Men's college basketball: Kansas, Duke among top teams with Monday openers

Nov. 6 (UPI) -- Traditional men's basketball powers Duke and Kansas will be among the top teams in action Monday, when more than 360 schools launch their 2023 seasons.

The top-ranked Kansas Jayhawks are favorites to win the national title. They will start their 2023-24 campaign against North Carolina Central at 8 p.m. EST in Lawrence, Kan. That game will air on ESPN+.

The No. 2 Duke Blue Devils will battle Dartmouth at 9 p.m. on the ACC Network.

"I'm so excited for the potential this team has to be really good come the end of the season," Duke star center Kyle Filipowski told reporters.

"There are a lot of good things that we can build off of, but obviously a lot of things we need to work on, too."

The No. 3 Purdue Boilermakers, No. 4 Michigan State Spartans and No. 16 Kentucky Wildcats are among the other expected title contenders this season.

The No. 6 UConn Huskies, No. 5 Marquette Golden Eagles, No. 12 Arizona Wildcats, No. 7 Houston Cougars, No. 11 Gonzaga Bulldogs, No. 14 Arkansas Razorbacks and No. 9 Tennessee Volunteers also are considered March favorites.

The Boilermakers will host Samford at 6:30 p.m. on Big Ten Network. The Spartans will host James Madison at 8:30 p.m. on the same platform. Kentucky will host New Mexico State at 8 p.m. on the SEC Network.

"We are tough, and we play for one another," Kentucky guard Justin Edwards said last week at a news conference. "The good thing about our group is that we play off the court and on the court like we're all locked in, so that's a good thing about it. We like to share the ball."

IUPUI (Indiana University-Purdie University Indianapolis) will host Spalding in the first game of the college basketball season. That contest will tip off at 11 a.m. on ESPN+. Oregon will host Georgia in the first nationally televised game, which will tip off at 4:30 p.m. on truTV.

FS1 will air several openers. Columbia will face Providence at 7 p.m. Saint Peter's will battle Seton Hall at 7:30 p.m. Butler will host Eastern Michigan at 8 p.m. Marquette will host Northern Illinois at 8:30 p.m. The No. 17 San Diego State Aztecs will host Cal State Fullerton at 10:30 p.m. on FS1.

The No. 21 USC Trojans will battle Kansas State at 10 p.m. on TNT.

Several of Top 25 teams won't tip off their seasons until later this week. No. 8 Creighton will host Florida A&M at 9 p.m. Tuesday on FS1. No. 20 Baylor will host Auburn at 9 p.m. Tuesday on ESPN.

The No. 10 Florida Atlantic University Owls, who unexpectedly advanced to their first Final Four last season, will face Loyola Chicago at 7 p.m. Wednesday in Chicago. The Gonzaga Bulldogs won't start their season until Friday, when they host Yale at 9 p.m. on ESPN+.

Centers Zach Edey of Purdue, Hunter Dickinson of Kansas and Filipowski are among the top expected contenders for the Wooden Award, given to the best player in college basketball.

Big men Armando Bacot of North Carolina, Donovan Clingan of UConn and Oumar Ballo of Arizona and guards Max Abmas of Texas, Tyler Kolek of Marquette and Isaiah Collier of USC were among the other preseason favorites to claim the honor.

Filiposki, Clingan, Collier, Duke guard Tyrese Proctor, UConn's Stephon Castle, Kansas' Elmarko Jackson and Kentucky's Justin Edwards, Aaron Bradshaw and D.J. Wagner are among the players who will be in action Monday and are expected to be picked in the first round of the 2024 NBA Draft.

All teams will compete for a spot in the 2023 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, which will start March 19. The title game will be April 8 at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz.

Monday

Samford at Purdue at 6:30 p.m. on Big Ten Network

Northern Arizona at UConn at 6:30 p.m. on Fox app

Tennessee Tech at Tennessee at 6:30 p.m. on ESPN+

NJIT at Miami at 7 p.m. on ESPN+

Radford at North Carolina at 7 p.m. on ACC Network

American University at Villanova at 7:30 p.m. on FS1

North Carolina Central at Kansas at 8 p.m. on ESPN+

UL Monroe at Houston at 8 p.m. on ESPN+

Alcorn State at Arkansas at 8 p.m. on ESPN+

Texas A&M-Commerce at Texas A&M at 8 p.m. on ESPN+

New Mexico State at Kentucky at 8 p.m. on ESPN+

Incarnate Word at Texas at 8 p.m. on Longhorn Network

Morehead State at Alabama at 8 p.m. on ESPN+

Eastern Illinois at Illinois at 8 p.m.

James Madison at Michigan State at 8:30 p.m. on Big Ten Network

Northern Illinois at Marquette at 8:30 p.m. on FS1

Dartmouth at Duke at 9 p.m. on ACC Network

Morgan State at Arizona at 9:30 p.m. on PAC 12 Network

USC at Kansas State at 10 p.m. on TNT

Stanislaus State at Saint Mary's at 10 p.m. on ESPN+

Cal State Fullerton at San Diego State at 10:30 p.m. on FS1

Tuesday

Florida A&M at Creighton at 9 p.m. on FS1

Auburn at Baylor at 9 p.m. on ESPN

Wednesday

Florida Atlantic at Loyola Chicago at 7 p.m.

Friday

Yale at Gonzaga at 9 p.m. on ESPN+