The Division I men’s and women’s basketball oversight committees proposed legislation Tuesday for basketball seasons to have a maximum competition limit of 32 games.
If approved by the Division I governance structure in June, the proposal would take effect beginning with the 2026-27 basketball season. The rationale for implementation starting from the 2026-2027 season is that by the time the proposal would be adopted, many teams would have already set their schedule for the 2025-2026 season.
Teams would not be required to schedule 32 games, and the general exemption for multi-team events would remain in effect for the 2025-2026 season.
Both oversight committees have discussed this topic in depth over the past few months and have concluded that a flat-rate maximum limit for competitions is simple, flexible and straightforward.
The proposal also aligns both sports with equitable participation opportunities. Currently, men’s and women’s basketball teams can schedule 28 games with an additional three-game multi-team event, for a maximum of 31 games. Teams can also choose to schedule 29 games with a two-game multi-team event, again with a maximum of 31 games. Or teams can schedule 29 regular season games without a multi-team event included.
“I greatly appreciate the important work conducted by MBOC and WBOC, and the strong collaboration that has taken place, to introduce this legislation and look toward the future of the regular season schedule. This bill does not require anyone to change their regular season schedule and provides simplicity and greater flexibility as teams consider their roster and schedule needs each season,” said Dan Butterly, Chairman of the Men’s Basketball Oversight Committee and Commissioner of the Big West Conference.
“There is a real opportunity for teams to continue playing in multi-team events or brackets to prepare them for the playoffs.”
Student-athlete engagement groups monitoring men’s and women’s basketball, the National Basketball Coaches Association and the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association all view the proposed schedule positively.
“I fully support increasing the maximum number of regular season contests from 31 to 32,” said Kennedy Todd-Williams, a senior on the Mississippi women’s basketball team. “I think it’s a great decision for the game and for the student-athletes.”
Both committees hope this increase will encourage quality non-conference competition that can be used by the Division I men’s and women’s basketball committees for championship selection and seeding.
“Moving to this new regular season model where all games count within a defined limit is easy to understand and apply and will allow everyone to have the opportunity for women’s and men’s basketball student-athletes to play in the same number of games,” said Kelly Barsky, chair of the Division I women’s basketball oversight committee and director of athletics at UC Santa Barbara. “This would give teams the flexibility to reach the limit in the way that works best for them. Certainly, it would also provide fans with another opportunity to support student-athletes and great basketball.”
