Scandal hangs over NCAA hoops heading into 2017-18 season

College basketball is better than ever on the floor. Scoring is up, stars players fill every corner of the country and fan support is sky high.

Off the floor, it has an image problem.

A federal probe this summer uncovered the dark underbelly of college basketball, revealing a web of bribes and kickbacks from shoe companies funneled toward recruits. The arrests of 10 people, including assistant coaches at four prominent schools, casts a shadow over the sport heading into the 2017-18 season — and likely beyond.

“It’s a big egg on a lot of our faces,” Utah coach Larry Krystkowiak said. “It kind of speaks for the entire entity, and we’re part of it.”

The federal investigation led to the arrests of assistant coaches from No. 3 Arizona, No. 10 Southern Cal, Oklahoma State and Auburn, along with an Adidas marketing executive. The probe has already taken down No. 16 Louisville coach Rick Pitino and athletic director Tom Jurich, and more shoes could drop as the investigation digs deeper.

The teams already in the crosshairs — Miami is also among them — will play with uncertainty; whether its players will remain eligible, if the investigation will reach all the way to the head coach, if NCAA sanctions are on the horizon.

The other major programs, particularly those with high-end recruits, could be looking over their shoulders all season to see if they will become ensnared.

“You have to eliminate the clutter and understand the class has to be tight,” Arizona coach Sean Miller. “You have to talk to people, but only we know what happens on a daily basis in our program.”

On the court, Miller has the type of team that could end his Final Four-less run. The Wildcats have a solid core of experienced players returning from last year’s Elite Eight team — preseason All-American Allonzo Trier among them — to go with a stellar recruiting class, highlighted by athletic big man Deandre Ayton.

Of course, there are plenty of deep, talented teams capable of making a run to San Antonio.

Duke is the preseason No. 1 for the second straight season with senior Grayson