The Chris Mack era begins at Louisville on Thursday, when the Cardinals open their season against visiting Nicholls. Mack enters his first season leading the Cardinals after a successful nine-year run at Xavier that saw his teams win 215 games and reach the NCAA Tournament eight times. 

Danny Hurley turned around programs at Wagner and Rhode Island before taking on his newest challenge, returning a tarnished Connecticut brand to national prominence. Hurley claimed “there won’t be a harder playing team,” when he took the job in March, and Huskies fans will see that team firsthand Thursday when Connecticut hosts Morehead State.

Notre Dame looks to move to 2-0 on the new season as it welcomes Chicago State on Thursday evening. The Fighting Irish, who are fielding one of their youngest lineups under coach Mike Brey, had three freshmen score in double figures in an 84-67 victory over Illinois-Chicago to open the year on Tuesday night.

SMU will be shorthanded in its season opener against visiting Northwestern State on Thursday night. It's nothing new for the Mustangs, who have had roster problems because of scholarship reduction and injuries the past few seasons.

The road to potentially ending a five-year NCAA Tournament drought starts Thursday night for Illinois as the Fighting Illini open their 2018-19 season by hosting Evansville. Illinois second-year coach Brad Underwood will hope to improve on the 14 wins from his first season, the lowest the program has seen since 1998-99.

Iowa has its sights set on bouncing back from a disappointing 2017-18 season, starting with its opener Thursday night against visiting Missouri-Kansas City in a 2K Empire Classic preliminary game benefiting the Wounded Warrior Project. The Hawkeyes finished tied for next-to-last in the Big Ten last season but return all five starters from that team.

Northwestern looks to bounce back from a disappointing season when it begins the new campaign at home against New Orleans on Thursday. The Wildcats were expected to challenge for a Big Ten championship after returning the nucleus of their history-making squad that clinched the program's first NCAA Tournament berth in 2016-17, but Chris Collins' team regressed on both ends of the court en route to a losing season. Northwestern hopes to be relevant in the Big Ten race despite being picked to finis

Utah has just one starter back from a team that tied for third place in the Pac-12 Conference and advanced to the championship game of the NIT where it lost to Penn State. But eighth-year head coach Larry Krystkowiak is optimistic about his squad heading into Thursday night's season opener against visiting Maine.