College Basketball Top 25 And Notable 2026 Early Season Games

As the calendar turns to November, the 2026 college basketball season tips off with a pair of key games in Las Vegas. The college basketball Top 25 is out and I chip-in odds, key early season matchups, stats and additional information you can bet on with a full report and college basketball coverage at Off Shore Gaming Association.

I’ll be attending early season games in Las Vegas starting Nov. 2 with the Hall of Fame Series featuring Arizona vs. UCLA and Gonzaga vs. Purdue. The second annual Players Era Festival is also in Las Vegas Nov. 17-19 featuring 8 teams and the highly-rated 16-team tournament Nov. 24-28 over Thanksgiving. The showcase features 12 of the top 20 teams in the AP college basketball Top 25 and 13 programs from the 2026 NCAA Tournament. I’ll attend again after getting a close-up look at Michigan last season in their blowout championship game win over Gonzaga months ahead of the Wolverines’ futures bet and eventual national championship victory over Connecticut.

Michigan and Connecticut will play again this week in Boston in the TNT Hall of Fame Series.

The AP Top 25 and Coaches Poll are both out, and I’ve included the AP Top 25 with odds to win the national title to start the season. I’ve added some key games to watch and wager in November and December ahead of most conference games in January and February.

 

College Basketball Top 25

Betting lines and college basketball odds from top online sportsbooks refresh periodically and are subject to change, including on props and live/in-game betting.

Rank	College Basketball Team	Title Odds
1	Florida	+700
2	Duke	+600
3	Illinois	+1600
4	Connecticut	+1200
5	Arizona	+1600
6	Michigan State	+1600
7	Texas	+2200
8	Tennessee	+5000
9	Virginia	+3300
10	Houston	+3300
11	Louisville	+2500
12	Arkansas	+2800
13	St. John’s	+3300
14	Miami	+3300
15	Gonzaga	+3500
16	Michigan	+3500
17	Kansas	+2800
18	Iowa State	+5000
19	Texas Tech	+2500
20	Alabama	+4000
21	USC	+7500
22	UCLA	+5500
23	Kentucky	+5000
24	Vanderbilt	+6000
25	BYU	+10000

Others receiving college basketball Top 25 votes: Missouri 167, Nebraska 70, Purdue 53, Ohio State 39, North Carolina 20, TCU, Saint Louis, VCU, Iowa, Virginia Tech, Indiana, Texas A&M, Villanova, Auburn, Marquette, Nevada, Grand Canyon, Utah State, Santa Clara.

Missouri (+5500), LSU (+5500), Indiana (+6600), North Carolina (+6600), Nebraska (+10000), Purdue (+8000), Ohio State (+12500), Texas A&M (+7500), Baylor (+7500), Iowa (+10000), Auburn (+10000), Villanova (+12500), Maryland (+12500), St. Cincinnati (+12500), Xavier (+12500), St. Louis (+15000), Clemson (+15000), Oklahoma (+15000), TCU (+17500), Marquette (+17500), Wisconsin (+17500), Ole Miss (+20000), Oklahoma State (+20000), Stanford (+20000), Arizona State (+20000), Creighton (+20000), VCU (+30000), Utah State (+50000), Nevada (+100000).

College Basketball Roster Turnover and Transfer Portal Impact in 2026

There are 361 Division I college teams to cover over 31 college basketball conferences. A total of 55 programs and teams have new head coaches. The biggest turnover is the players and transfers. Only 3 teams return all five starters. Twelve teams return four starters, and 30 teams return three. That leaves 87% of teams, or about 330, with two starters or less including about 100 teams not returning a single starter.

Plenty of basketball daily in the months ahead with more media coverage of the college basketball Top 25 teams. Here are many key games of top teams that will generate the most watch and wager action.

The Eternal City Tip Off in Rome Nov. 1 was the opening game of the college basketball season and Notre Dame beat Villanova 74-72.

Key November 2026 College Basketball Games, Matchups and Top Players

Florida senior forward Thomas Haugh and Michigan State junior point guard Jeremy Fears, Jr. are leading vote getters in the preseason AP All-American team.

November 2 – Hall of Fame Series and Opening Games

– Florida vs. Miami (-5) – Tampa
– Purdue vs. Gonzaga (-5′) – Las Vegas, HOF Series
– UCLA vs. Arizona (-5) – Las Vegas, HOF Series
– Ohio State vs. BYU (-3′) – Salt Lake City

A pair of college basketball Top 25 games in Las Vegas to tip off the season and I’ll be there for the key games involving top coaches, players and teams. Purdue is ranked No. 24 in the opening Coaches Poll, and the Boilermakers have third-year 7-foot-4-inch center Daniel Jacobson, who will match up with new Gonzaga 7-footer Massamba Diop. The formal debut of former Ivy League Player of the Year Caden Pierce is one to watch for Purdue as the transfer sat out last year and led the Boilermakers in rebounding during the recent 3-game exhibition. Junior CJ Cox is Purdue’s lone returning starter and he led the Boilers in scoring (15 ppg) in those three contests. Pierce was a teammate of Gonzaga’s Xaivian Lee at Princeton. Pierce also went to high school with Bulldogs star 5th-year forward Braden Huff in Chicago. Huff was averaging nearly 18 points per game through 18 contests last season before missing the rest of the season due to a dislocated kneecap. Huff’s return and good health will be pivotal as Gonzaga’s major addition is Massamba Diop, a 7-foot-1, 245-pound sophomore center with elite athleticism who transferred from Arizona State to join the Bulldogs for the 2026-27 season.

I talked with Gonzaga coach Mark Few on a recent conference call ahead of the Hall of Fame Series in Las Vegas. I asked him some questions about Diop, defense and Gonzaga’s games in Las Vegas, including experience and expectations in the Hall of Fame Series and Players Era event. Few commented on one of the previous great showcases and basketball games of the 2021 season when a record crowd saw Duke and Gonzaga light up Las Vegas in the Blue Devils’ 84-81 win at T-Mobile Arena with so many high-level players on the floor.

“Massamba is probably the best rim protector we’ve had at Gonzaga,” Few said. “He gives us more options to change our defensive coverages in the post and ball screens. He’s skilled and can step outside and shoot.”

Few noted the Bulldogs had a heck of a defensive team last season, and says “I love our size on the perimeter with Davis (Fogle) and Harwell this season. Massamba adds to what I believe can be one of our better defensive teams as we come together in rebounding the basketball.”

The 6-foot-7 Fogle should break out as the team’s shooting guard this season after averaging 8.6 ppg off the bench last season. Isiah Harwell is a 6’6″ sophomore guard who transferred in from Houston, and the point guard is Xaivian Lee, who transfers in from Florida after averaging 11.6 points, 4.2 assists and 3.7 rebounds per game last season.

Arizona is back in action after the Wildcats’ run to the Final Four last season. The Wildcats played UCLA last season as well, and Arizona prevailed 69-65 over the eventual 24-win Bruins, who made the 2nd round of the NCAA Tournament. UCLA returns three of its top six scorers, but like many teams, the Bruins added players through the portal. Veterans leading UCLA include senior forward Eric Dailey, Jr. (11.6 ppg, 5.8 rebounds) and junior guard Trent Perry (12.6 ppg, 2.8 assists, 3.0 rebounds). Sophomore transfer point guard Jaylen Petty scored 10 ppg for Texas Tech last season and will be coach Cronin’s floor leader breaking down defenders and adding an athletic motor on defense. By the end of the season, freshman Nikola Kusturica could be UCLA’s best all-around player. The 6-foot-9 highly-touted talent from Serbia is one to watch for coach Mick Cronin’s Bruins. The interior of the UCLA defense is an initial concern as the team transitions and the draw of money for the HOF Series in Las Vegas brings a tough opening game matchup against Arizona.

The Wildcats started three freshmen in last year’s opening game win over defending national champion Florida. Arizona started the season 23-0 on their way to the Final Four. Arizona is 7-0 against UCLA with coach Tommy Lloyd against Mick Cronin. The Wildcats have more continuity with the starting five in their early season exhibition games consisting of forward Ivan Kharchenkov, 7-foot-2 center Motiejus Krivas (preseason All-American) and guards/wings Derek Dixon, Caleb Holt and Bryce James, who is the son of legend LeBron James and could also come off the bench.

The late UCLA Bruins star and basketball broadcaster Bill Walton, who played for legendary coach John Wooden, will be honored before the Arizona-UCLA game.

November 5

– Wake Forest at Vanderbilt – the first power-conference pairing of the season to be played on campus and Vandy point guard Tyler Tanner is an AP preseason All-American.

November 6

– Michigan vs. Connecticut – Boston, TNT HOF Series
– Boston College vs. UMSS – Boston, TNT HOF Series

November 8

– Penn State vs. Pittsburgh – The 100th anniversary at the famed Palestra
– Arkansas vs. Virginia – Washington D.C.

November 10

– Duke vs. Michigan State – Chicago, Champions Classic
– Kansas vs. Kentucky – Chicago, Champions Classic
– Illinois at Texas Tech

November 11

– Marquette at Michigan

November 12

– Oklahoma State at Texas A&M

November 13

– Georgia at North Carolina
– Arizona at Auburn

November 14

– New Mexico at Santa Clara – Mountain West and West Coast Conference favorites
– Gonzaga vs. LSU – Spokane, Bad Boy Mowers Series

November 15

– Texas vs. Baylor – San Antonio Hoops Showdown

November 17 – Top-Ranked Matchups

– Illinois at Duke – preseason top-3 matchup
– Michigan State at Tennessee – preseason top 10 matchup
– Arkansas vs. Indiana – Madison Square Garden, Bad Boy Mowers Series

November 17 – Players Era Festival Opening Round (8 Teams)

Las Vegas

– Rutgers vs. Houston
– Notre Dame vs. Florida
– UNLV vs. Kansas
– West Virginia vs. Auburn

November 18

– UCONN at Arizona

November 20

– Kentucky vs. Indiana

November 21

– Michigan at Creighton

November 24 – Players Era Festival Opening Round (16 Teams)

Las Vegas
* T-Mobile Arena, # Michelob ULTRA Arena, Mandalay Bay

– Tennessee vs. Maryland #
– TCU vs. Miami *
– San Diego State vs. Iowa State #
– Michigan vs. Creighton *
– Louisville vs. Texas Tech *
– Baylor vs. Alabama #
– St. John’s vs. Oregon *
– St. John’s vs. Kansas State *

November 25

– Duke vs. UCONN *

November 2026 Acrisure Series College Basketball Tournament

November 21-26 – Palm Springs, Acrisure Series (26 teams)

November 24

– Nevada vs. Santa Clara
– Grand Canyon vs. St. Louis
– Stanford vs. Colorado

November 25

– LSU vs. Arizona State – First game vs. power program for new ASU coach Randy Bennett following a long, successful tenure at St. Mary’s
– USC vs. South Carolina
– SMU vs. Utah State

November 26 – Thanksgiving College Basketball Games

– Arkansas at Michigan State – Thanksgiving Day and HOF coaches John Calipari and Tom Izzo
– Texas vs. Georgetown – San Diego, Rady Children’s Invitational
– UCLA vs. St. Mary’s – San Diego, Rady Children’s Invitational

November 27

– Villanova at Kansas

November 29

The inaugural Atlantic 10/American Showcase at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio.

December 2026 College Basketball Games and ACC/SEC Challenge

More college basketball following Thanksgiving to open December.

December 1 – ACC/SEC Challenge

– Duke at Florida
– Arkansas at North Carolina

December 2 – ACC/SEC Challenge

– Alabama at Miami
– Kentucky at Virginia

December 4

– Illinois vs. UCONN – United Center, Chicago

December 5

– Arizona at St. John’s – Madison Square Garden, New York

Follow along as the biggest watch and wager college basketball games try to dribble-drive their way to the basket with more air time to college football and the NFL.

You can bet on it.