Over a nine-week span from late September to late November, the NFL is holding an international game on every Sunday, save for Sunday, Nov. 1. With that open date, college basketball decided to enter the picture and stage its own contest on foreign soil. It’s also the tipoff game of the 2026–27 college basketball season, with the Notre Dame Fighting Irish taking on the Villanova Wildcats in Rome, Italy.
That is the first thing fans should know about the upcoming college basketball season with it, literally, being the first game. Here are other things they should be aware of, as lots has happened since the Michigan Wolverines cut down the nets back in April.
The Champs Look Very Different
Michigan won its first national title in 37 years last season, but many of the names and faces that led them to the championship are no longer in Ann Arbor. Head coach Dusty May is now in the NBA, as are that team’s three best players: Yaxel Lendeborg, Morez Johnson Jr., and Aday Mara were all lottery picks.
Former assistant Mike Boynton Jr. is sliding a seat over as the new head coach, and he did serve as Oklahoma State’s head coach for seven seasons. As for the players, Michigan does have the No. 3 overall incoming class, so the program is reloading instead of rebuilding, as Michigan looks to become the fourth team over the last 50 years to repeat as champs.
The Gators Top the Rankings
The last team to win the national championship before Michigan was the Florida Gators, and they are starting this year where they finished that aforementioned year: on top. The Gators are No. 1 in the AP Poll for the second time in school history (2006). They are returning 81.8 percent of their scoring from a year ago, which doesn’t even include Denzel Aberdeen, who was on that 2025 title team, transferred to Kentucky last season, and is now back in Gainesville, Florida.
Speaking of No. 1
Florida may be the No. 1 team in the polls, but Kansas landed the No. 1 recruit in the nation. Tyran Stokes holds that honor, meaning that the Jayhawks landed the No. 1 overall recruit in back-to-back years, following Darryn Peterson last year. Stokes has drawn comparisons to Jayson Tatum, Paolo Banchero, and Cade Cunningham as a multi-threat forward who already has an NBA body. He joins a Kansas team that hasn’t reached the Sweet 16 since winning the 2022 championship, which is the program’s longest drought since 1982–85.
Name Tags May Be Needed
As if players and coaches constantly switching teams isn’t enough to keep track of, several teams are changing conferences for the 2026–27 NCAA basketball season. A total of 29 teams are playing in new conferences this year, with nine of those being in the reconfigured Pac-12. Another 18 programs moved from one Division I conference to another, while two programs switched divisions entirely. West Florida moved from Division II to Division I, where it will play in the Atlantic Sun. Meanwhile, Saint Francis, formerly of the Northeast Conference, has left D1 and will now compete in Division III.
Returning Stars
Of the 15 players to be named AP All-Americans last season, 12 are now professionals in the NBA. The other three are still in college and are among the most recognizable names in the sport. They are JT Toppin of Texas Tech, Thomas Haugh of Florida, and Jeremy Fears Jr. of Michigan State.
Toppin is the only active two-time All-American, as he also received that honor in 2025. He’s also an Academic All-American First-Team selection, in addition to being the reigning Big 12 Player of the Year. As for Haugh, he’s the main reason why Florida is the top-ranked team in the nation as he’s a projected NBA lottery pick who is choosing to delay the pros. Meanwhile, Fears received more 2026–27 preseason All-American votes than any other player after he led the nation with 9.4 assists a year ago.
Postseason Expansion Hits College Basketball
The expansion of the College Football Playoff has attracted lots of attention, but one shouldn’t overlook the CFP’s basketball brethren getting bigger as well. The 2027 NCAA Tournament will expand from 68 to 76 teams, marking March Madness’s first expansion since 2011. The first round will remain at 64 teams, but the First Four is no more.
Instead of four opening-round games, there will now be 12 such contests, still played over two days. However, they will now be held in two locations—one remains Dayton, Ohio, and the other will be Wichita, Kansas. The 24 teams in the opening round games will be split between the 12 lowest-seeded automatic qualifiers and the 12-lowest ranked at-large bids.
