College Basketball Tips Off the 2023-24 Season

College basketball is officially in full swing after a packed first day of games.

And while there weren’t many top matchups, it still made for an exciting night. James Madison took down No. 4 Michigan State, the only ranked team to lose on the men’s side, and No. 20 Colorado triumphed against the defending champions, No. 1 LSU, on the women’s side.

Despite beating Dartmouth 92-54, Duke has the highest average ticket price at $154. Overall, the average ticket price to go to a game on the first day of the season was $32.

The major storyline of the year, however, is the shuffle of conferences.

This season, the Big 12 will have 14 teams after adding Houston, Cincinnati, UCF and BYU. For more than a decade, there’s only been 10 teams. Next year, Texas and Oklahoma will move from the Big 12 to the SEC.

Although the AAC is losing Houston, Cincinnati and UCF, they’re also gaining Charlotte, FAU, North Texas, Rice, UAB and UTSA – making it a 14-team conference. Those six teams are leaving Conference USA, which is filling some of the open spots with Jacksonville State, Liberty, New Mexico State and Sam Houston.

Division I basketball will also see one team join and two two others leave – Le Moyne is joining Division I, but Hartford and St. Francis Brooklyn are gone.

Next year, Kennesaw State will move from ASUN to CUSA, Oklahoma and Texas will move from the Big 12 to the SEC and UCLA and USC will move from the Pac-12 to Big Ten.

Key Personnel Changes

Teams switching conferences isn’t the only news.

• Jim Boeheim will not be employed in a coaching capacity by Syracuse for the first time since 1969.
• Dusty May, who won CBS Sports Coach of the Year last season, is bringing back his five starters from last year’s Final Four as a top-10 team.
• Kansas head coach Bill Self became the highest-paid college basketball coach after signing an amended five-year contract.
• Bob Huggins is not coaching West Virginia for the first time in 16 years.

With so many new moves, this season is sure to be a good one to watch. Fans looking to attend the games can buy tickets here.

Photo credit: Duke Men’s Basketball