After the final set of NBA Draft withdrawals became official, the picture of college basketball’s 2025-26 season became much more clear. With NIL drawing a large amount of talent back for an extra season, the top of this season’s bracketology contenders could be loaded.

The NCAA uses the NET Rankings – an analytic algorithm which ranks every team in college basketball by splitting wins and losses into four categories (known as quadrants) – to help the selection committee build the 68-or-more-team bracket in March. In the absence of those numbers for next season, bracketology must rely on preseason projections of how each team will perform with their incoming transfers and recruits.

Another wrinkle in the offseason is the NCAA’s pursuit of tournament expansion, with 68, 72 and 76-team formats all on the table in 2026. Here is a way-too-early look at the 2026 NCAA Tournament field based on what we know.

Bracketology

Projected 1-line: Purdue, Houston, Duke, Florida
Last four byes: Iowa, Clemson, St. Mary’s, Oregon
In if Field of 68: Vanderbilt, Virginia, USC, Kansas State
In if Field of 72: LSU, Maryland, Cincinnati, Miami
In if Field of 76: Georgia, Butler, SMU, Ohio State

First Four (Dayton)

16 Norfolk State (MEAC) vs. 16 Southern (SWAC)
16 CCSU (NEC) vs. 16 Merrimack (MAAC)
11 Vanderbilt vs. 11 USC
11 Virginia vs. 11 Kansas State

Midwest (Chicago)

St. Louis
1 Purdue (Big Ten) vs. 16 CCSU/Merrimack
8 Gonzaga (WCC) vs. 9 Ole Miss
Portland
5 Arizona vs. 12 Yale (Ivy)
4 UConn vs. 13 Akron (MAC)
Philadelphia
6 Wisconsin vs. 11 Virginia/Kansas State
3 Tennessee vs. 14 McNeese (Southland)
Buffalo
7 Texas A&M vs. 10 Clemson
2 St. John’s (Big East) vs. 15 Vermont (AEC)

1-seed Purdue

Purdue again brings back a wealth of returning talent, including multiple All-Big Ten selections from the past season. Head coach Matt Painter complements what he had with a pair of big-time transfer portal players and an intriguing international prospect.

2-seed St. John’s

Under Rick Pitino, there is no question that St. John’s will continue to invest big in the roster, which got multiple top-end additions which promise to pay off big-time this year. How those players mesh with each other and the returning talent will set the tone.

West (San Jose)

Tampa
1 Florida (SEC) vs. 16 Colgate (Patriot)
8 Marquette vs. 9 Oklahoma
San Diego
5 Illinois vs. 12 UC Irvine (Big West)
4 Kansas vs. 13 Murray State (MVC)
Buffalo
6 Creighton vs. 11 Vanderbilt/USC
3 Iowa State vs. 14 James Madison (SBC)
Greenville
7 Indiana vs. 10 St. Mary’s
2 Auburn vs. 15 Oakland (Horizon)

1-seed Florida

Fresh off a national championship, Todd Golden promises to get a large portion of his frontcourt back this season. While they lose a lot at guard, they restocked in the transfer portal with multiple big splashes and got depth in a pair of Top 50 recruits on the way.

2-seed Auburn

Auburn had to overhaul its veteran roster which made a deep NCAA Tournament run last season, and did so through the transfer portal. Bruce Pearl complemented some high-profile moves with a combination of Junior College players and incoming freshmen.

East (Washington DC)

Oklahoma City
1 Houston (Big 12) vs. 16 SEMO (OVC)
8 Missouri vs. 9 NC State
San Diego
5 Louisville vs. 12 Grand Canyon (WAC)
4 Texas Tech vs. 13 Charleston (CAA)
Philadelphia
6 Texas vs. 11 St. Bonaventure (A10)
3 Michigan vs. 14 Lipscomb (ASUN)
Tampa
7 North Carolina vs. 10 Oregon
2 Alabama vs. 15 North Dakota State (Summit)

1-seed Houston

Houston brings a solid combination of retuning production and incoming talent which centers on the No. 1 recruiting class in the On3 Industry Rankings. With head coach Kelvin Sampson running the defense, the offensive upside of these players could make something special.

2-seed Alabama

Alabama overhauls the core of its team with multiple starts aging out of college basketball, but gets a big boost with the surprise decision of Labaron Philon to return for a sophomore campaign. Under Nate Oats, a new group of transfers and highly-ranked freshmen look ready to contend again.

South (Houston)

Greenville
1 Duke (ACC) vs. 16 Norfolk State/Southern
8 SDSU (MWC) vs. 9 Mississippi State
Portland
5 BYU vs. 12 Liberty (CUSA)
4 Michigan State vs. 13 High Point (Big South)
Oklahoma City
6 Arizona vs. 11 Memphis (AAC)
3 Arkansas vs. 14 Furman (SoCon)
St. Louis
7 Baylor vs. 10 Iowa
2 Kentucky vs. 15 Northern Colorado (Big Sky)

1-seed Duke

Duke has a clear plan under head coach Jon Scheyer to surround talented freshmen with a specific mold of veterans from the transfer portal. That vision is clear again with top-ranked prospects helped by returning talent and role players who bring length and defensive intensity.

2-seed Kentucky

Kentucky enters Year Two under Mark Pope with high hopes that he can combine the culture of last season’s team with the influx of incoming talent. Multiple Top 50 freshmen round out a group of returning production and high-end transfer portal prospects.

The college sports world remains in a state of limbo while U.S. District Court Judge Claudia Wilken enters her fourth week weighing final approval of the revised House v. NCAA settlement after defendants capitulated to her request to grandfather in any student-athletes that are negatively impacted by the settlement’s proposed roster limits.

Wilken’s delay — June 7 will mark a full month since she received the revised agreement — in finalizing the landmark House v. NCAA settlement continues to create consternation within the NCAA ranks, especially for Power Four coaches and administrators that are depending on it to help regulate the current free-wheeling world of NIL and the transfer portal.

That includes new North Carolina football coach Bill Belichick, the six-time Super Bowl-winning head coach who is entering his first season in college after five decades in the NFL. The 73-year-old Belichick opened up about the ongoing challenges collegiate coaches face within the currently unregulated system during a recent sitdown with ESPN’s Rece Davis alongside Clemson‘s Dabo Swinney.

“For me, it’s really pretty simple: I’d say, tell me what the rules are and then we’ll play by them,” Belichick said during ACC Spring Meetings last month on a recent episode of ESPN’s College GameDay Podcast. “Right now a lot of it is up in the air, and once the House settlement is done and once some rules are solidified, and honestly, it’ll probably take a year for this to settle in and see how things go. There will be some adjustments made, it sounds like the judge has already committed to that too, and we’ll take a look at things later on.

“Whatever it is, however the money is distributed and however the contracts are written, whatever the length of the contracts are and so forth, then we’ll figure it out,” Belichick continued. “But I’d say right now it’s a lot of ‘we’re not sure,’ ‘we’ll have to wait and see.’ Some people view it one way, some people view it another way. And you just have to come to an agreement on that. I think things will settle eventually, but right now they’re a little bit up in the air and we’ll see what happens when everything has a bit more declaration to it.”

Swinney chimed in: “Yeah, I mean, I think there are no rules right now. We just want some rules. Tell us what they are.”

Of course, what and how those rules would be implemented remain uncertain at the moment.

Report: NCAA to cede enforcement to new organization if House settlement receives approval

With a decision expected in the near future, college athletics continues to prepare for the House v. NCAA settlement. If Judge Wilken gives final approval, it would also lead to major changes in enforcement.

The NCAA would no longer be in charge of enforcement, ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported. Instead, a CEO of a new enforcement organization, the College Sports Commission, would be in charge of handing out punishments and deciding on whether rules have been violated.

The new CEO is expected to be from outside college athletics, according to ESPN. The expectation is that a hire would come soon after the House v. NCAA settlement is finalized.

“All the institutions are going to have new membership agreements that we’re all agreeing to these new rules,” an industry source told ESPN. “The CEO is going to have responsibility to make sure everything is enforced and the governance model is sound. It’s a critically important role for the future of college sports and college football.”

Yahoo! Sports insider Ross Dellenger also reported the Power Conferences drafted a contract that would bind schools to new enforcement rules while also waiving the right to sue over decisions. The proposed “affiliation” or “membership agreement” is directly tied to the new enforcement organization and is meant to be signed by all Power Conference schools and others that opt into the House settlement.

— On3’s Nick Schultz contributed to this report.

As money increasingly shapes the narrative in college athletics, UTSA’s upset win over Texas in Saturday’s NCAA baseball regional stood as a rare and resounding counterpoint that financial might doesn’t always guarantee victory.

In a classic budgetary David-vs-Goliath matchup, the Roadrunners toppled the Longhorns—a program that spends more than three-and-a-half times as much on its baseball operations. UTSA’s 9-7 victory in Austin vaulted the team into tonight’s NCAA Tournament regional final.

According to the schools’ latest NCAA financial disclosures, UTSA reported $1.73 million in total operating expenses for the 2024 fiscal year. Texas, by contrast, spent $6.35 million—excluding an additional $5.2 million in coaching severance.

By comparison, the SEC power reported $6.35 million in total baseball expenditures for the same period—excluding an additional $5.2 million paid out in coaching severance payments.

The disparity was stark across nearly every category.

UTSA paid head coach Pat Hallmark $272,296, while assistants Ryan Aguayo and Zach Butler earned a combined $240,741. (The program added a third assistant, Michael Cavazos, last August.) Texas spent $1.8 million on its former head coach David Pierce and another $1.22 million on three full-time assistants. After firing Pierce last June, the Longhorns hired former Texas A&M coach Jim Schlossnagle, who reportedly earns $1 million this season with a contract that rises to $2.68 million by 2026–27.

Recruiting budgets also underscored the resource gap: UTSA spent $28,001, while Texas allocated $147,739. UTSA reported $96,202 in equipment and uniform expenses—less than a third of Texas’s $317,227. Unlike Texas, UTSA had no support staff expenditures, because it had no support staff. That changed in October with the hiring of Luke Malone as director of player development and analytics.

Saturday’s victory was UTSA’s second over Texas this year, following a 12-inning, 8–7 regular season win on March 18. At 46–13, the Roadrunners entered Sunday’s regional final with momentum, having already defeated a more financially comparable Kansas State team—though even the Wildcats still drastically outspent UTSA with a $3.78 million budget in FY24.

On Sunday night, UTSA is set to face the winner of the earlier Texas–Kansas State elimination game in the Austin regional final.

Regardless of the outcome, the Roadrunners have already made a compelling case for at least one thing next season: a bigger budget. Then again, that would kind of defeat their point.

Cooper Flagg was a can’t-miss prospect during his time at Duke University, and he was apparently compensated more than accordingly.

The forward phenom Flagg earned a staggering money of NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness) money in his one year in college at Duke, sports journalist Howard Bryant revealed during a recent sitdown interview with Bob Costas. Bryant shared that Flagg had two NIL deals worth a combined $28 million, resulting in audible gasps from the crowd in attendance.

“He had a $13 million deal with New Balance and then $15 million with Fanatics,” said Bryant, per Brad Crawford of CBS Sports.

Mind you, Flagg’s NIL deals with New Balance and Fanatics were the only ones that Bryant mentioned. The 18-year-old Flagg also had known deals with other companies such as Gatorade and Cort Furniture, so his total earnings were definitely more than $28 million (assuming that Bryant’s numbers are accurate).

Flagg, the 2025 National College Player of the Year, is (along with Victor Wembanyama) one of the most hyped prospects of the last 20 years. Plus unlike Wembanyama, Flagg played college basketball in the United States for a top blue-blood school in Duke. That created a very rare confluence of factors which turned Flagg into an absolute marketing monster.

But that number of (at least) $28 million is still jaw-dropping, especially since Flagg will “only” make an estimated $13.8 million in NBA salary next season (per the rookie scale for the presumptive No. 1 overall pick). On top of that, Flagg is still somehow continuing to grow, so NBA opponents will have to deal with a complete behemoth next season (likely on the Dallas Mavericks, who hold the top overall draft pick).