MIES (Switzerland) - The Basketball Champions League Season 8 tips off next week. A total of 32 teams will fight for glory, with Telekom Baskets Bonn coming back as the defending champions.

We will preview all the Regular Season action, group by group. Here it's the turn of Group D, which includes AEK BETSSON BC, Banco di Sardegna Sassari, King Szczecin and MHP RIESEN Ludwigsburg.

The favorite

Back in 2018, AEK won the Basketball Champions League with a solid mix of international stars and reliable Greek players in their roles from starters to second unit guys. They seem to have a similar kind of balance this time around, putting together a fine roster for coach Joan Plaza to work with.

Their biggest arrival is Ben McLemore, the shooting guard with over 550 NBA games of experience, embarking on his first European adventure. Mfiondu Kabengele also joined the club after spells with the LA Clippers, Cleveland Cavaliers and Boston Celtics. Meanwhile in AEK's first game in the Greek League this season, Justin Tillman and Jordan McRae combined for 42 points.

Mindaugas Kuzminskas is there for some European veteran savvy, and he's not the only FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 player on AEK's roster, since 23-year-old center Manos Chatzidakis also joined the club.

With Plaza at the helm, AEK have loads of coaching experience, too, and it definitely brings back some 2018 vibes to Athens.

The underdog

Throughout the history of the BCL, Turkey and Italy had the most clubs competing in the Regular Season, with 11 each. France and Spain saw 10 different clubs, and right next to them are the eight representatives of Poland.

King Szczecin are the newest club on that list, ready to build on their domestic success, as they picked up their first ever Polish Championship in 2023.

Jhonathan Dunn is a big arrival with his BCL experience, and he will face his former club MHP RIESEN Ludwigsburg, where he averaged 14 points per game last season. Zac Cuthbertson is expected to lead the balanced attack, with Morris Udeze, Darryl Woodson and Tony Meier all ready to help.

But the lack of BCL experience may be a problem. AEK are going to play their eighth BCL season, Sassari are back for a seventh run, while Ludwigsburg add number six to their BCL seasons tally.

Hard to pick a more experienced group for the rookies of Szczecin.

The crucial matchup

If AEK BETSSON BC are the favorites, and King Szczecin are the underdogs, it's clear that the head-to-head battles between Banco di Sardegna Sassari and MHP RIESEN Ludwigsburg could be big in determining potential home court advantage for the Play-In Series or better odds to make the Round of 16 directly.

It's actually going to be a whole 2016-17 season reunion for AEK, Sassari and Ludwigsburg, as they were in the same group also in Season 1 of the Basketball Champions League. They were placed in Group E, and AEK finished ahead of the others on a  9-5 record, Ludwigsburg in the middle at 8-6, and Sassari down at 7-7.

All three went on to make the Round of 16, with Sassari and Ludwigsburg reaching as far as the Quarter-Finals.

This time around, Sassari will rely on their experience with players like Alfonzo McKinnie, Stefano Gentile, Filip Kruslin, while still waiting for Breein Tyree to hit the ground running. Ludwigsburg are once again a young squad, with 26-year-old Desure Buie off to a great start in Germany, followed by a 24-year-old Jayvon Graves.

The only 30+ year old on their roster is, of course, the indestructible Yorman Polas Bartolo, who just turned 38 this summer.

Players to watch

The new-look AEK will offer a lot of individual talent, with McLemore, Tillman, McRae or Chasson Randle all capable of going for 30+ points and winning a game by themselves.

Ludwigsburg always put emphasis on their collective firepower, but judging by their two Bundesliga games so far, this could be Desure Buie's big season, after climbing through the ranks in Slovakia and Turkey. Jayvon Graves is another guy who can do it all with the ball in his hands, while Silas Melson is a late addition and could be a major pickup if he's up to his 2021-22 Kalev/Cramo performances.

Sassari's best player to start the season in Italy was Ousmane Diop, a 23-year-old forward, and they have one of the most impressive FIBA Youth Championships player of all time in Vassilis Charalampopoulos, now a 26-year-old on his fourth Italian stint.

As for Szczecin, keep an eye on Morris Udeze, a rookie out of New Mexico, a potential double-double threat day in, day out.

Format reminder

The winner of this group will move straight to Round of 16 Group L, alongside the best placed team from Group H (Bertram Derthona Tortona, Igokea m:tel, Tofas Bursa and UCAM Murcia) and two other Play-In Series winners.

The second- and third-placed teams are set to play the best-of-three Play-In matchups with their peers from Group C (Darussafaka Lassa, Lenovo Tenerife, VEF Riga, Cholet Basket).

The bottom placed team will be eliminated from contention and end their European season in December.