CHATTANOOGA
Nickname: Mocs
Conference: Southern
Location: Chattanooga, Tenn.

The Mocs return three starters, including All-Conference performers and leading scorers, Nicchaeus Doaks and Stephen McDowell, from last season’s Southern Conference North Division co-champions. Doaks and McDowell and forward Khalil Hartwell, the returning starters, are joined by key reserves Keyron Sheard, Kevin Goffney and Qavotstaraj Waddell. Since entering the SoCon in 1977-78, Chattanooga has earned 25 titles (10 regular-season, six division and nine tournament), by far the most in league play in that span.  The Mocs are 84-39 in 57 in-season tournaments, with 29 titles. Chattanooga is led by fifth-year coach John Shulman, who has compiled 72-55 record.

FAIRFIELD
Nickname: Stags
Conference: MAAC
Location: Fairfield, Conn.

All five starters from the 2007-08 season return for the Stags, a group that won 11 conference games and posted its second straight winning season in MAAC play with third-year coach Ed Cooley. Fairfield will rely on the leadership of senior guard Jonathan Han, who led the MAAC in assists last season and ranked 14th in Division I with 6.2 dimes per game. Fairfield will play another competitive schedule in 2008-09, which will include games against Memphis and UConn.

MEMPHIS
Nickname: Tigers
Conference: Conference USA
Location: Memphis, Tenn.

A repeat of what the 2007-08 Memphis squad did is a tall task for the Tigers in 2008-09. Last year, coach John Calipari’s Tigers produced the most memorable season in school history. Memphis won an NCAA-record 38 games (38-2 record) and played in the 2008 NCAA title game. En route to the NCAA’s Final Four, the Tigers swept the Conference USA regular-season and tournament crowns and won the NCAA South Region championship. Memphis’ senior tandem of Antonio Anderson and Robert Dozier – along with junior Willie Kemp – will lead the team. Anderson and Dozier, both of whom will join the Tigers’ 1,000-point club in 2008-09, have the chance to become the winningest four-year seniors in NCAA Division I history. The Tigers have a talented incoming cast. Tereke Evans, the 2008 McDonald’s All-Star Game MVP, has garnered most of the attention, but Memphis’ newcomers include three other top-75 recruits in Angel Garcia, Matt Simpkins and Wesley Witherspoon, as well as California JUCO all-star Roburt Sallie.

MISSOURI
Nickname: Tigers
Conference: Big 12
Location: Columbia, Mo.

The Tigers are the first Big 12 Conference school to appear in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Puerto Rico Tip-off. Missouri enters the 2008-09 season looking for its first NCAA Tournament berth since 2003. The Tigers have qualified for 21 NCAA Tournaments in school history, including three Elite Eight appearances (1980, 1994 and 2002). Missouri has won 15 regular-season conference titles in its 102 seasons of basketball, as well as 12 other league tournament crowns. This season, Missouri returns four starters from last season’s 16-16 club and welcomes seven newcomers. Post players Leo Lyons (13.1 ppg, 5.7 rpg) and DeMarre Carroll (13 ppg, 6.7 rpg) lead the team into coach Mike Anderson’s third season. With the team’s up-tempo nature, Missouri ranked among the nation’s leaders last season in points (77.1), assists (16.7) and steals (8.1) per game.

SETON HALL
Nickname: Pirates
Conference: BIG EAST
Location: Newark, N.J.

The youthful Seton Hall Pirates took great steps forward last season in winning their first BIG EAST games on the road in the Bobby Gonzalez era, upsetting national powerhouse Louisville in front of a sold-out crowd at the new state-of-the-art Prudential Center. In racing to an impressive 15-6 record, Seton Hall received national attention by garnering its first votes in the Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today polls since early 2006. The Pirates returned to the BIG EAST Championship and earned the 11^th seed, before falling to No. 24 Marquette. Seton Hall’s 17 overall victories and seven BIG EAST wins were significant improvements from the prior year. Although the Pirates lost 1,000-point scorers Brian Laing and Jamar Nutter to graduation, Gonzalez has introduced four newcomers who are sure to have an immediate impact: Former Atlantic-10 Rookie of the Year Robert Mitchell guards Jamel Jackson and Jordan Theodore and 6-foot-11, 340-pound center Melvyn Oliver. With a solid core of veterans, including captains Paul Gause and John Garcia, Seton Hall has a roster it hopes will be the talk of the BIG EAST.

USC
Nickname: Trojans
Conference: Pac-10
Location:  Los Angeles

The Trojans posted a 21-12 record in 2007-08, tied for third in the tough Pac-10 Conference and qualified for the NCAA Tournament for the second straight season. The Trojans return three starters, the entire bench and boast a highly-rated recruiting class as they set out to reach the NCAA Tournament and win 20-plus games in three straights seasons for the first time in school history. Leading the way for USC is a trio of experienced juniors in forward Taj Gibson and guards Daniel Hackett and Dwight Lewis. Gibson set the school single-season blocked shots record in 2007-08 while earning third-team all-conference honors. Backcourt tandem Hackett and Lewis averaged a combined 20 points and six rebounds per game last year. The prize of the recruiting class is McDonald’s All-American forward DeMar DeRozan who averaged 29.2 points his senior year at Compton (Calif.) H.S. Coach Tim Floyd has won more games in his first three seasons at USC than any coach in school history. 

VIRGINIA TECH
Nickname: Hokies
Conference: Atlantic Coast Conference
Location: Blacksburg, Va.

Virginia Tech represents the Atlantic Coast Conference and advanced to the quarterfinals of the NIT in the 2007-08 season. Entering their fifth season as a member of the ACC, the Hokies have seen a sharp improvement in their basketball fortunes during the last few years, making the postseason in three of the last four years and earning byes in the ACC Tournament three of the four years. Virginia Tech will return all but one letterman from last season’s 21-14 team, including second team All-ACC selection A.D. Vassallo, the team’s top scorer a year ago. Tech also boasts the return of last season’s outstanding freshman class, rated as one of the best units in ACC history. 

XAVIER
Nickname: Musketeers
Conference: Atlantic 10
Location: Cincinnati

The Musketeers, 30-7 last season, set a school record for victories en route to winning their second straight Atlantic 10 Conference regular-season championship with a 14-2 league record. Fifth-year coach Sean Miller, the 2007-08 A-10 Coach of the Year, returns two starters from last year’s team that reached the NCAA Tournament Elite Eight and finished eighth (USA Today/ESPN) and 12^th (AP) in the two major polls. Junior Derrick Brown, who led the team in rebounds last season at 6.5 per game, is also XU’s top returning scorer (10.9 ppg). Senior C.J. Anderson, XU’s second-leading rebounder (5.9) last season, is XU’s second-leading returning scorer at 10.7 ppg. Xavier has made three straight NCAA Tournaments, seven in the last eight years and 18 in the last 26 years.