Ohio men’s basketball opens its 2014-2015 season Saturday, when they host Appalachian State. It will be the first game for new head coach Saul Phillips, who comes from North Dakota State, and took the Bison to the third round of last year’s NCAA Tournament. Phillips has already endeared himself to fans with his enthusiasm, and his involvement in the return of a public preseason scrimmage, which had been popular under John Groce. But can he lead the Bobcats to a postseason tournament for the sixth consecutive year?

Ohio lost five seniors in the offseason, but return plenty of key players, including point guard Stevie Taylor. The senior from Gahanna is the last remaining player from the 2011-12 squad that made the Sweet 16, and is eager to make his impact a positive one in his final season. Maurice Ndour spent time this summer representing Senegal in the FIBA World Cup; he scored roughly 14 points per game for Ohio a year ago, and is a preseason All-MAC East first team selection. Javarez “Bean” Willis, who transferred from Texas Tech in 2012, will want to help fill the void left by Nick Kellogg, the MAC three-point leader in conference history. Among the newcomers is Chandler Thomas, who has previous Division I experience at Grambling and UMBC.

The Bobcats will host most of their non-conference games, but will travel to Hawaii during Christmastime to compete in the Diamond Head Classic; their first game against George Washington will start at 9:30 AM local time on December 22. Ohio was picked 2nd in the MAC East behind Akron, who has spoiled the Bobcats’ conference tournament championship dreams the last two seasons. The Bobcats and Zips will meet February 4 in Athens, and later that month in northeast Ohio.

Although it has to compete with football until January, college basketball is back, and this season, like so many in the past, will be fun to watch.