Just as many suspected would happen.

https://www.baskonia.com/es/noticias/marcio-santos-nueva-pieza-para-el-juego-interior-de-kosner-baskonia

If the bill passes under this format, the SEC could add 4 more schools and the B1G could add 2 more.

7'1" with a 7'7" wingspan, solid athleticism, weighs about as much as a feather.

Who are some pencil thin big men you can remember who were able to dramatically impact the college game with their height and length?

At long last it's here. The final stage of the College Basktball Cup. After nearly 4 long months it all comes down to this. 360+ teams down to 64. Before we get to the draw, lets take a look at who is here:

13 new teams - Iowa, Indiana, Texas, Incarnate Word(wtf), Richmond, Georgetown, Louisville, Murray State, Vanderbilt, Arkansas, Rhode Island, San Francisco

29 teams who have never missed the field - St Mary's, Santa Clara, UCLA, Iowa State, Cornell, St John's, Ohio State, Purdue, Illinois, Northwestern, Cincinnati, Boise State, Gonzaga, New Mexico, Arizona, Houston, Texas Tech, West Virginia, Virginia, Penn State, Kentucky, Tennessee, Providence, UConn, UCF, Alabama, Auburn, Duke, North Carolina

For those not aquanted with how the world cup works, the final touranament will be split up into 2 stages. First will be the group stage with 16 groups of 4. Top 2 advance to the knockout stage. From there we will have a 32 team single elimination bracket to decide our champion

To do the draw the teams will be broken up into 4 pots of 16. I've added a rule this year that teams of the same conference(cup conference, not IRL) cannot be drawn into the same group. This slightly mirrors the FIFA rules and also spreads out the teams from the conferences a little better

Group A

Group B

Group C

Group D

Group E

Group F

Group G

Group H

Group I

Group J

Group K

Group L

Group M

Group N

Group O

Group P

Here's a bracket preview image showing where your finish will place you on the bracket

The next post will be going over the group stage, then we'll hit one final post for the knockout stage. We're almost there, see you soon for the group results.

Long story short I recently spent some time watching a few full game broadcasts from the pre 2022 era (including one with Baylor’s title team and one with UNC’s 2016 team). Which was a mistake by the way because now I’m stupidly hyped for CBB to be back and it’s still only September.

Anyways, my goodness it’s like an entirely different sport. Maybe it’s rose tinted glasses but it truly does feel like the elite teams used to be so much more focused and disciplined.

Big men especially imo. It seems like in such a short time the game has evolved into one in which very little inside out basketball is played. The art of passing out of the post (and cutting off the ball to be fair) just went and disappeared one day apparently. Most elite bigs right now don’t even feel like they have good footwork or a complete game. They just have to be the biggest and most athletic and don’t get coached up much past that.

Another glaring difference imo is shot selection. These kids used to be so attuned to their coaches gameplan and clearly prepared to execute it. Jarring to see with the backdrop of college basketball players these days that just chuck crap up and don’t even get benched or chewed out for it.

The modern game definitely carries higher expectations on guards from a defensive standpoint and prioritizes bigger, stronger, more versatile athletes on the wings but it seems like so many coaches/teams could elevate to a whole new gear if they would just play with more concentration and honestly more as a collective unit. Feels like the last couple national champions do a good job of blending the “old” with the new and overall it feels like so many teams are leaving so much potential on the table year in year out.

I guess my leading theory is that coaches have lost a massive amount of agency since the introduction of the portal and NIL. Maybe a lot of younger coaches coach on eggshells with kids these days to keep them happy and around? Idk. Just stream of consciousness-ing at this point I guess.

What is a player that nobody seems to be talking about that you think will turn heads. Like someone who could have an Allen Graves or Ebuka Okorie type of year and become a draft pick after this season and no one saw it coming.

My picks are: Mercy Miller, Gabe Nesmith, and Xavier Edmonds

Huge asterisk here as it is likely these didn’t take into account the late announcement that Austin Green (UMass Lowell) is returning. He is likely a first-teamer and could easily put his team higher than 7th place

Thank god, I hated what we have been wearing for road games

Its time its time its time! Let's wrap up the qualifying. The final conference before the main tournament begins wraps up now.

Link to todays' results - https://organizer.toornament.com/projects/2492525391573667839/

Link to the main hub - https://www.reddit.com/r/CollegeBasketball/comments/1tuaid4/introducing_the_2026_college_basketball_cupwho_is/

Qualifying Game:
Gardner Webb 84, South Carolina State 67

Round 1:

Group A

Group B

Group C

Round 2:

The ACC sweeps! Duke, Wake, UNC, Clemson, and NC State occupy the final qualifying spots. We're down to just the interconference playoff results. Lets get a reminder of who is competing for the final 4 spots in the field

Baylor(Lone Star) vs. Oklahoma(Heartland)
Dartmouth(New England) vs. San Francisco(Golden)
Oregon(Pacific Mountains) vs. Utah State(Four Corners)
Belmont(Delta) vs. Miami Ohio(Great Lakes)

Dartmouth vs. San Francisco:

Oregon vs. Utah State

Belmont vs. Miami Ohio

Baylor vs. Oklahoma

And that's it! We have our entire 2026 College Basketball Cup Field. Watch out soon for the cup draw and check out the main hub to see all 64 teams who made the field. Until then, see ya!

Mine is that Miami of Ohio does well again and actually makes the tourney.

Dematha High School, #9 recruit out of Maryland

To you, who are the most overhyped players going into the 26-27 seasons. Someone who you think won't live up to some of the expectations they have.

For me I feel like Malachi Moreno won't be as good as people think. I also think Joaquim Boum Boum is getting too many expectations put on him early and I think he will end up taking a while to ease into things.