If you’re a college basketball fan, the wait for the season doesn’t start with the first game—it begins with the schedule drop. That’s when fans finally get to mark their calendars and circle the biggest rivalries. Well, it’s also the start of predicting where the madness might unfold.
But when exactly do schools reveal their full slate of games for the upcoming season? The answer isn’t one-size-fits-all, but there’s a clear pattern most programs follow.
When Do College Hoops Teams Come Out With Their Schedules?
Typically, college hoops teams release their schedules in late summer to early fall, August and September. During this time, schools can set up their non-conference opponents and finalize conference matches.
With that, they work out TV partnerships to guarantee high-profile visibility on key games. Some non-conference schedules are released even earlier especially if there’s a big-time matchup or holiday tournament involved.
Let’s examine how the 2024-25 season unfolded to get some sense of what to expect in 2025.
Michigan State shared its season’s excitement with fans by publishing its non-conference schedule on September 10, followed by its entire schedule on September 19.
The Big 12 Conference went public officially on September 26, announcing its conference matches.
The SEC traveled a slightly earlier path, releasing its conference slate on August 20. Meanwhile, the SEC Network released its 2024–25 schedule in late October, with 106 men’s hoops contests on its platforms.
Thus, while there isn’t exactly an official “Schedule Day” like in the NFL, die-hard college hoops fans will be able to watch their beloved team’s complete journey to March outlined by at least late September.
Many moving pieces have to align before a team can click the “publish” button on its schedule. Let’s take a peek behind the scenes at what’s happening.
- Conference Scheduling: The ACC, Big Ten, and SEC must balance their conference schedules like jigsaw puzzle pieces. The institutions must fit in a series of home and away contests, maintain rivalries, and avoid academic or logistics conflicts, which can hold up the announcement.
- TV Deals: ESPN, CBS, Fox, and others are involved; games during prime time usually depend on the available networks. They desire the ratings, and they have the power to determine when and where the big games are played, especially for power leagues.
- Facility Availability: Not every school has its own dedicated basketball facility. Most share facilities with other sporting activities or uses, which makes it difficult to schedule. Schools like DePaul or Georgetown, for instance, generally have to work around NBA games and concerts within their facilities.
- Academic Schedules: Sports in college always take a backseat to other schoolwork. In theory, that means not scheduling finals weeks, working around campus breaks, and not having travel interfere with midterms.
- Travel and Logistics: Non-conference games—especially cross-country travel or international competitions—require schools to sort out travel, hotels, practice facilities, and other arrangements before they can lock down the game date.
All these factors create added complexity and impact when a team can finally release its complete schedule to the public.
If you’re eagerly waiting for the 2025–26 college basketball season, keep your eyes open starting in early August. Here’s what to expect:
- August: Conferences like the SEC or ACC might start rolling out their internal schedules.
- September: The majority of top programs will post full schedules—merging non-conference and conference games.
- October: TV networks will make announcements about which games will be nationally broadcast, and tip-off times will begin to be set in place.
These schedules will initially be officially posted on school athletic websites, typically followed by press releases, social media posts, and full breakdowns on college basketball news websites.
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For the 2025-26 season, be sure to visit your favorite show’s site, follow your conference’s media day releases, and track sports news websites for minute-to-minute reports on schedule unveilings. The schedule unveiling will not get as much attention as March Madness, but to die-hard fans, it is when the process to the tournament officially begins.
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