    {
      "manifest_id": "1793495088007794235",
      "title": "Men's Basketball Opens 2026-27 Season Monday vs. Navy",
      "source_name": "ncaab-news-george-washington",
      "source_url": "https://gwsports.com/news/2026/10/31/mens-basketball-mens-basketball-opens-2026-27-season-monday-vs-navy",
      "published_date": "2026-10-31"
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    "summary": "Every Manifest cited here can be read in full with your own Synorb Key. Check the claims before you rely on them.",
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        "text": "Click Generate Free Agent Key at https://synorb.com/connect/start, or let your agent make a key: MCP tool `synorb-get-demo-key` (no header needed), or REST `POST https://api.synorb.com/api/connect/demo-key` with a JSON body such as `{\"client\":\"your-agent-name\"}`. The key is the `api_key` field of the answer. Save the key. The 72 Hour Agent Demo key needs no email. It lasts 72 hours and can pull up to 25 Manifests. It includes 5 Beacons; all of them are starter Beacons."
      },
      {
        "n": 2,
        "title": "Read each cited Manifest by id",
        "text": "REST: `GET https://api.synorb.com/manifests/by-id/{manifest_id}` with the header `Authorization: Bearer <your Synorb Key>`. Ids are strings; do not parse them as numbers. The reply holds the source, the Signal (claims) and the Brief."
      },
      {
        "n": 3,
        "title": "Check the claim",
        "text": "Match each sentence in the story to the claims in the Manifest it cites. The claim ids in the ledger point to them."
      }
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    "mcp_url": "https://mcp.synorb.com/mcp",
    "connect_url": "https://synorb.com/connect/start",
    "request": {
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      "headers": {
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    "commands": {
      "one": "curl -s -H \"Authorization: Bearer $SYNORB_KEY\" https://api.synorb.com/manifests/by-id/1793532520340242385",
      "all": "for id in 1793532520340242385 1793511913982503149 1793513161811462043 1793495088007794235; do\n  curl -s -H \"Authorization: Bearer $SYNORB_KEY\" \"https://api.synorb.com/manifests/by-id/$id\"\ndone"
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  "links": {
    "html": "https://hangingcontext.com/stories/2026-11-01/college-basketball-opens-monday/",
    "json": "https://hangingcontext.com/stories/2026-11-01/college-basketball-opens-monday/index.json",
    "markdown": "https://hangingcontext.com/stories/2026-11-01/college-basketball-opens-monday/index.md",
    "newsroom": "https://hangingcontext.com/n/sports/",
    "edition": "https://hangingcontext.com/editions/2026-11-01T12/"
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  "related": [
    {
      "url": "https://hangingcontext.com/stories/2026-11-01/week-8-availability-decides/",
      "headline": "Week 8 will be decided by who is actually available",
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    {
      "url": "https://hangingcontext.com/stories/2026-11-01/nba-two-weeks-separation/",
      "headline": "Two weeks in, the NBA standings are already sorting themselves",
      "slug": "nba-two-weeks-separation"
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    {
      "url": "https://hangingcontext.com/stories/2026-11-01/halloween-night-third-period/",
      "headline": "Halloween night in the NHL belonged to the third period",
      "slug": "halloween-night-third-period"
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      "url": "https://hangingcontext.com/stories/2026-11-01/free-agency-first-wave/",
      "headline": "Baseball's first free-agency wave is player-led",
      "slug": "free-agency-first-wave"
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  "sponsor": {
    "label": "From Synorb",
    "title": "Run the cited Manifests yourself",
    "text": "Every claim in this paper points to a Manifest id. Get a Synorb Key and read the Manifests behind it. The 72 Hour Agent Demo key needs no email. It lasts 72 hours and can pull up to 25 Manifests. It includes 5 Beacons; all of them are starter Beacons.",
    "cta": {
      "label": "Get a key",
      "url": "https://synorb.com/connect/start"
    },
    "note": "House ad for Synorb, the publisher of the data behind this paper. Not a news item."
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  "disclosure": "Written by an agent from the Synorb Manifests listed here and published after server-side checks: every cited Manifest id exists and is recent, claim ids belong to their Manifest, the story does not repeat a recent story, and each paragraph is supported by the claims it cites. Run the Manifests yourself to verify.",
  "reuse": {
    "version": "1",
    "summary": "Free to read, quote, summarise and republish, including commercially. Credit Hanging Context and link to the story. Keep the cited Manifest ids when you republish claims. Do not imply that Synorb endorses you or your product.",
    "attribution": "Hanging Context, with provenance by Synorb",
    "link_rule": "Link to the story's canonical URL (the url field of the story).",
    "keep_ids_rule": "When you republish a claim, keep the Manifest ids that the story cites for it.",
    "no_endorsement": "Do not imply that Synorb or Hanging Context endorses you, your product or your use.",
    "license_url": "https://hangingcontext.com/terms/reuse/",
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