MIES (Switzerland) - Summer's endings and familiar beginnings. Return to our beloved habits.
That's one way to describe the feeling of returning to the Basketball Champions League, powered by Ameresco SUNEL action as the competition enters Season 11, tipping off on October 6 with the usual format.
With 32 teams divided into eight groups with four teams each, eight sides will gain access to the Round of 16 by winning their respective group. The fourth-placed teams in the eight groups, instead, won't continue their trajectory in the competition, being out of contention after the first six games of the Group Stage.
Purgatory belongs to the second-placed and third-placed teams in the groups, as these sides from adjacent groups (E2 vs. F3, F2 vs. E3) will square off in the Play-Ins: best-of-three series with the winners advancing to complete the Sweet 16 picture.
That's why we have decided to preview Groups E&F together, keeping in mind that it's important to know what's going on in the neighboring group. Let's roll with it, as Season 11's just around the corner.
The favorites
Group E: Taking a look at how the competition has unfolded over the last decade, there are very few teams that have been able to leave an impact on the Basketball Champions League like Unicaja.
With an unlimited passion for basketball in Malaga and a well-oiled group conducted by Ibon Navarro, they managed to become only the second-ever team to lift up the BCL trophy in back-to-back seasons (after San Pablo Burgos), winning in 2024 in Belgrade, and in 2025 in Athens.
In 2025-26, they couldn't get the job done for the third straight campaign, and over the summer a natural makeover took place. It's sports, where some things, eventually, change.
But Unicaja remain a clear contender.
When we talk about a makeover, it's not an overstatement. First of all, after nine years guiding Tenerife in both ACB and BCL, Txus Vidorreta decided to leave the Canary Islands to take Ibon Navarro's position.
With such an established head coach in place, they had to build a competitive roster to return among the favorites to win it all, not just the most anticipated in Group E. First, they did so by confirming Kendrick Perry, #3 in the BCL Top-50, alongside other established veterans such as Alberto Diaz and Tyson Perez.
Moreover, strengthening their group, Unicaja brought in Willy Hernangomez, Cameron Hunt, Ignas Bradzeikis, Simonas Lukosius, Amine Noua, Matt Thomas, and Melwin Pantzar, as well as the returning Yannick Nzosa.
Group F: While Group E has a clear frontrunner that can count on a luxurious resume and cabinet, it will be interesting to see how Group F will evolve over the course of the whole autumn.
Looking at Season 11's starting grid, all four teams in such a group can advance directly to the Round of 16 by winning it and standing on top at the end of the Regular Season.
Between Hapoel Maoz Daniel Holon, Cholet Basket, Spartak Office Shoes, and RASTA Vechta, it will be a matter of detail. Among them, the French side have become one of the places where young gems take the next step.
Just to make a few examples: Antoine Rigaudeau, Nando De Colo, Rudy Gobert, Rodrigue Beaubois, Fabien Causeur, and Kevin Seraphine have all had some of their first hoop experiences in Cholet.
Tidjane Salaun, BCL Best Young Player in 2023-24, as well as the 2009-born Aaron Towo-Nansi and Amadou Fall, are destined to be the latest stars of a shining firmament. But Fabrice Lefrançois' team is more than that.
Tony Snell Jr. is there to bring the needed amount of experience to compete on such a stage, while the connection between Jarrod West and Lynn Kidd might end up being dangerous for the opponents.
Games to watch
Group E: Two seasons ago, Unicaja and Pallacanestro Reggiana already clashed in the BCL, as Ibon Navarro's team booked their spot in Belgrade's Final Four by winning 2-0 in the Quarter-Finals.
It was definitely a different stage of the competition, and both sides were different from the ones we will see on European courts in Season 11.
One sees it by looking at some players who took part in that series between Martin Carpena and PalaBigi: Kenneth Faried, Mouhamed Faye, Dylan Osetkowski, Kameron Taylor, and more.
With Dimitris Priftis still with the red-and-white side and Txus Vidorreta moving to Andalucía, they will clash on November 3 at 20:30 CET in Malaga and on December 15 at 20:00 CET in Reggio Emilia.
Group F: In a balanced four-team gathering like this, every game will definitely be interesting to watch, but the ones between Cholet and Holon will probably turn out to be decisive on the road to the following stages.
The season opener between the purple-and-yellow team and the French side will take place on neutral court, in Samokov on October 6 at 17:45 CET; the reverse fixture will happen on December 23 at 20:00 CET.
What makes these clashes more interesting is the fact that they also collided in Season X's Group C, heading to the Play-Ins tied at 3-3. Both games were extremely competitive. They go back at it in less than one week.
Cinderella stories
Group E: Over the first ten years of the competition, Czechia have counted on two representatives in the BCL: Nymburk, that have now merged with another Czech powerhouse into SK Slavia Praha ERA NBK, and BK Opava.
From Season 11, there will be a third team from the country: it's the case of BK KVIS Pardubice, qualified after their second-place domestic league campaign in 2025-26, led by the NBL Player of the Year, Joe Bryant.
The 26-year-old American guard, who decided to continue with the Czech side for their first European return since the 2018-19 FIBA Europe Cup, promised 20.8 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 4.2 assists last season.
Group F: Before the 2025-26 season, only Partizan and Crvena Zvezda were able to achieve triumphs in the Serbian Basketball League since the competition was founded in 2006. It was a Belgrade dominion.
Then, another team from Subotica emerged and eventually managed to pull off an unexpected and crazy upset, first beating Zvezda in the Semi-Finals and then taking down FMP Belgrade in the Finals.
Heading into back-to-back BCL Regular Seasons as Serbian champions, Spartak Office Shoes would be glad to confirm their previous achievement, getting to the Play-Ins. Let's see if they keep writing history.
Players to watch
Group E: One could say Unicaja are a must-watch team after they have added the FIBA EuroBasket 2022 MVP, Willy Hernangomez; one could say Cameron Hunt or Kendrick Perry are the ones to follow all season.
But if there's somebody who has climbed up the ranks, waiting for his moment to come, on Txus Vidorreta's team, it's Melwin Pantzar, who's coming off back-to-back FIBA Europe Cup championships with Surne Bilbao.
The Swedish combo guard, who grew up in Real Madrid's youth system, will try his chances in Malaga after averaging 8.9 points, 6.4 assists, and 4.5 rebounds in Europe last season. He's an all-arounder.
Sticking with Group E, JT Thor will have his first-ever experience in a European competition. The South Sudanese international joined Reggiana in 2025-26, and everybody's expecting him to deliver in the BCL now.
Group F: Starting in Italy with Trapani Shark, Adama Sanogo moved to Holon midway through the 2025-26 season and had an immediate impact for the purple-and-yellow side in the BCL as well.
Going up against the then-champions, Rytas, he had 15 of his final 25 points in the first quarter. Over six games with Holon, he flirted with an average double-double of 17.0 points and 8.7 rebounds per game.
Talking about centers, Tibor Pleiss will be 37 in November, but he hasn't slowed down. He had 25 points on 5-of-7 from deep in Vechta's first matchup of the QRT2, and will be crucial in providing experience in Season 11.
If you stick with the German roster, you might also want to keep an eye on Justin Edler-Davis, who moved between Iraklis, Hamburg, and Bnei Penlink Herzliya in 2025-26. His flashy scores will capture you.