2026-27 Men’s College Basketball Early Season Tournaments
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Since teams are now able to schedule up to 32 regular-season games with no multi-team event exemption/requirement—starting with this season—this page will focus solely on bracketed and other multi-day/multi-game events (think Players Era and round-robin tournaments). Since there’s no need to set up scheduling arrangements masquerading as exempt tournaments, there’s no longer a need for me to track what every single D1 program is doing.
Teams may also now participate in more than one tournament per season!
* = pending realignment on 7/1/2026
Alabama A&M MTE
Fri.–Sun., Nov. 13–15: Normal, Ala.
2 games, triangular round-robin (The D1 Docket)
Alabama A&M (SWAC)
Cleveland State (Horizon)
West Florida (ASUN, reclassifying*)
Rainbow Classic
Nov. TBA: Honolulu (Rocco Miller)
Format TBD
Cal State Fullerton (Big West)
Hawai’i (Mountain West*, host)
Portland (WCC)
1 TBD
Players Era 8
Tues.–Thurs., Nov. 17–19: Las Vegas
3 games, traditional bracket
Quarterfinals (Tues., Nov. 17)
Florida (SEC) vs. Notre Dame (ACC)
Houston (Big 12) vs. Rutgers (Big Ten)
Kansas (Big 12) vs. UNLV (MW)
West Virginia (Big 12) vs. Auburn (SEC)
Baha Mar Hoops Bahamas Championship
Thurs. and Fri.. Nov. 19 and 20: Nassau, Bahamas
2 games, traditional bracket (Rocco Miller)
NC State (ACC)
Seton Hall (Big East)
Wisconsin (Big Ten)
1 TBD
U.S. Virgin Islands Paradise Jam
Fri.–Mon., Nov. 20–23: Charlotte Amalie, V.I.
3 games, traditional bracket
Indiana State (MVC) (Derek Harper, The Tribune-Star)
Southern Illinois (MVC) (SIU)
Stephen F. Austin (Southland) (SFA)
5 TBA
Charleston Classic
Fri. and Sun, Nov. 20 and 22 (probable): Charleston, S.C.
2 games, traditional brackets (Rocco Miller, Jon Rothstein)
Dayton (Atlantic 10)
Minnesota (Big Ten)
Northwestern (Big Ten)
Oklahoma State (Big 12)
Utah (Big 12)
Virginia Tech (ACC)
2 TBD
Northern Kentucky MTE
Mon.–Wed., Nov. 23–25: Highland Heights, Ky.
2 games, triangular round-robin (The D1 Docket)
Bellarmine (ASUN)
Georgia Southern (Sun Belt)
Northern Kentucky (Horizon, host)
Maui Invitational
Mon.–Wed., Nov. 23–25: Lahaina, Hawai’i
3 games, traditional bracket
Arizona (Big 12)
BYU (Big 12)
Clemson (ACC)
Colorado State (Pac-12*)
Mississippi (SEC)
Providence (Big East)
VCU (Atlantic 10)
Washington (Big Ten)
Fort Myers Tip-Off
Tues. and Thurs., Nov. 24 and 26: Fort Myers, Fla.
2 games, preset matchups
Tues. Nov. 24
Pitt (ACC) vs. Oklahoma (SEC)
DePaul (Big East) vs. Purdue (Big Ten)
Thurs., Nov. 26
Pitt vs. DePaul
Oklahoma vs. Purdue
Cancún Challenge
Tues. and Wed., Nov. 24 and 25: Cancún, Mexico
3 games, traditional bracket + 1 on-campus game
Mayan Division
Detroit Mercy (Horizon)
North Dakota (Summit)
Northern Colorado (Big Sky)
Southeastern Louisiana (Southland)
Riviera Division
Kennesaw State (CUSA)
UTEP (MW*)
2 TBD
Players Era 16
Tues. and Thurs.–Sat., Nov. 24 and 26–28 Las Vegas
3 games, traditional bracket, plus overall championship game
Quarterfinals (Tues., Nov. 24)
Left Bracket
Tennessee (SEC) vs. Maryland (Big Ten)
San Diego State (Pac-12*) vs. Iowa State (Big 12)
St. John’s (Big East) vs. Oregon (Big Ten)
Louisville (ACC) vs. Texas Tech (Big 12)
Right Bracket
Gonzaga (Pac-12*) vs. Kansas State (Big 12)
Baylor (Big 12) vs. Alabama (SEC)
Michigan (Big Ten) vs. Creighton (Big East)
TCU (Big 12) vs. Miami (Fla.) (ACC)
Acrisure Series
Thanksgiving week: Palm Springs, Calif.
Format TBD (Jon Rothstein, x2, x3, x4)
Pod 1 (Nov. 25 and 26)
USC (Big Ten) vs. Arizona State (Big 12)
SMU (ACC) vs. LSU (SEC)
Cal Baptist (Big West*)
Colorado (Big 12)
Fordham (Atlantic 10)
Fresno State (Pac-12*)
Grand Canyon (Mountain West)
Loyola Marymount (WCC)
Nevada (Mountain West)
Oregon State (Pac-12)
San Diego (WCC)
San Francisco (WCC)
Santa Clara (WCC)
Seattle (WCC)
South Carolina (SEC)
Stanford (SEC)
Tulsa (American)
UC Irvine (Big West)
UC San Diego (Big West)
Utah State (Pac-12*)
Washington State (Pac-12)
Live Oak Holiday Classic
Wed.–Sat., Nov. 25–28: Wilmington, N.C.
3 games, round-robin (Rocco Miller)
Liberty (CUSA)
Princeton (Ivy)
St. Thomas (Summit)
UNCW (CAA, host)
ESPN Events Invitational
Thurs. and Fri, Nov. 26 and 27 (probable): Lake Buena Vista, Fla.
Format TBD (Jon Rothstein)
Boston College (ACC)
Cincinnati (Big 12)
Georgia (SEC)
UCF (Big 12)
Others TBD
Battle 4 Atlantis
Thurs. and Fri, Nov. 26 and 27 (probable): Paradise Island, Bahamas
2 games, preset matchups (Matt Norlander)
Group 1
Marquette and Xavier (Big East) vs. Texas A&M (SEC) and Virginia (ACC)
Group 2
Memphis (American) vs. Mississippi State (SEC) (Rocco Miller)
Penn State (Big Ten) vs. Wake Forest (ACC)
Rady Children’s Invitational
Thurs. and Fri, Nov. 26 and 27: San Diego
2 games, traditional bracket
Semifinals (Thurs., Nov. 26)
Georgetown (Big East) vs. Texas (SEC)
UCLA (Big Ten) vs. Saint Mary’s (WCC)
Boise MTE
Fri.–Sun., Nov. 27–29: Boise, Idaho (Mountain America Center)
3 games, traditional round-robin (Rocco Miller)
Boise State (Pac-12*)
Drake (MVC)
North Dakota State (Summit)
North Texas (American)
Lafayette Classic
Fri.–Sun., Nov. 27–29: Easton, Pa.
3 games, traditional round-robin (Rocco Miller)
Lafayette (Patriot, host)
Le Moyne (NEC)
Maine (AE)
Niagara (Metro)
Stony Brook MTE
Nov. TBA: Stony Brook, N.Y. (Rocco Miller)
2 games, triangular round-robin
Lindenwood (OVC)
New Haven (NEC, reclassifying)
Stony Brook (CAA, host)
Hawai’i Thanksgiving Week Event
Nov. TBA: Honolulu (Rocco Miller)
Format TBD
Fresno State (Pac-12*)
Hawai’i (Mountain West*, host)
Sacramento State (Big West*)
1 TBD
The Dallas Tournament
Fri.–Mon., Dec. 18–21: Frisco, Texas
2 games, set matchups (Rocco Miller)
Fri., Dec. 18
Colorado State (Pac-12*) vs. Nevada (Mountain West)
Florida Atlantic (American) vs. Loyola Chicago (Atlantic 10)
Sat., Dec. 19
Utah State (Pac-12*) vs. Tulsa (American)
San Francisco (WCC) vs. George Washington (Atlantic 10)
Sun., Dec. 20
Florida Atlantic vs. Colorado State
Loyola Chicago vs. Nevada
Mon., Dec. 21
Tulsa vs. San Francisco
Utah State vs. George Washington
Southern California Event
Mon.–Wed., Dec. 21–23: San Juan Capistrano, Calif. (Rocco Miller)
Boise State and Oregon State (Pac-12) vs. New Mexico (MW) and Santa Clara (WCC)
Hawai’i Holiday Event (Diamond Head Classic?)
Dec.. TBA: Honolulu (Rocco Miller)
Format TBD
Hawai’i (Mountain West*, host)
3 TBD
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