2021-22 men's college basketball preview: Preseason picks, rankings, complete coverage

The 2021-22 men's college basketball season will begin Nov. 9 with the Champions Classic matchups between Kentucky and Duke, as well as Kansas and Michigan State, tipping off the schedule in style from storied Madison Square Garden.

In preparation for a season that figures to look more "normal" than the pandemic-altered 2020-21 campaign, ESPN will make sure you're prepared with breakdowns of the national picture, all the highest-profile leagues and the top stars from coast to coast.

The 2021-22 season will culminate with the national championship from the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans on April 4. Will the defending national champion Baylor Bears be able to overcome major personnel losses to go back-to-back? Will presumed preseason No. 1 Gonzaga be able to finish the job it fell just short of completing a season ago? Will Duke, in legendary coach Mike Krzyzewski's final season, be a factor in the national title picture? What about Memphis, with one of the most talented rosters in the country -- will Penny Hardaway & Co. live up to the national hype? These are among the pressing questions ESPN's team will be answering in the buildup to what figures to be a thrilling 2021-22 season.

National rankings/predictions/other coverage

• ESPN panel: Final Four predictions, player of the year picks

• Borzello: Way-Too-Early Top 25 for 2021-22

• Lunardi: Updated Bracketology for 2021-22 (Nov. 9)

• Lunardi: Where we'd rank all 358 Division I teams

• Vitale: Dickie V's preseason Top 40 for 2021-22

• Vitale: Dickie V's 'Sweet 16' Excitement Index for 2021-22

• Vitale: Dickie V's 2021-22 preseason All-Americans

• Medcalf: What exactly is Patrick Baldwin Jr. doing at Milwaukee?

• Medcalf: Coach K, Jon Scheyer and how to follow a legend

• Medcalf: College basketball's 25 most marketable players

• Panel: What's the impact of Big 12 realignment?

• Medcalf: Your guide to six early-season college basketball tournaments

• Gasaway: Top 25 players for 2021-22, version 1.0

• Borzello: 2021-22 Hot Seat guide, and who's next

• Borzello: Biggest questions in college basketball entering 2021-22

• Borzello: Coaches ID top sleepers in every league

• Borzello: Coaches on whether Memphis will live up to the 2021-22 hype

Conference previews/predictions

• Big Ten: Can Michigan give B1G staying power in March?

• ACC: How big will Duke win in Coach K's farewell tour?

• SEC: Can Kentucky scratch its 7-year Final Four itch?

• Big 12: Stacking Kansas, Texas and Baylor in crowded title race

• Pac-12: Are UCLA's national title ambitions realistic?

• Big East: Will UConn (or anyone) challenge Villanova?

• The American: Projecting Memphis' ceiling, and Houston's encore

• Mid-majors predictions/roundtable: Can Gonzaga finish the job, win a national title?

New faces in new places

• 2021-22 college basketball coaching changes

• College basketball rosters: Comings and going for every power-conference team

• Medcalf: Shaka Smart is at home with Marquette, but can he win there?

• Borzello: Newcomer Impact Rankings -- Which freshmen, transfers will determine team fortunes?

• Borzello: Winners and losers of college basketball's transfer season

• Borzello: Biggest challenge for every new head coach in college basketball

• Borzello: Top 100 transfer rankings for 2021-22

• Borzello: Chris Beard, the talented Texas Longhorns, and one of college basketball's best problems

• Borzello: Can Tommy Lloyd's Gonzaga blueprint work at Arizona?

• Borzello: What's behind the season of assistant coach hires, and who's next

Recruiting and the 2022 NBA draft

• ESPN 100 college basketball prospect rankings for 2022

• Class Rankings: Duke, Kentucky have competition in top three

• Borzello: Biggest remaining recruiting questions before November Signing Day

• Givony: 2022 NBA mock draft

• Givony/Schmitz: 2022 NBA Top 100 and Stock Watch