College Basketball Schedule & Scores 2025-26

NCAAB Scores & Schedules

There’s nothing quite like betting on college basketball. Star-studded Thanksgiving Day tournaments, rivalry games, conference matchups, and of course March Madness make for four months of exciting opportunities for gamblers. Here we will explain how the schedule is made and break down how gamblers can take advantage to make the most informed decisions when they’re ready to wager on college hoops.

NCAAB TV Schedule

Bettors have ample options to watch NCAA men’s basketball games. For starters, there are 350 Division I teams that make up 32 conferences. Though the smaller conferences do not often air their games nationally, there are streaming options like ESPN+ to catch their games.

Of the major conferences, the Big Ten and SEC both have their own dedicated networks. ESPN, CBS, and Fox Sports air nationally televised games across the other major conferences, with marquee matchups regularly featured on prime time. The NCAA Tournament is broadcast across CBS, TBS, TNT, and truTV, with all 67 games available to watch.

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What Are The Most Popular Early Season Tournaments?

There are about a dozen early-season tournaments that take place in college basketball each season. From New York to Puerto Rico, these tournaments highlight the non-conference season with high-major teams squaring off against one another in intimate settings and are usually nationally televised. Here are the three biggest each season:

• Maui Invitational — Taking place each November during Thanksgiving Weekend, the Maui Invitational routinely features some of the best teams in the country. The eight-team tournament held in Lahaina, Hawaii, is single elimination with a consolation bracket, guaranteeing all teams at least three games. Duke, North Carolina, Kansas, and Michigan State are among the most frequent participants and winners in the tournament's history.
• Battle 4 Atlantis — Held in late November in the Bahamas, this event is unique for its setting — a grand ballroom converted into a 3,500-capacity venue with dramatic court lighting. The eight-team single-elimination tournament has featured and been won by blue-blood programs including Duke, Villanova, Kansas, and Gonzaga.
• Champions Classic — Not a tournament but arguably the most anticipated single event of the early season. Started in 2011, the Champions Classic tips off the college basketball year with four blue-blood programs — Duke, Michigan State, Kansas, and Kentucky — facing off in a pair of high-profile matchups. The venue rotates between major arenas including Madison Square Garden in New York and the United Center in Chicago.

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Why the College Basketball Schedule Matters

While conference schedules are uniform within each league, non-conference games vary significantly from program to program — and those differences matter for betting.

Athletic directors balance two competing priorities: scheduling enough winnable games to build a strong record while also playing quality opponents to strengthen NET ranking (the metric the NCAA selection committee uses to seed teams). Loading up on weak opponents pads wins but damages NET strength of schedule. A brutal non-conference slate can result in early losses that affect seeding projections, even if the team is clearly talented.

Home court advantage is a particularly important factor in college basketball. Arenas are smaller, crowds are louder, and college players are more susceptible to those external pressures than professionals. Before placing a bet, note whether a game is home, away, or neutral — and how much rest each team has had compared to their opponent.

It’s also critical to analyze a team’s bracket – and path to a championship, whether a conference or national – before making NCAA basketball futures bet. Look at the other teams that a team would potentially have to go through to advance. There isn’t any reseeding in college basketball tournaments, and all tournaments are single elimination.

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How are College Basketball Schedules Created?

College basketball schedules are built in three parts: early-season invitational tournaments, the non-conference season and the conference season. The first two sections are built out by the athletic departments, oftentimes years in advance.

Athletic directors reach out to organizers to take part in early-season tournaments. They’ll also reach out to other programs about setting up non-conference games; sometimes those are single games, while other times teams agree to a multiyear series in which games are played at both home venues. "Buy games" are also in play for high-major teams, who pay inferior teams to play them in what are essentially warm-up non-conference games.