A change is coming to the construction of regular-season schedules in men’s and women’s college basketball.

On Wednesday, June 25, the NCAA Division I Council approved a rule allowing schools to play a maximum of 32 games before the postseason starting with the 2026-27 season. Teams are currently allowed a maximum of 31 regular-season games.

In the new approval, the committee’s new legislation also removes the current legislated requirements that teams are held to for participating in multiple-team events (MTE). The adoption of the 32-game maximum model was proposed by the Division I Men’s and Women’s Basketball Oversight Committees back in March.

REQUIRED READING: NCAA commissioners pledge to follow NIL rules governing college athletics after settlement

Though the 32-game model was approved, the NCAA’s news release on June 25 noted teams can play fewer games. The change also “does not limit the opportunity for multiple team events to operate or exist,” the release said.

The adoption of the 32-game regular-season model is the first change to the regular season schedule format in college basketball since the 2006-07 season.

Under the current structure, teams were able to schedule 28 or 29 regular-season games with either an additional two-game or three-game multiple-team event for a maximum of 31 games. Teams also had the option of scheduling 29 regular-season games without a multiple-team event part of their schedule.

“I greatly appreciate the significant amount of work that the MBOC and WBOC conducted, and the strong collaboration that took place, to put forth this legislation and look toward the future of regular-season scheduling. This proposed legislation does not require anyone to change their regular-season schedule and provides simplicity and greater flexibility as teams review their team and scheduling needs each season,” Dan Butterly, chair of the Men’s Basketball Oversight Committee and commissioner of the Big West Conference, said in a statement in March.

“The opportunity very much exists for teams to continue to play in multiple-team or bracketed events to prepare them for postseason play.”

The NCAA noted that oversight committees determined that the rule change provided greater scheduling flexibility for Division I programs. Teams can now play an additional game at a multi-team event or schedule a late-season marquee non-conference game — perhaps at a neutral site — to help boost their NET ranking and Quad 1 record for the NCAA Tournament.

In a time of college basketball (and college athletics) where more neutral-site non-conference games are taking place and the first NIL-driven multi-team event, The Players’ Era Festival, is now up to 18 teams, the allowance of having that additional regular-season game can be financially beneficial for teams and players.

The 32-game regular season schedule adoption comes a month after the NCAA’s Playing Rules Oversight Panel approved changes to the pace and flow of the game in men’s basketball. These adoptions included a coach’s challenge at any point in a game to review out-of-bounds calls, basket interference/goaltending and whether a secondary defender was in the restricted-area arc. 

The USA TODAY app gets you to the heart of the news — fast. Download for award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and more.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Michigan Athletics announced on Thursday (June 26) a $6 million gift from Matthew and Nicole Lester in support of capital costs associated with the newly renovated and expanded football locker room in Schembechler Hall. Ten percent of the gift will be designated specifically to ongoing maintenance requirements and long-term infrastructure needs.

“Matt and Nicole Lester have been nothing short of extraordinary in their unwavering support of our student-athletes, and our gratitude for their generosity knows no bounds,” said Warde Manuel, the Donald R. Shepherd Director of Athletics. “Their profound understanding of the transformative power of unique experiences and the indelible impact they can have on a young person’s life is truly inspiring.”

The Lesters wish to recognize the 2023 national champion football team by naming the new lounge area The Team 144 Players Lounge established by the Matthew and Nicole Lester Family. They will also officially name the barbershop Mike’s Barbershop, after two-time team captain and 2023 All-American defensive back Mike Sainristil.

“Our gift honors the 2023 national championship team, Team 144,” Matt Lester explained. “To me, Team 144 personified selflessness and brotherhood beyond any measure, and I believe these traits were integral to the undefeated success they achieved on the field. Once the meetings, film sessions, workouts and practices at Schembechler Hall are over, it is my hope that the players lounge will provide a space for future teams to relax and for the players to develop the connection and camaraderie necessary to win championships.

“We are extremely pleased to build a first-class barbershop in Schembechler Hall. There is nothing more relaxing than a shave and a haircut, and there was no one on Team 144 who was more clean-shaven, stylish or well-groomed than the two-time captain Mike Sainristil. I know the young men who play football for the University of Michigan will value the convenience and the service of a barbershop, and it is a way to honor Mike Sainristil’s legacy of leadership, commitment and care that he delivered every day as a Michigan Wolverine, both on and off the field.”

“The Lester Family holds a special place in the hearts of myself and many of my teammates,” said Sainristil, an All-American and captain of the 2023 national championship team. “I’m deeply humbled and honored that the Lesters valued my efforts and daily dedication to the team as well as my sense of style enough to name the barbershop in the locker room after me. During my time at Michigan, I forged a close bond with Matt and his family, and his mentorship in business and life exemplifies what makes our university truly exceptional. I am incredibly fortunate to call Matt a friend.”

The Lesters are longtime supporters of Michigan Athletics. The family endowed the Matthew and Nicole Lester Family Defensive Coordinator position in 2017 and made significant contributions to the Stephen M. Ross Facilities Project during the University’s previous campaign, Victors for Michigan.

Through Princeton Management, a real estate property management and development company, Matt offers a summer internship program for U-M football student-athletes. He is also a founding member of the Champions Circle NIL collective specifically for football, and supports men’s and women’s basketball, swimming and diving, and women’s gymnastics through NIL.

The family provides philanthropic support across the University, including the School for Environment and Sustainability, LS&A, the Museum of Art, the University Musical Society and medical school. Matt earned his bachelor’s degree from U-M’s College of Literature, Science and the Arts in 1987.

With the “House v. NCAA” settlement sparking uncertainty about the future of college soccer, we’re checking in with Steven Bank, Professor of Business Law at the UCLA School of Law. Bank is also an avid soccer fan and has been involved in the game at many levels: player, youth coach, referee, club administrator and soccer dad.

His UCLA School of Law courses include “International and Comparative Sports Law” and “Law, Lawyering, and the Beautiful Game.”

SOCCER AMERICA: The “House v. NCAA” settlement stipulates that the NCAA will pay nearly $2.8 billion to former college athletes who were denied NIL (Name, Image, Likeness) opportunities before July 2021. Will any of that go to soccer players?

STEVEN BANK: The short answer is that most soccer players will receive very little. The vast majority of the damages settlement is earmarked for specific injuries to football and basketball players relating to not receiving compensation for video game or broadcast revenue.

Some soccer players who received third-party NIL payments after they were permitted and also played before they were permitted may be eligible for a lost opportunities fund, but most soccer players are likely only eligible for the 5% of the $600 million additional compensation fund part of the settlement that is earmarked for participants in DI sports other than football or basketball and only if they received a partial or full scholarship.

Depending upon the number of participants in all these other sports and the number of claims filed, the amount the average individual soccer player might receive isn’t going to be more than a couple of hundred dollars and it could be substantially less.

Moreover, the damage settlement is currently under appeal on the grounds that it constitutes gender discrimination under Title IX for allocating the overwhelming amount of the funds to participants in male sports. So, right now, back-pay damages are paused and the whole allocation formula could change.

SA: Going forward, the settlement allows schools to directly pay athletes, to share up to $20.5 million per school per year with players starting 2025-26. How will this impact men’s and women’s soccer? Are only football, men’s basketball and women’s basketball players going to receive compensation from their schools?

STEVEN BANK: Schools are permitted to decide how they allocate the funds and that is likely going to evolve over time.

In theory, a school could allocate the money equally among all athletes, but in practice, they will probably allocate most to football and basketball and a few other popular and successful sports on their campus and a small amount would be left for the other sports. 

Purdue, for example, announced that $300,000 would be set-aside for non-revenue sports to retain or recruit high-level athletes and the remainder would go to football, men’s and women’s basketball, and volleyball. Kansas announced that it was including women’s soccer among seven sports that would receive the vast majority of the revenue share.  I expect that there will be other schools that will elevate their women’s soccer team to that group too because of their success and popularity and to equalize the payments between men’s and women’s sports. 

SA: The NCAA will no longer maintain sport-specific scholarship limits. Will that decrease scholarships available in men’s soccer? Women’s soccer?

RALEIGH, N.C. – NC State softball head coach Lindsay Leftwich picked up three commitments from the transfer portal as Kadie Becker (South Carolina), Sarah Johnson (Gaston College), and Maia Townsend (LSU) have signed with the Pack for the 2026 season.
 
Becker and Johnson join the Pack with two years of eligibility remaining while Townsend has one.
 
Kadie Becker | RHP | Granite Falls, N.C. (South Carolina/Charlotte)
Becker owns a career earned run average of 5.30 and 3-1 record in the circle. She made 12 appearances during both her freshman and sophomore campaigns. During the 2025 season at South Carolina, she struck out a pair of batters against Georgia State and LSU.
 
Sarah Johnson | OF | Charlotte, N.C. (Gaston College/McLennan CC)
Johnson joins the Pack after spending last season at Gaston College. The outfielder owned a .500 batting average and .825 slugging percentage during the 2025 campaign. She recorded 103 hits on the season, including a season high four hits against both Florence-Darlington Technical College and Pellissippi State.
 
Maia Townsend | OF | Morris, AL (LSU)
Townsend heads to Raleigh after spending the last three-years of her career at LSU.  The senior native appeared in 72 games and scored 22 runs over the course of her career. During her sophomore campaign, she recorded a career high 10 runs throughout the season.
 

Florida’s NCAA Tournament Title Game Revealed to be Most-Watched Basketball Game of the Year originally appeared on Athlon Sports.

The Florida Gators basketball program was must-watch TV last season, and the numbers back it up.

Advertisement

Last season, Florida posted a sparkling 36-4 record, winning their final 12 games — nine against ranked opponents — to secure their third national title in program history.

The historic run, alongside the legitimacy of their competition, kept the basketball world enchanted.

According to the College Basketball Report on Twitter, Florida participated in two of the most-viewed basketball games of the 2024-25 season. Notably, Florida’s 65-63 win over the Houston Cougars was the most-watched basketball game of the year, garnering 18.1 million views and narrowly surpassing the 16.4 million viewers for Game 7 of the NBA Finals between the Indiana Pacers and Oklahoma City Thunder.

The fourth most-viewed basketball game of the season also involved the Gators. Their Final Four matchup against the Auburn Tigers drew 14.8 million watchers.

Advertisement

Auburn entered the game with an impeccable 32-5 record while housing SEC Player of the Year Johni Broome. Florida would catch fire late, winning 79-73.

Still, the championship game against Houston captivated the nation, especially since their Big 12 foe had a 35-4 record and was fresh off a massive upset against the Cooper Flagg-led Duke Blue Devils.

The two juggernauts engaged in a tightly contested back-and-forth, but the Gators used elite defense late to emerge victorious. 2025 marked the team’s third title bout and their first since winning back-to-back championships under the guidance of head coach Billy Donovan and stars Al Horford and Joakim Noah in the mid-2000s.

Related: College Basketball World Reacts to Xaivian Lee’s $6 Million NIL Move

This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 26, 2025, where it first appeared.

Events at over 25 programs will create premium Learfield Impact NIL content and brand opportunities for over 350 student-athletes

Dallas, TX (June 26, 2025) — Learfield, the leading media and technology company powering college athletics, and Emmy Award-winning Learfield Studios, is scaling its Name, Image, Likeness (NIL) Content Day initiative to over 25 of the nation’s most prominent athletic programs including: Ohio State, Texas, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Iowa State, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Mizzou, NC State, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Purdue, SMU, Tennessee, Texas Tech, Washington, Wisconsin, Abilene Christian, Colorado State, Southern Illinois, UAB, and UT Arlington.

Designed to streamline NIL opportunities and reduce in-season demands on student-athletes, NIL Content Days will serve up to 350 athletes, capable of generating 750 pieces of original branded content across 27 schools.

“Learfield Impact NIL services sit at the intersection of content creation, brand integration, and on-campus operations, creating a unique opportunity to turn a single day of access into a season’s worth of NIL value for student-athletes, brand partners, and schools,” said Learfield Senior Vice President & Head of Content, Grant Jones. “These Content Days are built for efficiency, scale and with the full Learfield ecosystem in mind.”

NIL Content Day will feature up to five customized creation stations focused on sponsorship storytelling, equipping student-athletes with premium assets encompassing Learfield’s expansive enterprise, including multimedia rights, digital and social platforms, radio broadcast voiceovers, Paciolan’s ticketing, fundraising, and marketing ambassador program, and CLC’s licensed merchandise marketing.  Learfield’s local sports property teams will tap into their network of extensive partnership relationships and leverage Learfield’s Compass NIL platform to facilitate NIL dealmaking.

“Our student-athletes are balancing more than ever in today’s college landscape. As the first athletic program to pilot Learfield’s NIL Content Day last summer, we saw firsthand how it can give our athletes a focused window of time to create high-quality, brand-ready content that drives real value and opportunities without adding to their in-season demands,” said Ross Bjork, The Ohio State University’s Senior Vice President, and Wolfe Foundation-Eugene Smith Endowed Athletics Director.

As part of Learfield Impact, this initiative reinforces the company’s commitment to industry-leading NIL services centered around three foundational pillars: on-campus support, strategic content creation, and technology-powered dealmaking. The culmination of these pillars delivers the greatest NIL opportunities for each organization and its athletes.

“We are the industry leader in delivering real NIL campaigns, which humanize brand partnerships and invoke trust in their university communities,” said Solly Fulp, Executive Vice President of NIL Growth & Development from Learfield. “Student-athletes’ time is a premium and providing dealmaking efficiencies is critical. NIL content days is a creative way to help our schools and student-athletes tap into real NIL opportunities by capturing curated content in a single setting.”

Explore behind-the-scenes footage and photos from recent NIL Content Days here.

About Learfield
Learfield is the leading media and technology company powering college athletics. Through its digital and physical platforms, Learfield owns and leverages a deep data set and relationships in the industry to drive revenue, growth, brand awareness, and fan engagement for brands, sports, and entertainment properties. With ties to over 1,200 collegiate institutions and over 12,000 local and national brand partners, Learfield’s presence in college sports and live events delivers influence and maximizes reach to target audiences. With solutions for a 365-day, 24/7 fan experience, Learfield enables schools and brands to connect with fans through licensed merchandise, game ticketing, donor identification for athletic programs, exclusive custom content, innovative marketing initiatives, NIL solutions, and advanced digital platforms. Since 2008, it has served as title sponsor for the acclaimed Learfield Directors’ Cup, supporting athletic departments across all divisions.