In the age of revenue sharing, college athletic departments need to find more ways to raise money.
More games means more television revenue, and it seems we may be entering the era of more action on the courts and fields throughout the college landscape.
One of the first signs of that came Wednesday, when CBS Sports’ Matt Norlander reported the NCAA is expected to approve an expansion of the college basketball season from 31 to 32 games. Norlander says the move is being done to encourage even more high-profile nonconference games.
The change would go into effect with the 2026-27 season for men and women after the Division I Council passes the measure, per the report.
There has been a 31-game maximum since 2006-07. Teams are permitted to schedule 28 or 29 predetermined games, plus an allowance for multi-team events (MTEs) — such as holiday tournaments — where two or three additional games could be played.
The length of the season (early November to early March) is not expected to change, so more MTEs are likely coming.
According to the report, programs will not be required to play 32 games but will merely have the option to do so.
Norlander speculates in his report that this may just be the beginning of a movement towards a 34 or 35 game regular season over the next 10 years.
The longer seasons become, the less likely it is that any team will match Indiana’s perfect 32-0 season in 1976. That’s especially true if more challenging nonconference games become the norm.
Decision on NCAA Tournament expansion expected soon
The NCAA Tournament is likely to expand as well.
According to a report by ESPN’s Pete Thamel, the decision or whether to expand the NCAA men’s and women’s basketball tournaments for 2026 “is expected to come in the next few weeks.”
Thamel notes that the expansion would be to no more than 76 schools, which would be a maximum increase of eight new teams from the current format. He added that the NCAA remains engaged in talks with its media partners over any potential changes. Like the schedule expansion, the search for additional revenue is a factor. Tournament revenues are allocated back to the schools.
The last expansion to the NCAA Tournament field came in 2011. At that point, the field expanded from 64 teams to 68 teams.
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