Opening Night in Both Arenas: SMU Hosts Southern at Moody, TCU Hosts Lindenwood in Fort Worth — Both at 7

The college basketball season opens in the Metroplex on Monday night twice over, at the same hour, 25 miles apart. SMU hosts Southern at Moody Coliseum in Dallas, and TCU hosts Lindenwood at Ed and Rae Schollmaier Arena in Fort Worth. Both games tip at 7 p.m. Central — Southern at SMU on ACC Network Extra, Lindenwood at TCU on ESPN+ — and both home teams start the season with something to prove about rosters that have barely played together.

TCU's opener carries two small pieces of program history. It is the first meeting ever between the Horned Frogs and Lindenwood, and it is the earliest start date in program history. Jamie Dixon begins his 11th season as head coach with five returning players and 10 newcomers — a roster turned over almost completely — and the schedule gives the new group a runway: five straight home games to open the season, against Lindenwood, Southern (Nov. 6), Louisiana-Monroe (Nov. 10), Milwaukee (Nov. 13) and Texas A&M (Nov. 19), before the Players Era Tournament in Las Vegas and a Big 12 opener at Houston on January 2. What Monday measures is not the season; it is which of the 10 newcomers Dixon trusts first.

SMU's evidence is fresher and louder. The Mustangs closed their preseason by beating Texas A&M 94-88 in an exhibition at Moody Coliseum on October 25, using a strong offensive second half — a result that counts for nothing in the standings and something in the building, because it showed the home crowd an offense that can run. Southern, the SWAC visitor, is the kind of opening opponent a power-conference team schedules to be tested without being ambushed. By 9 p.m. Monday, both Metroplex programs will have a real result, a real rotation and a real starting point — and this desk will file both finals tonight.