College Basketball 2026-27 Key Dates: Season Start, Selection Sunday, March Madness and Both Final Fours

The 2026-27 college basketball season opens on Sunday, Nov. 1, 2026, with Notre Dame against Villanova at 9:30 a.m. Eastern Time (ET) in Rome, and it ends with the men’s championship game on Monday, Apr. 5, 2027, according to NCAA.com. Selection Sunday for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) tournaments is Mar. 14, 2027.

This page puts the season start and every March Madness round into one table, men’s and women’s side by side, with the days left from today, Oct. 27, 2026. A one-page printable of the same dates is below the table.

What are the college basketball 2026-27 key dates?

The table uses the dates NCAA.com lists for the men’s and women’s 2027 tournaments. The weekdays and the day counts are our own calculation, counted from Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2026 to the first date in each cell.

Stage	Men’s	Women’s	Days from Oct. 27 (men’s / women’s)
Season opener	Sun., Nov. 1, 9:30 a.m. ET, Rome	Sun., Nov. 1, after the men’s game, Rome	5 / 5
Selection Sunday	Sun., Mar. 14	Sun., Mar. 14	138 / 138
Opening Round (12 games)	Tue., Mar. 16 and Wed., Mar. 17	Wed., Mar. 17 and Thu., Mar. 18	140 / 141
First Round (32 games)	Thu., Mar. 18 and Fri., Mar. 19	Fri., Mar. 19 and Sat., Mar. 20	142 / 143
Second Round (16 games)	Sat., Mar. 20 and Sun., Mar. 21	Sun., Mar. 21 and Mon., Mar. 22	144 / 145
Sweet 16 (eight games)	Thu., Mar. 25 and Fri., Mar. 26	Fri., Mar. 26 and Sat., Mar. 27	149 / 150
Elite Eight (four games)	Sat., Mar. 27 and Sun., Mar. 28	Sun., Mar. 28 and Mon., Mar. 29	151 / 152
Final Four	Sat., Apr. 3, Ford Field, Detroit	Fri., Apr. 2, Nationwide Arena, Columbus, Ohio	158 / 157
Championship game	Mon., Apr. 5, Detroit	Sun., Apr. 4, Columbus	160 / 159

The 2027 tournaments are the first with 76 teams, up from 68, NCAA.com says. That adds a 12-game Opening Round before the 64-team First Round. Women’s early rounds are at campus sites.

When does college basketball start in 2026?

NCAA.com says the first game is at 9:30 a.m. ET on Sunday, Nov. 1, when Notre Dame plays Villanova at the Palazzetto dello Sport in Rome, Italy. NCAA.com says the women’s teams play after the men’s game in a double-header. Games continue on Monday, Nov. 2.

Monday is the usual first day under a rule the NCAA approved in 2024. The NCAA said then that “the new rules permit schools to begin playing their first regular-season contest on the Monday.” The Rome doubleheader is the noted exception.

On Nov. 2, NCAA.com lists the “Field of 68,” a season tipoff event of eight games that starts at midnight ET Monday, with games streaming on the event’s YouTube channel and on X. The first is High Point against Liberty in Rock Hill, S.C.

What early-season events are scheduled in November?

Date	Event	Place
Tue., Nov. 10	State Farm Champions Classic: Michigan State vs. Duke and Kansas vs. Kentucky	United Center, Chicago
Tue., Nov. 17 to Thu., Nov. 19	Players Era 8	Las Vegas
Mon., Nov. 23 to Wed., Nov. 25	Maui Invitational	Hawai’i
Tue., Nov. 24 to Sat., Nov. 28	Players Era 16	Las Vegas

ESPN Events gives the Champions Classic date and matchups; tip times and television are not in the sources we used. NCAA.com gives the other three events. The Thanksgiving week overlap is easier to plan next to the November 2026 printable calendar, and the Thanksgiving football schedule covers the other games that week.

Where are the 2027 NCAA tournament games played?

The men’s Final Four and championship game are at Ford Field in Detroit. The women’s Final Four and championship game are at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. NCAA.com’s men’s regional list has the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles (West), T-Mobile Center in Kansas City (Midwest), Madison Square Garden in New York (East) and Frost Bank Center (South). The women’s Sweet 16 and Elite Eight are in Philadelphia and Las Vegas.

When are the conference tournaments?

The Big Ten men’s tournament runs Mar. 9 to 14, 2027 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, according to the venue’s event page. Dates for the Southeastern Conference (SEC), Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), Big 12 and Big East tournaments are not in the sources we used, so check each conference’s site. Mark them on the March 2027 printable calendar once they are set.

Is there a printable college basketball schedule?

Yes. The one-page list has 18 dated rows from the Nov. 1 opener to the Apr. 5 championship game, with weekdays, in a color version and an ink-saver version. For other winter sports plans, see the National Basketball Association (NBA) Cup 2026 schedule and the College Football Playoff rankings schedule.

NCAA.com’s season-start article gives Selection Sunday as March 17, which does not match the men’s and women’s tournament pages (Sunday, March 14). March 17, 2027 is a Wednesday, so this page uses March 14.