How does the College Basketball format work?

College basketball sets a stage for college student-athletes to showcase their basketball skills, which helps them to become professional players in the NBA and WNBA.

The National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) supervises all college basketball-related games and tournaments in America. They organize an annual tournament for men’s and women’s college basketball teams in search of the ultimate champions.

The NCAA rules and guidelines help college basketball fans watch fast-paced games. College basketball is also supported by various media agencies that shed light on male and female talents, allowing fans to learn about them.

College Basketball format

The NCAA has established its format to conduct men’s and women’s college basketball games annually. These teams are divided into several conferences based on the Divisions they are in. Each college has a men’s college basketball team and a women’s college basketball team. The college format starts every year with the pre-season, in which these college basketball teams play exhibition games.

The regular season starts after the pre-season. The men’s and the women’s college basketball teams under every conference compete against one another to become that conference’s regular season champions. Post that, the conference holds a men’s and women’s basketball tournament, which is regarded as the postseason.

The teams that are selected in the postseason follow a single-elimination format to reach the Conference Tournament finals. One men’s basketball team and one women’s basketball team become the champions of the year in every conference. These conference champions then advance to play in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament and NCAA women’s basketball tournament.

In the NCAA men’s and women’s tournaments, there are 68 different teams that play a single-elimination tournament to reach the finals. This is done through the First Four (Play-in-round), First Round (Round of 64), Second Round (Round of 32), Sweet 16 (Regional Semifinals), Elite Eight (Regional Finals), Final Four (National Semifinals), and finally the National Championship. The teams winning these become the NCAA men’s and women’s basketball champions of the year.

However, despite being conference champions, some men’s and women’s college basketball teams cannot make it to the NCAA Tournaments. In such cases, they participate in the National Invitation Tournament (NIT Tournament) and Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament (WBIT). 32 men’s and women’s college basketball teams play in each of these tournaments. Via knockouts, there are four teams who make the Final Fours (semifinals) and then the last two teams battle it out in the finals to become NIT Tournament and WBIT Tournament Champions of the Year.

College Basketball Divisions

There are three divisions for men’s and women’s college basketball under the NCAA. Division I consists of the highest levels of competition among men's and women‘s college basketball teams.

Division II provides medium levels of competition for men’s and women’s college basketball teams. Finally, Division III includes the schools and colleges that do not provide scholarships to their athletes and, therefore is the lowest level of competition. Each division gets its own men’s college basketball and women’s college basketball champions every year.

UConn Huskies won the NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament and the South Carolina Gamecocks won the NCAA Division I women’s basketball tournament in 2024. Minnesota State Mavericks won the NCAA Division II men’s basketball tournament and the NCAA Division II women’s basketball tournament in 2024. Finally, Trine University Thunder won the NCAA Division III men’s basketball tournament and NYU Violets won the NCAA Division III women’s basketball tournament in 2024.