365 to 1: 2026 Season Primer

It's not over until it's over! For every one of us that has stayed to the clock struck zero in blowout losses and doesn't turn the TV off until the opposing coaches are shaking hands - or throwing hands in some exceptions, this series is dedicated to you. As we progress through February, March, and April, yours truly will countdown how many teams can still win a national title.

For the remainder of the regular season, I'll be tracking conference races on Mondays for the America East Conference, American Conference, Atlantic Sun, Atlantic Coast Conference, Big West Conference, Conference USA, Ivy League, Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, Mid-American Conference, Northeast Conference, Ohio Valley Conference, and Southland Conference. Each of these conferences do not allow all of their members to participate in their conference tournament. The Southwest Athletic Conference and Big Ten Conference have relented and new this season are allowing all 12 and 18 members to participate in the postseason. No longer will Mississippi Valley State be one of the first teams eliminated. Go Delta Devils!

Once we get to conference tournaments, I'll explain the rest of the rules for the countdown but starting out it's pretty simple. If you can't mathematically make your conference tournament, you aren't making the Big Dance. Between now and the start of their respective tournaments somewhere between 32 and 34 teams will be eliminated from these 13 conferences. I'll explain why it's a range and the details of each conference further below.

This season, 365 programs are participating in Division 1 NCAA men's basketball. For those of you that have migrated with us from our old site, you may notice that's one more team than last season.

Join me in welcoming the New Haven Chargers to Division 1! The University of New Haven is located in West Haven, Connecticut. They previously were a member of NCAA Division II and participated as a member of the Northeast-10 Conference. The Chargers made the DII tournament bracket a total of 10 times but have now joined the Northeast Conference. Unfortunately for the Chargers, as a transitioning member to Division I, they are ineligible for the NCAA Tournament and will remain so until the 2028-29 season.

Team 365 - New Haven Chargers (transitioning, ineligible until 28-29 season)

Joining the Chargers in the ineligible pile are the West Georgia Wolves in the Atlantic Sun) and Mercyhurst Lakers (Northeast Conference). Both the Wolves and Lakers joined Division I in the 2024-25 season but are currently ineligible until the same 2028-29 season that New Haven will become eligible for the postseason. The Le Moyne Dolphins (Northeast Conference) joined in the 2023-24 season and are ineligible until 2027-28 season. The Lakers, Wolves, and Dolphins have a longer transition period due to the NCAA reducing the transition period after they joined Division I but before the Chargers did. Le Moyne and West Georgia have announced plans to seek relief and become eligible a season earlier.

Teams 364, 363: West Georgia Wolves, Mercyhurst Lakers (transitioning, ineligible until 28-29 season)

Team 362: Le Moyne Dolphins (transitioning, ineligible until 27-28 season)

At this point I can imagine the readers of this article saying to the screen: "go ahead and get to the conference races." But wait! - there's another team already eliminated.

The NCAA requires teams to measure academic eligibility and retention of their student-athletes. I don't know why they do this in an era of free agency, but they will do. I'm not going to get into the exact specifics of how this Academic Progress Rate is calculated but what you need to know is that teams require a 4-year average of 930 to compete for championships. One men's basketball program failed to maintain a 4-year average of 930: the Coppin State Eagles out of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference.

The Eagles have made the NCAA tournament four times, but not since 2008. They even have a win! The 1997 Eagles defeated 2 seed South Carolina 78-65 in the Round of 64 before falling to 10 seed Texas 81-82. Per the Coppin State Sports Information Director, they will not be participating in the MEAC tournament so their season comes to a close with a home game against Morgan State on March 5.

Team 361: Coppin State Eagles (APR)

Conference Races

America East Conference

Conference games: 16
Teams participating in tournament: 8 of 9

6th - Albany Great Danes (3-5)
7th - Maine Black Bears (3-5)
8th - Bryant Bulldogs (3-5)
9th - Binghamton Bearcats (1-7)

Binghamton sure looks like the team that won't make the America East tournament, but after an 0-7 start to league play they defeated Bryant this past Thursday. The conference is exactly halfway thru league play.

Games this week will be on Thursday and Saturday with the Bearcats playing two of the league leaders in UMBC and NJIT this week. Bryant has a big opportunity with two home games against fellow America East bubble teams Albany and Maine. No elimination potential on tap for this week.

Never Made the Tournament Club Members: Maine, New Hampshire, UMass Lowell, NJIT

American Conference

Conference games: 18
Teams participating in tournament: 10 of 13

10th - North Texas Mean Green (3-6)
11th - Rice Owls (3-6)
12th - East Carolina Pirates (2-7)
13th - UTSA Roadrunners (0-9)

Not only did the American Athletic Conference rebrand to the American Conference, they also instituted new rules limiting their conference tournament to the top 10 teams.

The Roadrunners have yet to win a conference game so things may become desperate for them relatively early in February. Conference games continue Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday. This week North Texas and Rice play in a critical game for the 10th place spot. North Texas currently holds the tiebreaker thanks to a puzzling win over Tulsa, but the head to head winner will have a game advantage and the tiebreaker moving forward.

Never Made the Tournament Club Members: None

Atlantic Sun

Conference games: 18
Teams participating in tournament: 10 of 12

T5th - West Georgia Wolves (4-6)*
10th - North Florida Ospreys (3-7)
11th - Eastern Kentucky Colonels (3-7)
12th - North Alabama Lions (2-7)

*ineligible for NCAAT

The ASUN allows NCAA tournament ineligible teams to participate if they finish in the top 10 just like everyone else, but West Georgia could still easily finish outside of the top 10. North Florida has the head to head tiebreaker over EKU and won their lone game against North Alabama as well so they sit in decent position if this comes down to tiebreakers.

Games occur Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday in the ASUN. EKU has the best chance to shake up the standings out of the bottom three this week. They play two games against the 4-6 group this week. The ASUN race should take a bit longer to resolve due to the five team cluster at 4-6.

Never Made the Tournament Club Members: North Alabama, Queens, Central Arkansas, Bellarmine, West Georgia

Atlantic Coast Conference

Conference games: 18
Teams participating in tournament: 15 of 18

14th - Boston College Eagles (2-6)
15th - Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (2-7)
16th - Notre Dame Fighting Irish (2-7)
17th - Pittsburgh Panthers (2-7)
18th - Wake Forest Demon Deacons (2-7)

It's a close, close race at the bottom of the ACC. Georgia Tech has the narrow lead thanks to owning a win over 7-2 NC State, easily the best win out of this group at the bottom. One look at these standings explains why Ohio State's non-conference resume contains nothings of value.

The ACC will play games Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Saturday this week before avoiding Super Bowl Sunday. Georgia Tech makes their west coast trip to California this week which isn't the most challenging duo but is two road games.

Never Made the Tournament Club Members: None

Big West

Conference games: 20
Teams participating in tournament: 8 of 11

6th - Cal State Fullerton Titans (5-6)
7th - Cal Poly Mustangs (5-6)
8th - UC San Diego Tritons (5-6)
9th - Long Beach State Beach (4-7)
10th - UC Riverside Highlanders (3-8)
11th - Cal State Bakersfield Roadrunners (2-9)

Late night Thursday and Saturday night Big West basketball incoming. It's a balanced double-play schedule with teams taking turns skipping. Still anybody's race to lose.

Never Made the Tournament Club Members: UC Riverside

Conference USA

Conference games: 18
Teams participating in tournament: 10 of 12

10th - Florida International Panthers (3-7)
11th - New Mexico State Aggies (3-8)
12th - Delaware Blue Hens (2-8)

After adding Missouri State and Delaware to get to 12 teams, CUSA is now limiting their postseason tournament to 10 teams. While the evil donkeys are leading the conference, newcomer Delaware is bringing up the rear. For those of us wanting a repeat of Delaware's magical 2025 conference tournament in the CAA, there is plenty of work left to be done just to set up those circumstances.

Delaware gets two home games this week while FIU and New Mexico State are on the road twice. Games will be on Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday.

Never Made the Tournament Club Members: None

Ivy League

Conference games: 14
Teams participating in tournament: 4 of 8

3rd - Dartmouth Big Green (4-3)
4th - Princeton Tigers (4-3)
5th - Columbia Lions (3-4)
6th - Penn Quakers (3-4)
7th - Cornell Big Red (3-4)
8th - Brown Bears (1-6)

Halfway thru the conference race, Brown sits in a precarious position. But with this being just a single game weekend for the Ivy, the Brown Bears can't be eliminated this week. They better win some games by Valentine's Day though or there will be some broken hearts in Providence.

Brown/Yale is Friday, the other six teams play Saturday. The following weekend will be a Friday/Saturday doubleheader swing for the conference.

Never Made the Tournament Club Members: None

Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference

Conference games: 20
Teams participating in tournament: 10 of 13

10th - Manhattan Jaspers (5-8)
11th - Canisius Golden Griffins (3-9)
12th - Niagara Purple Eagles (2-10)
13th - Rider Broncs (2-10)

Manhattan has a two game lead on the pack and sits just one win behind Iona, Fairfield, Mount St. Mary's, and Sacred Heart so they aren't the only one that needs to stave off the bottom of the conference. On Tuesday Niagara hosts Canisius in a crucial must win game for both teams. Meanwhile Rider plays two conference contenders this week.

Never Made the Tournament Club Members: Quinnipiac, Merrimack, Sacred Heart

Mid-American Conference

Conference games: 18
Teams participating in tournament: 8 of 13

7th - Buffalo Bulls (4-6)
8th - Bowling Green Falcons (4-6)
9th - Ball State Cardinals (3-6)
10th - Eastern Michigan Eagles (3-7)
12th - Central Michigan Chippewas (3-7)
12th - Northern Illinois Huskies (3-7)
13th - Western Michigan Broncos (2-7)

The MAC is much better this year... at the top. The bottom is still terrible. I don't understand how the directional Michigans are so bad.

Conference play occurs on Tuesday this week, but the second half of the MAC-Sun Belt challenge is scheduled for Saturday so it's just one game for the league this week. Ball State plays at Bowling Green, but otherwise the bottom of the conference plays the top half with the exception of NIU who gets an early look at what it will be like avoiding MAC teams next season.

Never Made the Tournament Club Members: None

Northeast Conference

Conference games: 18
Teams participating in tournament: 8 of 10

T2nd - Mercyhurst Lakers (6-4)
T2nd - Le Moyne Dolphins (6-4)
5th - New Haven Chargers (5-4)*
8th - Fairleigh Dickinson Knights (4-6)
9th - Wagner Seahawks (2-7)
10th - Chicago State Cougars (1-8)

*ineligible for NEC tournament

The NEC may not actually eliminate anyone before their conference tournament. For the fourth straight year, the NEC has changed their conference tournament eligibility requirements. A maximum of two teams that are ineligible for the NCAA tournament are eligible for the NEC tournament starting with the teams that started their transition first. Thus, New Haven is ineligible for the NEC tournament while Mercyhurst and Le Moyne are eligible. One additional team may be eliminated if Mercyhurst and Le Moyne beat out a NCAA tournament eligible team in the conference standings which looks likely.

MNW's beloved Chicago State team looks really bad, but they've got opportunities in a dismal conference to break thru and secure a couple of wins that get them into the NEC tournament. This is Saint Francis's last go around in the NEC as they announced prior to last year's NCAA Tournament that they would be exiting Division I after the 2025-26 season.

The NEC typically plays on Thursdays and Saturdays.

Never Made the Tournament Club Members: Stonehill, Chicago State, Le Moyne, Mercyhurst, New Haven

Ohio Valley Conference

Conference games: 20
Teams participating in tournament: 8 of 11

8th - Eastern Illinois Panthers (5-7)
9th - Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles (3-8)
10th - Southern Indiana Screamin' Eagles (2-10)
11th - Western Illinois Leathernecks (0-12)

Oh, Leathernecks - what happened? Two years ago WIU went 13-5 in the OVC and looked to be on the precipice of making their first tournament in the near future. Two years later, they are on the precipice of being eliminated from the 2026 contention this week.

Western Illinois plays Tennessee Tech on Thursday and Tennessee State on Saturday. Losses in both will cap their season potential at 6-14. Six teams in the OVC have already clinched 7+ wins. Two wins by Eastern Illinois (over Tennessee State - unlikely - and Tennessee Tech - much more possible) and a single win by Little Rock in their three games this week would make it mathematically impossible for the Leathernecks to even tie for 8th. We will evaluate any tiebreaker scenarios if it becomes necessary later in the week. Games in the OVC this week are Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday.

Never Made the Tournament Club Members: Lindenwood, Tennessee Martin, Western Illinois, and Southern Indiana

Southland Conference

Conference games: 22
Teams participating in tournament: 8 of 12

8th - Northwestern State Demons (4-8)
9th - Incarnate Word Cardinals (4-9)
10th - Houston Christian Huskies (4-9)
11th - East Texas A&M Lions (3-9)
12th - Southeastern Louisiana Lions (3-10)

The 22 game conference schedule means we've still got awhile to go. The Southland plays on Saturdays and Mondays, but East Texas A&M and Northwestern State are making up a game on Wednesday night before playing each other once again on Saturday. Houston Christian at SE Louisiana on Saturday is the other big game of the week.

Never Made the Tournament Club Members: Incarnate Word, Texas Rio Grande Valley, East Texas A&M

The List

365 - New Haven Chargers (transitioning)
364 - West Georgia Wolves (transitioning)
363 - Mercyhurst Lakers (transitioning)
362 - Le Moyne Dolphins (transitioning)
361 - Coppin State Eagles (APR)