College basketball is one of the most watched amateur sports in the United States. That’s why the 2017-2018 NCAA basketball season had everyone’s attention before the season even started.

During the offseason, it was brought to the authority’s attention that there was a “pay-to-play” culture developing within portions of NCAA Division 1 basketball. After discovering several unethical dealings within the college basketball sector, including coaches, recruiters, and brand executives, the FBI came face to face with one of the largest sports scandals to date. The NCAA comprises of amateurs only. Individuals who: “have signed with professional teams, played with professionals, accepted payments or preferential benefits for playing sports, accepted benefits from an agent or prospective agent, or accepted prize money above their expenses” risk terminating their amateur title.

Coaches at USC, Oklahoma State, Auburn, Louisville and Arizona were accused of taking bribes in exchange for coercing players to hire a recruiter. The scandal ventured outside the NCAA realm too. An executive of international sporting apparel brand, Adidas, was fired after being accused of paying families of high-school stars, bribing them to sign with universities with sponsorship deals with the company.

Before every season coaches at the Division 1 level vote on the strength of each program and rank the top 25 teams. Following the implication of several NCAA Division 1 programs in the FBI investigation before the season, several coaches chose to not include schools involved in the investigation in their votes for the poll.

Several programs look to incoming and new talent to replenish their rosters. The ACC’s Duke and North Carolina are schools counting on fresh faces to fulfill their seasonal goals.

From the University of Alabama’s strong finish with three players against the University of Minnesota, to Boston College defeating Duke University this past weekend, this season is already setting itself up to be exciting. This year in particular, matchups at the Division 1 level have been extremely competitive. Across the country, basketball fans have been lucky to catch riveting games multiple times a week.

In October, the first USA Today Coaches Poll was released, with Duke coming in at number one, followed by Michigan State, Kansas, Kentucky, and Arizona, respectively. Since then, the top five has changed almost entirely with Villanova in the number one spot followed by Michigan State, Wichita State, Duke and Kentucky. Kansas fell to number twelve after back to back loses to Washington and Arizona State and Arizona fell to number 23.

Considering it is still early in the season, many schools’ dream of making it to March Madness are not out of reach. Conference stand outs such as Arizona, Duke, Villanova, and Michigan State are dubbed as ‘early national title contenders’ in an article on Bleacher Report. However, as the season has proven thus far, matchups might not go as some would plan, leading many to believe this season will continue to be one for the books.

The AP Top 25 and USA Today Coaches Polls for the season are updated weekly and can be found on ESPN.com under the NCAAM tab at the top of the page.