ESPN’s Industry-Leading Men’s College Basketball Coverage Tips Off November 3 with More Than 4,000 Games Scheduled for the 2025-26 Season

Colin Bradley

October 30, 2025

Nearly 700 games across ESPN networks; more than 3,200 games on ESPN+
ESPN to present more than 25 early-season men’s tournaments and marquee events
24 of 25 AP Top 25 Teams to appear on ESPN
Signature men’s basketball franchises ESPN Blockbuster, Saturday Prime, Big Monday and Super Tuesday Presented by Progressive return
All games stream on the ESPN App

ESPN 2025-26 Men’s College Basketball Full Schedule

ESPN’s industry-leading men’s college basketball coverage returns with a schedule of more than 4,000 games during the 2025-26 regular season. In all, nearly 700 games will air across ESPN networks – ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, SEC Network and ACC Network. All 4,000 games will be available to stream on the ESPN app, with 3,200 games on ESPN+.

ESPN will present more than 25 tournaments and marquee events during the first half of the season, including the Dick Vitale Invitational Presented by Belk, State Farm^® Champions Classic, The Southwest Maui Invitational, Marriott Bonvoy Battle 4 Atlantis, the ACC/SEC Men’s Challenge, Jimmy V Men’s Classic Presented by Modelo^® and more. In addition, 24 of the preseason Top 25 teams will appear on ESPN networks this season.

Extensive coverage of 30 conferences, including the ACC, the American, Atlantic 10, Big 12, BIG EAST, Big West, CUSA, Horizon League, MAAC, MAC, Missouri Valley, SEC, Sun Belt, West Coast Conference and more, will be featured across ESPN platforms. The signature men’s basketball franchises ESPN Blockbuster, Saturday Prime, Big Monday and Super Tuesday presented by Progressive return this season, and the sport’s premier pregame show, College GameDay Covered by State Farm^® returns with a special edition show at the State Farm^® Champions Classic and weekly shows beginning in January.

2025-26 ESPN Men’s College Basketball Schedule Highlights:

Dick Vitale Invitational Presented by Belk (Nov. 4): The inaugural Dick Vitale Invitational features a marquee matchup between national powers Texas and No. 6 Duke at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, N.C. (8:45 p.m., ESPN). The game will honor Dick Vitale, the Hall of Fame broadcaster and one of the sport’s most iconic voices and ambassadors.
State Farm^® Champions Classic (Nov. 18): The 15th annual Champions Classic heads to Madison Square Garden, featuring a doubleheader with four of college basketball’s historically elite programs – No. 22 Michigan State takes on No. 9 Kentucky (6:30 p.m., ESPN), followed by a matchup between No. 19 Kansas and 2025 national semifinalists No. 6 Duke (9 p.m., ESPN).
ACC/SEC Men’s Challenge (Dec. 2-3): The ACC/SEC Men’s Basketball Challenge returns for the third edition Dec. 2-3 across ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, SEC Network and ACC Network as two of the nation’s top conferences go head-to-head. A combined nine programs are ranked in the preseason Top 25. Highlights include defending national champions No. 3 Florida visiting No. 6 Duke, a battle of the blue bloods between No. 25 North Carolina and No. 9 Kentucky, as well as No. 11 Louisville and No. 14 Arkansas clashing in year two under head coaches Pat Kelsey and John Calipari.
Jimmy V Men’s Classic Presented by Modelo (Dec. 9) – The annual men’s college basketball doubleheader at Madison Square Garden features Clemson taking on No. 8 BYU (6:30 p.m., ESPN), followed by defending national champion and third-ranked Florida vs. No. 4 UConn, who won back-to-back national championships in 2023 and 2024 (9 p.m., ESPN) in one of the season’s most anticipated matchups.
ESPN on ABC: Five conference matchups in the ACC, Big 12 and SEC are slated for ABC during the season. Ranked programs in action include No. 2 Houston, No. 3 Florida, No. 9 Kentucky, No. 13 Arizona, No. 15 Alabama, No. 16 Iowa State, No. 19 Kansas and No. 25 North Carolina. Valentine’s Day showcases Kansas at Iowa State and Kentucky at Florida in an ABC doubleheader.

Big Monday: Beginning Monday, Jan. 26, ESPN will showcase marquee matchups in the ACC (7 p.m.) and Big 12 (9 p.m.) through the final Monday of the college basketball regular season (March 2). Featured teams include No. 2 Houston, No. 8 BYU, No. 10 Texas Tech, No. 13 Arizona, No. 16 Iowa State and No. 19 Kansas of the Big 12, and No. 6 Duke, No. 11 Louisville and No. 25 North Carolina from the ACC.
Super Tuesday: A staple of ESPN’s college basketball programming since the 1980’s, Super Tuesday Presented by Progressive returns in January 2026 with weekly conference showdowns across the ACC, Big 12 and SEC. Highlights include No. 6 Duke at No. 11 Louisville on Jan. 6 (7 p.m., ESPN), No. 16 Iowa State at No. 19 Kansas on Jan. 13 (9 p.m., ESPN/ESPN2) and No. 9 Kentucky at Texas A&M on March 3 (7 p.m., ESPN/ESPN2).
Saturday Prime: Saturdays throughout the winter will be filled with wall-to-wall college hoops action. Days to mark on the calendar include Jan. 31 (Duke at Virginia Tech, Kentucky at Arkansas, BYU at Kansas, Auburn at Tennessee, Saint Mary’s at Gonzaga), Feb. 14 (Kansas at Iowa State, Kentucky at Florida, Texas Tech at Arizona, Auburn at Arkansas, Gonzaga at Santa Clara) and March 7 (Florida at Kentucky, North Carolina at Duke, Auburn at Alabama, Texas Tech at BYU).

Other notable early-season matchups on ESPN networks featuring ranked teams:

Date	Time (ET)	Game	Network
Tue, Nov 11	8 p.m.	No. 9 Kentucky at No. 11 Louisville	ESPN
	10 p.m.	No. 23 Creighton at No. 21 Gonzaga	ESPN
Thu, Nov 13	7 p.m.	No. 1 Purdue at No. 15 Alabama	ESPN2
Sun, Nov 16	3 p.m.	RXBenefits Battleground 2k25 No. 2 Houston vs. No. 20 Auburn	ESPN
Tue, Dec 2	9 p.m.	No. 4 UConn at No. 19 Kansas	ESPN2
Fri, Dec 5	7 p.m.	No. 21 Gonzaga at No. 9 Kentucky	ESPN2
Sat, Dec 6	8 p.m.	Music City Madness No. 17 Illinois vs. No. 18 Tennessee	ESPN
	10 p.m.	No. 20 Auburn at No. 13 Arizona	ESPN
Sat, Dec 13	Noon	No. 14 Arkansas at No. 10 Texas Tech	ESPN2
	5:30 p.m.	No. 19 Kansas at NC State	ESPN
	7:30 p.m.	Indiana at No. 9 Kentucky	ESPN
	9:30 p.m.	C.M. Newton Classic No. 13 Arizona vs. No. 15 Alabama	ESPN
	11:30 p.m.	Seattle Hoops Showdown No. 12 UCLA vs. No. 21 Gonzaga	ESPN
Tue, Dec 16	7 p.m.	No. 11 Louisville at No. 18 Tennessee	ESPN
Sat, Dec 20	8 p.m.	No. 10 Texas Tech vs. No. 6 Duke	ESPN

Many of basketball’s top NBA prospects will be showcased across ESPN platforms throughout the 2025-

26 college basketball season. Eight of the top 10 NBA draft prospects on ESPN’s 2026 NBA Draft Big Board are college-based, with each player being mainstays on ESPN’s coverage throughout the season. The list is led by a trio of freshmen – No. 1 ranked prospect Darryn Peterson from Kansas, No. 2 prospect AJ Dybansta from BYU and Duke’s Cam Boozer, the third-ranked prospect. Other projected lottery picks fans can catch on ESPN all season long include Tennessee’s Nate Ament and Louisville’s Mikel Brown Jr.

SEC Network
More than 100 men’s basketball games will be featured on SEC Network (SECN) during the 2025-26 season. The campaign begins Monday, Nov. 3 with the preseason No. 14 Arkansas Razorbacks taking on the Southern Jaguars. Conference play begins Jan. 3 at 1 p.m. with a quadruple-header of games on SECN. The season culminates with the 2026 SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament (March 11-15) at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn.

ACC Network
ACC Network will be the exclusive home to more than 115 men’s basketball games during the 2025-26 season, beginning on Nov. 3. Anticipated matchups include Georgia Tech at No. 6 Duke on New Years Eve, Wake Forest at No. 25 UNC on Jan. 10, NC State at Virginia on Feb. 24 and Syracuse at No. 11 Louisville on March 3. ACCN will also showcase early round games from the 2026 ACC Men’s Basketball Tournament (March 10-14) at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, N.C.

Big 12 Basketball on ESPN

Big 12 basketball is set for over 75 matchups across ESPN linear networks, with over 120 conference showdowns streaming on the ESPN App. ESPN’s coverage of Big 12 men’s college basketball tips off on Sunday, Nov. 9 with a pair of Big 12 teams hosting power conference opponents as Oklahoma State takes on Texas A&M in Stillwater (2 p.m. ET, ESPN2) and Baylor hosts Washington (8:30 p.m., ESPN). The Big 12 enters the season with six teams ranked in the AP Preseason Top 25 – 2024 national semifinalists No. 2 Houston, No. 8 BYU, No. 10 Texas Tech, No. 13 Arizona, No. 16 Iowa State and No. 19 Kansas. Full Big 12 schedule.

ESPN+

More than 3,200 games are slated exclusively for ESPN+, including 800 in the month of November alone. The season starts with four ranked appearances on Monday including New Haven at No. 4 UConn (7:00 p.m.), Fairleigh Dickinson at No. 16 Iowa State (8:00 p.m.), Green Bay at No. 19 Kansas (8:00 p.m.), and Texas Southern at No. 21 Gonzaga (9:00 p.m.). All of the games will stream on the all-new ESPN App. Full ESPN+ schedule.

ESPN Radio

For more than two decades, ESPN Radio has been a mainstay with college basketball, and the 2025 season continues that tradition with an extensive slate of coverage. The campaign tips off with the Dick Vitale Invitational before heading to some of the sport’s biggest stages, including the Champions Classic, the Jimmy V Classic, and other marquee matchups throughout the regular season. ESPN Radio will also deliver comprehensive postseason coverage, broadcasting from the second round through the championship game of the ACC Tournament and the semifinals and title game of the Big 12 Tournament.