Texas State and Washington State played in the National Invitation Tournament last March.

This season, the Bobcats and Cougars hope to make the big dance.

The teams open the 2022-23 season Monday in Pullman, Wash., with both trying to snap extended NCAA droughts.

WSU hasn’t been to the NCAA Tournament since 2008, while Texas State’s last trip came in 1998.

The Bobcats went 21-8 last season and won their second consecutive Sun Belt championship, but were bounced from the quarterfinals of the conference tournament and then lost to North Texas in overtime in the opening round of the NIT.

“For me it’s unfinished business for us,” Bobcats coach Terrence Johnson said. “We have to control the controllables and at the end of the day, we have to play the game that is in front of us. Our guys do feel a certain way on how (last season) ended. I certainly expect that to be at the forefront of our minds moving forward … when you come up short you want to focus on doing better the next year.”

Senior guard Mason Harrell, who is fifth in school history in assists and has scored more than 1,000 career points, will be the team leader.

The Cougars went 22-15 last season and made it to the NIT semifinals at Madison Square Garden in New York before falling 72-56 to Texas A&M.

WSU coach Kyle Smith will need to revamp the roster due to graduations, transfers and medical issues – center Dishon Jackson (unspecified) and guard Myles Rice (Hodgkin’s lymphoma) are both out indefinitely.

The Cougars’ only returning starters are guard TJ Bamba and forward Mouhamed Gueye. Bamba averaged 7.7 points and 3.4 rebounds per game last season, while the 6-foot-11 Gueye had 7.4 points and 5.2 rebounds and was named to the Pac-12’s all-freshman team.

“This year’s goal: Make the NCAA Tournament,” Bamba said. “We’re all locked in. We all understand it’s going to take a lot of hard work, a lot of discipline and attention to detail. As long as we’re willing to put in what needs to be put in, we’ll be good.”

–Field Level Media

Gonzaga and the Big 12 Conference are in discussions to bring the Zags into the league, ESPN reported Wednesday.

Talks between Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark and Gonzaga athletic director Chris Standiford took place in Texas last week.

While the conversations are described as “active,” there is no imminent realignment as Standiford is known to have also held open dialogue with officials from the Big East and Pac-12.

The Big 12 and broadcast and media partners ESPN and Fox are near a massive contract, and Gonzaga could be a very attractive option given its national appeal.

Gonzaga’s athletic success is built around the men’s basketball team, and the Big 12 features the past two national champions in Kansas and Baylor.

The conference is set to lose Texas and Oklahoma to the Southeastern Conference and Yormark openly declared the Big 12 “open for business” when asked if the league would reach as far as Arizona, Oregon and Washington in considering replacements for the two power programs.

Gonzaga currently belongs to the mid-major West Coast Conference.

–Field Level Media

Eighth-ranked UCLA will tip off its 2022-23 season with high expectations when it hosts Sacramento State on Monday night in Los Angeles.

After an improbable run from the First Four to the Final Four in 2021, UCLA opened last season as a favorite to contend for its record 12th national championship and first since 1995.

However, an injury-plagued season that included this year’s preseason All-American, Jaime Jaquez Jr., dealing with repeated ankle issues saw the Bruins exit the NCAA Tournament with a Sweet 16 loss to eventual runner-up North Carolina.

Despite his nagging injuries over the final two months of the season, Jaquez averaged 13.9 points and 5.7 rebounds per game a season ago — both tops among returning Bruins.

UCLA also welcomes back point guard Tyger Campbell, who averaged 11.9 points and 4.3 assists per game. Campbell and veteran role player David Singleton shot north of 40 percent from 3-point range at 41 and 45.1, respectively, powering one of the nation’s most efficient offenses of the 2021-22 season.

The Bruins ranked No. 12 nationally in adjusted offensive efficiency, per KenPom.com metrics.

Along with the veteran corps, UCLA features one of the most celebrated freshman classes in the country, with 247Sports 5-star prospects Amari Bailey and Adem Bona. Look for both to be immediate contributors.

“I’m a baby on the team, so I’m still getting acclimated,” Bailey said at the team’s media availability. “I’m really just trying to soak up as much as I can, being a sponge to a team that’s been really far already.”

Bailey called his defense — a longtime calling card of UCLA coach Mick Cronin — “a work in progress.”

Last season, the Bruins ranked No. 18 nationally in adjusted defensive efficiency.

UCLA’s opening-night opponent, Sacramento State, comes in looking to make a splash in David Patrick’s first game as head coach.

Patrick takes over a team picked to finish sixth in the 10-team Big Sky Conference. The Hornets return Zach Chappell, a 36 percent 3-point shooter a season ago who averaged almost 12 points per game.

Otherwise, Sacramento State will begin the new season leaning on some new contributors to emerge. Among them is Gianni Hunt, a transfer from Oregon State who played a key role off the bench on the Beavers’ 2021 Elite Eight team.

Big man Hunter Marks averaged more than 11 points per game a season ago at Hartford, and Quadry Adams joins the Hornets from St. Bonaventure.

“For my staff and my players, they know what UCLA is, the tradition,” Patrick told ESPN Radio Sacramento on Tuesday. “I think it’s important — obviously we’re playing UCLA — but going down there and telling them the history of the players before.

“Also, have a ton of respect for coach Cronin and his team,” Patrick added. “But at the same time, go in there and really compete.”

UCLA and Sacramento State last played in 2013, a meeting the Bruins won 86-50. UCLA is 2-0 all-time against the Hornets, with the other matchup occurring in 2005.

–Field Level Media

Expectations are on the upswing for No. 12 Texas, and visiting UTEP is the first hurdle in the quest for success when the teams battle on Monday in their season opener in Austin, Texas.

It will be the first official game for the Longhorns in the new Moody Center, a lavish multi-purpose arena that will seat under 11,000 for basketball.

Texas went 22-12 last year and won an NCAA Tournament game for the first time since the 2013-14 season.

The Longhorns return five rotational players from coach Chris Beard’s inaugural season in Austin. Two of the five returners earned All-Big 12 Preseason honors, including leading scorer Timmy Allen and Marcus Carr, the team’s second-leading scorer. Christian Bishop and his 7.0 points per game also returns.

“With the returners, so many benefits from that,” Beard said. “This year specifically it’s not just about those guys returning and as guys that played and won in the NCAA Tournament last year. It’s more about the exact guys that we wanted back. Each of them chose to come back to Texas for the right reasons.”

Added to the mix for the Longhorns this season are a pair of transfers in Tyrese Hunter (Iowa State) and Sir’Jabari Rice (New Mexico State), who both led their former teams to wins in the NCAA Tournament last year. Hunter made All-Big 12 Preseason Honorable Mention.

Texas also welcomes a four-man freshman class that is ranked as the No. 6 recruiting haul in the country, according to 247Sports.

Texas’ 22 victories last year marked the most it’s had since 24 in 2013-14. Based on that performance and their returning players, the Longhorns were picked to finish third in the Big 12 Preseason Coaches’ Poll, behind Baylor and Kansas.

“This time last year we were busy working at building a culture, building a team,” Beard said. “Year 2, it’s more about defending the culture and executing it daily.”

The Miners roll into Austin after a 20-14 season in their first year under coach Joe Golding. The season ended with an appearance in the Basketball Classic, marking UTEP’s first 20-win campaign and postseason showing since the 2014-15 season.

The only carryovers from last season are sophomore forwards Jamari Sibley, Kevin Kalu and Ze’Rik Onyema.

Golding said the preseason practices have been “two steps forward, one step back, but that’s the way it should be with 10 new guys,” which makes him appreciate his three returnees even more.

“The defense is ahead of the offense right now,” Golding said. “We spent a lot of time on defense more than we have offensively. We have so many new pieces that we don’t want to put stuff in just to put it in. We just are trying to figure our team out to what fits us best.

“I think our offense is a work in progress, it will be a work in progress probably through the first month of the season.”

The Miners were picked in the Conference USA Preseason Coaches’ poll to finish eighth in the 11-team league.

This is UTEP’s first matchup against Texas since the 1991-1992 season; the Miners lead the series 3-1.

–Field Level Media

New-look Texas Tech will look to show it’s worth its No. 25 preseason ranking when the Red Raiders battle visiting Northwestern State (La.) on Monday in the teams’ season opener in Lubbock, Texas.

If last year’s performance was any harbinger, the Red Raiders will only get stronger as the season progresses.

Texas Tech is in serious rebuilding mode after finishing 27-10 last season, winning all 18 of its home games and reaching the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.

Coach Mark Adams returns for his second season after guiding Texas Tech to the nation’s top defensive efficiency rating in 2021-22.

The Red Raiders return only three players from last season and are led by Kevin Obanor, who started all 37 games and is an All-Big 12 Preseason Honorable Mention selection. Obanor recorded double-doubles in each of the team’s three NCAA Tournament games.

Forwards Daniel Batcho and KJ Allen also return from last year.

“We’re very young. We’ve got five true freshmen. And we’ve got seven underclassmen,” Adams said. “Our biggest challenge for our coaching staff is to get these guys thinking older and playing older and playing with some maturity. We were very, very selective on who to bring in and did our due diligence to find the right guys that had the attitude that wanted to be coached. ”

Guards Kerwin Walton and Jaylon Tyson arrive from North Carolina and Texas, respectfully.

The Red Raiders also landed one of the best centers in the portal, Fardaws Aimaq from Utah Valley, who was a two-time WAC Defensive Player of the Year on top of averaging 18.9 points and 13.6 rebounds last season.

In the backcourt, point guard De’Vion Harmon comes from Oregon after starting his careeer at Oklahoma. D’Maurian Williams enters as a shooting guard from Gardner-Webb.

Even with all the added talent, Texas Tech was only picked to finish fifth in the Big 12 Preseason Coaches’ Poll.

Northwestern State was 9-23 last year and lost in the first round of the Southland Conference Tournament after finishing sixth in the regular season. The Demons have been picked by the league’s coaches to finish in the same spot this season in coach Corey Gipson’s first year at the helm.

Gipson comes to Natchitoches, La., from Missouri State, where he spent the past six seasons as associate head coach.

The Demons return just three players from last year’s team, led by swingman Cedric Garrett, the squad’s third-leading scorer at 7.6 points per game.

Ja’Monta Black and Isaac Haney transferred from Missouri State to try to fortify the guard spot, and 7-foot-3 center Jordan Wilmore comes in from Missouri to man the pivot.

After playing Texas Tech, Northwestern State will also battle TCU, Baylor and Texas A&M on the road.

“We put our minds together as a staff, and we think the challenge at hand is best for the group we have on the roster,” Gipson said. “We have a group who works very hard, so we feel they’re up for the task.”

–Field Level Media

Expectations are high for No. 9 Creighton ahead of the 2022-23 season, and for good reason.

Buoyed by the addition of highly touted transfer guard Baylor Scheierman and a new contract for coach Greg McDermott, the Bluejays begin their campaign by hosting St. Thomas-Minnesota on Monday night in Omaha, Neb.

Creighton, tabbed to finish first in the Big East Preseason Coaches’ Poll, returns three double-digit scorers from last season’s club. That team finished with a 23-12 record overall and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament before falling to eventual champion Kansas.

“I think we’re where we need to be,” McDermott said after the Bluejays breezed to a 109-52 exhibition victory over Division II Drury on Sunday. “The unselfishness was on display tonight, and that has to be something that we hang our hat on throughout the year.”

Scheierman collected 14 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists in the win over the Panthers.

Scheierman, the reigning Summit League Player of the Year at South Dakota State, announced in May that he was transferring to Creighton. The Nebraska native reportedly picked the Bluejays over Arkansas, Clemson, Duke and Nebraska.

Scheierman averaged 16.2 points, 7.8 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.3 steals per game in 35 starts last season for the Jackrabbits, who became the first Summit League team to finish league play undefeated.

In three years at South Dakota State, Scheierman had career averages of 12.4 points, 7.1 rebounds and 3.6 assists, and he shot 41.4 percent from 3-point range. He posted career-best marks of 46.9 percent from beyond the arc and 50.8 percent overall in 2021-22.

At Creighton, Scheierman joins a club with Preseason All-Big East selection Ryan Kalkbrenner, last season’s conference freshman of the year Ryan Nembhard, and Preseason All-Big East Second-Team pick Arthur Kaluma.

In addition, Trey Alexander showed glimpses of what he hopes is a better perimeter game by sinking a trio of 3-pointers to finish with 15 points against Drury.

“It’s been a lot of shots up in the gym,” Alexander said. “I’ve been working on my shoulder, I feel like that’s something that had a lot to do with the way I was shooting the ball last year. … It was a good start to the season, though. I’m proud of that.”

Creighton will face a St. Thomas team that was selected to finish eighth in the Summit League Preseason Coaches’ Poll. The Tommies finished with a 10-20 overall record and 4-14 mark in conference play while competing in their inaugural Division I season.

“Even some of the losses we were competitive for the most part, and most of our games outside of like two or three, we had a chance to win five minutes from the end,” said guard Riley Miller, who averaged a team-best 15.4 points per game last season. “It was good to see especially with some of the guys that aren’t with us this year that graduated or moved on.”

Like Miller, forward Parker Bjorklund (12.6 ppg, team-leading 6.3 rebounds per game) returns for his fifth season at St. Thomas.

Guard Anders Nelson, who averaged 14.6 points per game last season, transferred to William & Mary in the offseason.

–Field Level Media