Men's college basketball questions that will impact March - ESPN

A new men's college basketball season has finally arrived. With it comes inevitable questions, both obvious and arcane, about players, teams and, most importantly, what will happen 5½ months from now. Below are just some of what your intrepid ESPN Bracketologist will be watching in the 19 weeks between now and Selection Sunday.

The first in-season projections of the 2026 March Madness field of 68 will release Nov. 11.

Our season-opening projection lists Houston, Purdue, Florida and Duke on the top line of the bracket. History suggests we'll be only half right, so I'm nominating Purdue and Florida as most likely to deceive. The reasons are that the Big Ten (in Purdue's case) and the SEC (in Florida's) have more contenders to chase the respective league favorites. Ultimately, Bracketology is a prisoner of probability, and it's simply more likely that Houston and Duke ride the wave of their respective conferences to a No. 1 seed.

The Big East has needed a grudge match like this since the end of Villanova's hegemony in the conference. Both the Huskies and Johnnies are No. 2 seeds on our board to open the season, but we like the former to win the regular-season crown and the latter to cut down the nets at the Big East tournament. The major difference comes later in March, when Rick Pitino leads St. John's to the Elite Eight and UConn falls in the second round in its chase for Dan Hurley's third NCAA title.

Yes. But I don't think it will be preseason favorite Purdue that takes the conference's first national championship since 2000. I've pushed my chips to the center of the table on Michigan.

More than usual. Houston stepping back as host of the South regional means the Cougars can play in their home town in the Sweet 16 and