College Sports
College Basketball 2026: NIL, Florida and 76 teams
College basketball in 2026 is not what it used to be. Everything increasingly revolves around money, NIL deals and how teams rebuild their roster every single year. Florida starts the season as preseason number one, mainly because they have something almost nobody else has right now: the same core as last year.
Florida at number one through continuity
Florida has kept a large part of their team together. In a time when players can easily transfer through the portal, that is fairly rare.
With players like Alex Condon, Boogie Fland and Reuben Chinyelu you have a group that already knows each other. That makes them more stable than most top teams that have to start over every year.
NIL and why everything has changed
NIL has genuinely changed college basketball. Players can now earn serious money while still in college. As a result players stay in school longer, transfer more quickly when a better opportunity arises elsewhere, and rosters get rebuilt every season.
The most important shift from the old days: college is no longer just a stepping stone to the NBA but has become a valid path in its own right. Players like Braylon Mullins show that. For some players staying in college is better for their development, their role and their income. The NBA is no longer automatically the only logical next step.
More big games outside the conference
Alongside traditional tournaments like Maui you are seeing more standalone top matchups at neutral venues. Not just in November or a fixed tournament week, but spread throughout the entire season. That is mainly driven by TV and streaming wanting more marquee matchups outside conference play.
A good example is the deal between Duke and Amazon Prime Video. It features three major non-conference games, all rematches or top matchups between teams that have already played each other before.
It shows that big games are increasingly standing on their own, separate from tournaments or conference schedules.
The tournament grows to 76 teams
From the 2026-27 season the NCAA tournament holds 76 teams instead of 68. The eight extra places go to at-large teams. The opening round grows from four games to twelve: 24 teams play over the first two days for the last twelve places in the 64-team bracket.
For the top programmes little changes. For the teams on the bubble a lot changes: a season that used to fall just short now often does enough. That makes schedule building even more important, because an expansion is always decided on the last few places.
What this means
Midseason tournaments remain important, but standalone event games are becoming increasingly normal. Money and media are increasingly shaping what the season looks like. Players are also making more deliberate choices about their path and no longer only look to the NBA as their end goal.
Everything in college basketball ultimately comes down to money. NIL means players can genuinely choose what works for them, and that changes the entire system. Florida shows you can still win with stability and a consistent core, but the rest of the sport is moving more and more towards a market where money, exposure and media contracts shape how teams and careers are built.