College Basketball 2026-27 Preview: Duke Dominates Exhibitions, NIL Arms Race and Eligibility Chaos
Exhibition takeaways, the best defenders in the country and the money and eligibility fights reshaping the sport.
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CBS Sports
Dale Brown dies at 90: LSU's all-time winningest basketball coach led Tigers to two Final Four apperances
Brown spent 25 seasons leading LSU's basketball program and racked up 448 career wins
CBS Sports
Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd has a theory: NCAA is embracing eligibility chaos to leverage federal legislation
Arizona's coach offers a sharp perspective on why the NCAA is allowing eligibility battles to linger instead of leveling the playing field
CBS Sports
2026-27 College Basketball All-Defensive Team: Florida's Rueben Chinyelu leads as CBS Sports' preseason DPOY
CBS Sports' in-depth look at the best defensive players in college basketball, who probably don't get enough love in the preseason.
ESPN
Ole Miss sanctioned over ex-assistant's talks with athlete adviser
The NCAA has penalized Ole Miss' men's basketball program for tampering violations by former assistant coach Wes Flanigan, with most of the penalties served during the 2024-25 and 2025-26 school years.
CBS Sports
Duke's dominance, Louisville's eye-popping freshman and chippy Auburn-Alabama top exhibition takeaways
Here is what we've learned about Duke, Tennessee, Michigan State, UConn, Auburn, Alabama, Kansas and Louisville after a four-pack of exhibition games
ESPN
Recruiting class rankings: Houston, UConn lead early top 10
The best freshmen classes for 2027-28 -- starting with Houston, UConn and Indiana. Yes, Duke is in the top 10.
ESPN
Teams that gained -- and lost -- most in the transfer portal
Tennessee and Texas are on the rise, but two teams from Georgia have taken a step back.
CBS Sports
NIL arms race: Matt Painter leads ranking of college basketball coaches outperforming their roster budgets
Purdue's Matt Painter and Alabama's Nate Oats lead a group of high-major coaches routinely beating college basketball's biggest spenders on a fraction of the budget
CBS Sports
College basketball's NIL arms race, from $5M to $25M+: Breaking down roster values, spending tiers for 2026-27
CBS Sports contacted more than 100 sources to discover how much each power-conference hoops program invested this season
ESPN
Jay Wright, among HOF inductees, stunned by present-day hoops landscape
Jay Wright was among several people inducted into the National Collegiate Hall of Fame on Thursday.
ESPN
Michigan's Gayle Jr. cleared for 5th season of college hoops
Roddy Gayle Jr. has been cleared to play a fifth season of college basketball for No. 16 Michigan, according to Wolverines coach Mike Boynton.
CBS Sports
College basketball rankings: Top 100 And 1 players who will define the 2026-27 season
Our annual talent rundown has every big name to know as we ready for the season's start in November
CBS Sports
Six takeaways from college basketball's NIL arms race: UNC is spending big, what is the 'Duke discount'
CBS Sports contacted more than 100 sources to dive deep into what NIL looks like in college basketball this season
ESPN
Predictions for all 32 men's basketball conference players of the year
From experienced seniors to talented newcomers and big-name transfers, here are the front-runners in each league.
ESPN
End of an era: Villanova to exit Philly's Big 5 college hoops series
Villanova will leave the Big 5 college basketball series at the end of this season, with the event continuing next season with five teams in a round-robin format.
ESPN
Self says KU fans crossed line aiming profanity at ex-Jayhawks star Bidunga
Louisville's Flory Bidunga said he expected Jayhawks fans to taunt him Wednesday night, but Kansas coach Bill Self said the use of profanity crossed a line.
ESPN
Senators fans booing Tkachuk draws memories of previous unpleasant sports returns
Brady Tkachuk isn't the first notable sports figure to be met with jeers by fans of his prior team.
ESPN
Hall of Fame hoops coach Huggins has progressive cognitive condition
Hall of Fame college basketball coach Bob Huggins has a progressive cognitive condition that is affecting his memory and aspects of his daily life, his family said.
ESPN
Former athletes, ex-sportsbook trader charged in hoops fixing plot
Two former college basketball players and an ex-sportsbook employee face felony charges stemming from an alleged prop bet fixing scheme, according to Nevada court documents.
CBS Sports
Former Cincinnati and West Virginia coach Bob Huggins living with a 'progressive cognitive condition'
The family of the Hall of Fame college basketball coach said in a statement that the progressive cognitive condition is affecting his "daily life"
CBS Sports
Kansas' Bill Self knows retirement rumors persist, but is 'certainly not thinking like it's my last' season
Self is returning for his 24th season at Kansas after retirement rumors surrounded him last season
ESPN
Burgers over bucks? Top hoops recruits aren't rushing past McDonald's All American Game
For Beckham Black and other top recruits, chasing McDonald's All American honors outweighs the lure of an early college jump.
ESPN
Mississippi Valley State's Pang out of ICE custody on $12K bail
Qinfang Pang, Chinese player on Mississippi Valley State men's basketball team, is out of ICE custody after posting $12,000 bail but still faces deportation.
ESPN
Florida No. 1 in preseason AP Top 25 men's hoops poll
The Florida Gators are an overwhelming choice as the No. 1 team in the Associated Press preseason men's basketball poll released Monday.
Background from Wikipedia
College basketball
College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athletic bodies, including the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA), the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA), and the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA). These national affiliation organizations may be subdivided into divisions, generally based on the number and level of scholarships that may be provided to the athletes. Institutions that play in Division II of the NCCAA are typically small Bible colleges.
Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
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Wikipedia
2016 National Invitation Tournament
The 2016 National Invitation Tournament was a single-elimination tournament of 32 NCAA Division I teams that were not selected to participate in the 2016 NCAA tournament. The annual tournament was played on campus sites for the first three rounds, with the Final Four and championship game being held at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
CBS Sports
Indiana shows size in rout of North Carolina, Quinn Ellis stars for St. John's lead top exhibition takeaways
Not all exhibitions are created equal, and the Hoosiers, Illinois, Cincinnati and Baylor all posted memorable first impressions
Wikipedia
Southern Jaguars and Lady Jaguars
The Southern Jaguars and Lady Jaguars represent Southern University in NCAA intercollegiate athletics. Southern University's 13 athletic teams participate in the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) which is a part of the NCAA Division I. Football participates in the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA).
CBS Sports
RJ Luis ruled ineligible at LSU, but Saliou Niang and Brice Dessert will both be on Tigers' roster
The most chaotic eligibility saga of college basketball this offseason — and perhaps ever — is gaining real clarity with November around the corner
Wikipedia
Hoosier hysteria
Hoosier hysteria is the excitement surrounding basketball in the U.S. state of Indiana. This excitement generally revolves around the Indiana High School Boys Basketball Tournament, the Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball team of Indiana University (IU), the Purdue Boilermakers men's basketball team of Purdue University, the Butler Bulldogs men's basketball team of Butler University, the Indiana Pacers of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the Indiana Fever of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA).
CBS Sports
Pat Kelsey urges for the 'chaos to end' while testifying in court vs. NCAA in support of Louisville players
Louisville has two players — Seth Trimble and LJ Wells — seeking a fifth year of eligibility this season
Wikipedia
Women's basketball
Women's basketball is the team sport of basketball played by women. It was first played in 1892, one year after men's basketball, at Smith College in the Smith Alumnae Gymnasium in Massachusetts.
CBS Sports
Predicting AP Top 25 college basketball rankings: Florida edges Duke, Illinois for No. 1 in preseason poll
What we think the 2026-27 college basketball preseason AP Top 25 could look like when it is released on Monday
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