NCAA set to allow college basketball schedules increase to 32-game season beginning in 2026-27
College basketball's regular season is set to expand. Barring an unexpected and extremely unlikely motion to vote against, the NCAA Division I Council will approve on Wednesday an increase from 31 to 32 games, beginning with the 2026-27 season, sources told CBS Sports. The vote is a rubber-stamp move after the Division I Men's and Women's Basketball Oversight Committees voted in favor of the change back in late March.
The update comes after a 19-year run of a 31-game maximum for the regular season. Since 2006-07, the format was 28 or 29 predetermined games, plus allowance for three-game or two-game multi-team events added in (making it a 31-game cap). Starting in 2026, teams won't be required to play 32 games, they'll merely have the option to do so — with most expected to up their quota by one under the new rule.
The increase will also push teams that make the NCAA championship game to play in as many as 41 games.
The primary issue driving the decision to go to 32 is tied to multi-team events (MTEs), which had become more restrictive with some of their NCAA guidelines due to conference expansion leading to schools from the same leagues playing in the same events. That was previously not allowed (but now is via a waiver). Additionally, sometimes three-game MTEs were roadblocks for a variety of schools trying to work through the logistics of nonconference scheduling.
The 32-game limit will include all games, meaning contests against non-Division I opponents also count toward the total. Additionally, this change will allow big in-season tournaments — like the NIL-incentivized Players Era Festival — to be able to schedule three- or four-game MTEs. Players Era will be staged for a second time this November, increasing to 18 teams, and is hoping to balloon to a 32-team mega event starting in 2026.
By going to a 32-game model, the extra game is will ease restrictions and allow more opportunity for programs to schedule as needed, with the potential for more high-profile matchups in the regular season. What's more, the additional game should also enable more teams to bring back nonconference opportunities in January or February, something we've seen with Duke playing Illinois in February of this year and Duke facing Michigan in February 2026.
Multiple high-major coaches told CBS Sports in recent months that they are actively pursuing and hoping to play a nonconference game in the midst of the conference season moving forward, finding benefits in advance of postseason play in March.
The move to 32 is also, naturally, being done with money in mind. One more game will mean one more home and/or neutral-court opportunity for a lot of high-major programs, which are now looking for revenue in any way possible after the House case settlement ushered in revenue sharing for college athletes. Home gates at games bring in more revenue to be able to pay athletes. Sources around college athletics speculated that the increase to 32 games is just the first phase, and that by early-to-mid 2030s the regular season could go to 34 or 35 games prior to the start of conference tournament play.
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