• Loading stock data...
Thursday, August 28, 2025
Front Office Sports Honors winners are here! View the 2025 winners

NCAA Men’s and Women’s Basketball Season to Start on Nov. 25

  • After a summer of uncertainty, the NCAA Division I Council voted to move the start date for basketball back 15 days.
  • It’s an important step towards ensuring not only that athletes get a full basketball season but that the NCAA gets the lucrative payout that men’s March Madness rakes in every year.
ncaa-basketball-to-start-nov-25
Jamie Rhodes-USA TODAY Sports

On the same day that the Big Ten announced its plans to reverse course and play a fall football season, the NCAA Division I Council met to discuss the start date for college sports’ other money maker: basketball. 

The governing body announced that both the men’s and women’s 2020-21 basketball season would begin on Nov. 25, the day before Thanksgiving and 15 days after its originally scheduled start date of Nov. 10.

It’s an important step towards ensuring not only that athletes get a full basketball season — the 2020 season was cut short due to the onset of COVID-19 in March  — but that the NCAA and its member schools receive the lucrative payout that the men’s March Madness tournament rakes in every year. 

Two experts with whom Front Office Sports have spoken agreed that March Madness is essential to the financial model of NCAA sports, and the economic fallout for two consecutive years without it would be catastrophic for the governing body and its schools.

The start date was chosen so that schools could further control the environments for their athletes, as 75% of Division I schools will not have non-athlete students on campus by then, the announcement said.

Because of the Nov. 25 start date, both men’s and women’s teams can play a maximum of 27 games, four fewer games than the original maximum. This could mean that teams will play fewer non-conference games in particular, which usually serve as cash cows for schools. The new date could also encourage free-for-all in independent non-conference tournaments, organized by individual schools. 

To be eligible for March Madness, schools must play a minimum of 13 games, half of the original minimum. 

Official preseason practices can begin on Oct. 14.

“The new season start date near the Thanksgiving holiday provides the optimal opportunity to successfully launch the basketball season,” NCAA Senior Vice President of Basketball Dan Gavitt said in the statement. “It is a grand compromise of sorts and a unified approach that focuses on the health and safety of student-athletes competing towards the 2021 Division I basketball championships.”

In the wake of other fall sports championship postponements in August, NCAA President Mark Emmert suggested that the governing body might consider “bubble” models for those championships to be held in the spring. In September, the governing body attempted to trademark the phrase “Battle in the Bubble,” though the filing didn’t specifically say which sports the name could be used for.

While reports have surfaced of bubble-style non-conference basketball tournaments this fall, not everyone is sold on the idea. Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott has said that Pac-12 presidents did not think bubbles would be “appropriate” for college athletes.

Speaking of the Pac-12, it’s also unclear whether conferences like theirs, who have postponed all sports competition until Jan. 1, might be able to participate on the new start date. Though the postponed date could help pave a pathway to return, as these conferences will have more time to organize their teams before the season kicks off. In early September, Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott said a later start date might allow the conference, which recently secured daily rapid testing capabilities, to participate in basketball before Jan. 1. 

Duke’s Coach K: NCAA Can’t Afford Another March Madness Cancellation

Duke’s Coach K: NCAA Can’t Afford Another March Madness Cancellation

On Aug. 17, the NCAA said it expects to have a decision…
August 18, 2020

It’s also unclear what March Madness for men’s or women’s basketball will look like. An idea proposed by ACC men’s basketball head coaches to have a tournament open to every single Division I men’s basketball program was promptly struck down.

The Division I men’s basketball tournament is crucial for the financial health of the NCAA, as the body’s contract with CBS and Turner for tournament media rights pays out $10.8 billion over 14 years, from 2011 to 2024, according to a previous NCAA statement. The most recent contract extension with CBS and Turner, extending the deal for eight years into 2032, will pay out another $8.8 billion.

The NCAA received $867.5 million of those TV and marketing rights for men’s March Madness in 2018-19, which it funnels down to member schools. But the body took a major hit this past spring when COVID-19 canceled the tournament. As a result, the NCAA sent about $375 million less than was expected to Division I programs.

“We need to have the tournament. We can’t have it where two years in a row you do not have the NCAA tournament,” Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski said on ESPN Radio in August

The NCAA hasn’t made announcements regarding specific schedules or specific basketball safety protocols.

Linkedin
Whatsapp
Copy Link
Link Copied
Link Copied

What to Read

As CFB Programs Add Corporate Field Logos, Are Jersey Patches Next?

Texas is adding a sponsor’s logo to its football field this season.

FCC Chair Joins Fox–YouTube TV Fight With Big Game on the Line

The Trump appointee is now involved in another media carriage fight.
Oregon State Beavers quarterback Gevani McCoy (4) scrambles out of the pocket during an NCAA football game against UNLV at Reser Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024, in Corvallis, Ore.

Pac-12 Strikes New Football, Basketball Deal With The CW

The latest step in its resurrection after being picked apart in 2023.

Featured Today

‘You’re Going to Get Beat Up’: The Liberty’s All-Male Practice Squad

A select group suits up weekly to take on the defending champs.
August 24, 2025

The Honey Deuce Effect: How Tennis Perfected the Signature Cocktail

Sold every 1.5 seconds, they total more than $12 million in sales.
Dec 21, 2024; Austin, Texas, USA; Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning (16) warms up as the Texas Longhorns prepare to play the Clemson Tigers in the first round of the College Football Playoffs at Darrell K Royal Texas Memorial Stadium.
August 23, 2025

Schools Are Hesitant to Allow PE Into Their Athletic Departments

Regardless of budget, schools don’t believe the risk is worth the reward.
Oct 2, 2024; Rosemont, IL, USA; Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti speaks with the media during the 2024 Big Ten Women’s Basketball media day at Donald E. Stephens Convention Center.
August 22, 2025

‘Not Ready to Jump In’: Power 4 Commissioners Aren’t Sold on PE

Top leaders in college sports have yet to see a satisfactory proposal.
Apr 19, 2025; Boulder, CO, USA; Colorado Buffaloes head coach Deion Sanders during the spring game at Folsom Field.

Coach Prime Enters Year 3 at Colorado With New Challenges

The Buffaloes have sold out their season tickets yet again.
Oct 17, 2015; Evanston, IL, USA; A general view of the Northwestern Wildcats logo at midfield before the game against the Iowa Hawkeyes at Ryan Field.
August 25, 2025

Northwestern AD Singles Out Volleyball As Sport to Invest In

Northwestern athletic director Mark Jackson spoke to Front Office Sports.
August 27, 2025

Fox, YouTube TV Avoid Blackout With Short-Term Deal

The upcoming Texas–Ohio State clash will remain available to subscribers.
Sponsored

Gareth Bale on MLS vs EPL, Retirement & Buying Cardiff City

Gareth Bale shares his post-soccer business playbook.
Dec 21, 2024; Austin, Texas, USA; Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning (16) is tackled by Clemson Tigers defensive tackle Payton Page (55) during the second half of the CFP National playoff first round at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium
August 25, 2025

As College Football Season Kicks Off, NIL Deal Approval Process Still Lags

Many deals are stuck in “purgatory,” one power conference collective operator says.
August 25, 2025

$12.5M Freshman Bryce Underwood Named Michigan’s Starting QB

The Wolverines paid big money to land the highly touted recruit.
McDonald's All-American
August 22, 2025

NCAA Considers Making High School Athletes Register NIL Deals

The rule would likely be tested in court if adopted.
Nov 23, 2024; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Penn State Nittany Lions head coach James Franklin looks at quarterback Drew Allar (15) during the first quarter against the Minnesota Golden Gophers at Huntington Bank Stadium.
August 22, 2025

Private Equity Enters College Sports—Without the Equity

As college football starts, lending agreements have become PE’s best way in.