College basketball tips off Sunday, November 1, 2026 and runs all the way to the Final Four in April 2027. This is your home for the whole season at a glance: opening night, Feast Week, conference play, Selection Sunday, and a March Madness that looks different this year with a brand-new 76-team bracket for both the men’s and women’s tournaments. Save the printable one-pager, drop the key dates into your own calendar, and check back as matchups and seeds are set.
2026-27 college basketball key dates at a glance
Here are the milestones worth circling for the 2026-27 college basketball season. Tournament seeds and matchups are set on Selection Sunday, and we will keep this page current as the bracket fills in.
| Milestone | Date | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Season opens | Sun, Nov 1, 2026 | First games; opening week early November |
| Early-season tournaments | Nov 17 – 28, 2026 | Maui, Players Era, Feast Week events |
| Conference play | Late Dec – early Mar | League schedules across the country |
| Selection Sunday | Sun, Mar 14, 2027 | Men’s and women’s brackets revealed |
| Opening Round | Mar 16 – 17, 2027 | New 76-team field; First Four expanded |
| First Round | Mar 18 – 19, 2027 | Round of 64 |
| Second Round | Mar 20 – 21, 2027 | Round of 32 |
| Sweet 16 | Mar 25 – 26, 2027 | Regional semifinals |
| Elite Eight | Mar 27 – 28, 2027 | Regional finals |
| Men’s Final Four | Sat, Apr 3, 2027 | Ford Field, Detroit |
| Men’s Championship | Mon, Apr 5, 2027 | Ford Field, Detroit |
| Women’s Final Four | Apr 2 & 4, 2027 | Nationwide Arena, Columbus |
| Women’s Championship | Sun, Apr 4, 2027 | Columbus, Ohio |
When the season tips off
The season opens Sunday, November 1, 2026, with the first games of the year, and the full slate gets rolling across opening week in early November. From there it is a nonstop run of nonconference tests before league play takes over around the holidays.
Feast Week and the nonconference showcases
Late November is the best stretch of the nonconference season. The Maui Invitational, the Players Era events in Las Vegas, and the rest of the Thanksgiving-week tournaments run roughly November 17 through 28, stacking marquee matchups morning to night. These games are where the early bracket picture starts to take shape.
Conference play and the road to the bracket
League schedules take over from late December into early March, followed by conference tournament week. Everything builds toward Selection Sunday, when the field is set and brackets go up across the country.
March Madness 2027: the new 76-team bracket
This is the big change for 2027: both the men’s and women’s NCAA tournaments expand from 68 to 76 teams. Selection Sunday is March 14, 2027, followed by an expanded Opening Round on March 16 and 17 before the 64-team First Round begins March 18. The men’s Final Four is April 3 with the championship on April 5 at Ford Field in Detroit, while the women’s Final Four is April 2 and 4 with the title game April 4 at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio.
Printable schedule and calendar download
The printable PDF is a clean one-page reference for the whole season, tip-off through the title games. The ICS file imports every key date, from opening night to both Final Fours, straight into Google Calendar, Apple Calendar, or Outlook, so the dates that matter show up on your own calendar automatically.
Following the pro game too? Our 2026-27 NBA schedule hub has every key date with the same printable and calendar downloads.
Dates via NCAA.com. Tournament dates and seeds are confirmed closer to Selection Sunday and updated here.