After an exhibition season marked by Syracuse's home loss to LeMoyne, the official season begins Monday night with the tip-off of the 2K Sports Classic when the Orange will have a chance to redeem itself.
Syracuse, No. 6 North Carolina, No. 13 California and No. 16 Ohio State will each host games in the regional round. The sexiest matchup is between the Tar Heels and Florida International, coached by Isiah Thomas in his first season as a college coach.
The UNC-FIU game should not be very competitive, but it should serve some foresight into how Thomas' team will handle playing on the big stage and as an underdog, which it will do for most of its games this season. The game will air on ESPNU at 6 p.m. CDT Monday.
The other matchups include Syracuse vs. Albany, Ohio State vs. Alcorn St. and California vs. Murray St. The only other intriguing contest out of these three - barring another Syracuse sputtering - is the Golden Bears against the Racers.
The Racers return all five starters in a program that has a tradition of winning. They are picked to compete for the Ohio Valley Conference championship, and don't be surprised if Cal needs the final five minutes to put this game away. The Racer to watch is guard Danero Thomas, who led the team with 12 ppg last season and has a microwaveable jumper, meaning it can heat up quickly.
The 2K Sports Classic continues Wednesday when Syracuse hosts Robert Morris, North Carolina plays NC-Central, and Cal plays host to Detroit. On Thursday, James Madison plays at Ohio State. The championship rounds begin Nov. 19 when Syracuse plays Cal and North Carolina plays Ohio State at Madison Square Garden.
The season gets underway for most teams Friday when there are 126 Division 1 games.
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