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Do not be shocked to see some potential nonconference rematches within the second spherical of the NCAA Event bracket when the sphere of 68 is revealed March 15 throughout Choice Choice Sunday on CBS.
One of many points on the NCAA’s radar for 2026 is how the proliferation of blockbuster video games in November and December might make such conferences largely unavoidable through the bracketing course of.
“I feel it is fairly attainable that we are going to see extra of these nonconference repeat matchups this 12 months on account of the very fact that there have been extra high-major versus high-major, ranked video games within the high 25 this 12 months,” NCAA senior vice chairman of basketball Dan Gavitt advised CBS Sports activities.
Bracketology: Houston squanders likelihood to validate itself as fourth No. 1 seed as UConn elevates
David Cobb
Attempting to keep away from rematches
Traditionally, bracketing rules prioritized avoiding nonconference rematches by the Candy 16.
Present NCAA bracketing rules state that nonconference rematches “ought to be prevented within the First 4 and first spherical.” Avoiding potential second spherical rematches of such contests is listed as a “secondary consideration” for the committee.
That phrasing grants the committee some leeway to provide a bracket that accommodates potential Spherical of 32 rematches between the litany of projected NCAA Event groups that performed one another in a historic November/December for school basketball.
There have been 175 common season nonconference video games performed between high-major groups thus far this season, and that tally will rise once more Saturday, when No. 1 Michigan and No. 3 Duke sq. off. Against this, there have been 146 such video games final season. Moreover, there have been 44 nonconference video games between ranked groups this season in comparison with 31 a 12 months in the past, per Sports activities Reference information.
Gavitt known as the pattern “nice for school basketball general” and “nice for the event committee as nicely.”
The upshot for the committee may very well be a choice matrix. Ideas state the committee “won’t take into account” shifting groups up or down a seed line to keep away from a nonconference rematch. Whereas the committee can — and infrequently does — transfer groups inside a seed line to keep away from these rematches, that is not an ideal resolution.
In some circumstances, the one different to avoiding a nonconference rematch is to create a convention rematch.
Extra marquee video games
Right here is the rundown of what number of ranked vs. ranked nonconference common season video games there have been over current years. The 2020-21 season was omitted because of the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic.
| Season | Ranked vs. ranked nonconference video games |
|---|---|
| 2025-26 | 44 |
| 2024-25 | 31 |
| 2023-24 | 28 |
| 2022-23 | 33 |
| 2021-22 | 17 |
| 2019-20 | 25 |
| 2018-19 | 26 |
| 2017-18 | 22 |
| 2016-17 | 30 |
| 2015-16 | 21 |
| 2014-15 | 24 |
| 11-season common | 27.4 |
That’s an unavoidable actuality within the evolving panorama of school basketball.
Within the 2015 NCAA Event, there have been 11 multi-bid leagues and no convention acquired greater than seven bids. There have been simply 24 common season nonconference video games between ranked groups that season.
In these days, earlier than everybody was mashed collectively into one massive pot of groups that largely simply performs one another, adhering to stringent rematch guidelines was simpler.
This 12 months, simply seven leagues are projected to get a number of bids, and 4 conferences are on tempo to position eight or extra groups within the area in keeping with the CBS Sports activities Bracketology mannequin. Moreover, there have been a whopping 20 extra nonconference video games performed between ranked groups this season than within the 2014-15 season.
Committee reacts to realignment by stress-free guidelines
However amid the collapse of the Pac 12 and the consolidation of the “high-major” class into simply 5 leagues, the committee leaned into the winds of change earlier than final season.
“I feel the committee did a extremely good job anticipating what the results of convention realignment might imply by way of the rules and procedures for establishing the bracket of the event,” Gavitt mentioned.
In 2025, the rub was that the committee produced a closing bracket containing three potential second-round rematches between SEC groups, which was an unavoidable byproduct of that league receiving a historic 14 NCAA Event bids.
Ideas allow such rematches, as long as the groups in query met solely as soon as previous to the NCAA Event. In the event that they met twice, they can not play earlier than the Candy 16, and in the event that they performed thrice they can’t meet till the Elite Eight.
Gavitt emphasised that the committee additionally didn’t transfer a workforce up or down final 12 months to keep away from potential convention rematches. Doing so would solely be a “final resort,” and doing so to keep away from a nonconference rematch is prohibited by bracketing rules.
Backside line: seed integrity is extra necessary than avoiding a second-round rematch.
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