As the 2025-26 college basketball season moves around late January, the sport is undergoing a major change. The initial shock of massive conference realignment has turned into a new normal, where the usual regional rivalries have given way to “Super-Conference” marathons. At the same time, the financial landscape has been altered after the first year of the House v. NCAA settlement.
This has permitted schools to give a part of their revenue directly to the athletes. The changes have led to different competitive patterns creating the current situation that changes the way teams have to play if they want to be around in March. However, this is only one trend among many for this year’s NCAAB season.
The Big Ten and Big 12 Duel for Supremacy
The current season has cemented the Big Ten and Big 12 as the leading “grinder” conferences in the nation, and each have gotten there in different ways. The Big Ten has become a statistical powerhouse and currently has ten teams ranked in the NET Top 25. The depth here is highlighted by Nebraska’s extraordinary run, which has gone 18-0 so far, as well as the stalwarts Purdue and Michigan. What you see here is a pattern of very high-level play overall that makes college basketball live betting odds far more reactive to dramatic swings and in-game adjustments.
On the other hand, the Big 12 has managed to reunite former Pac-12 powerhouse teams Arizona and Utah with their other members to bring the average strength of schedule of their conference to the highest point in the country. In the Big 12, the focus is on “Metric Armor.” Since the league has so many Top 40 teams, the rest of the ones in Houston and Iowa State can still suffer three or four conference defeats. And even then, their tournament resumes won’t be invalidated.
The Mid-Major Resurgence and the Mountain West Monster
One widespread concern when the transfer portal was gaining popularity was that mid to major programs would be starved of players forever. However, the 2025-26 season has exposed a “trickle down” effect that has indeed turned out to be a boost for the mid-major middle class. Even though top stars still now and then move to the Power Four, the sheer number of high-major players transferring “down” to get more playing time has given a huge talent boost to leagues like the Atlantic 10 and the Mountain West.
Particularly, the Mountain West has outgrown the mid-major tag. With Grand Canyon University joining the conference and the school already getting signature wins over teams like Utah State, the conference now boasts eight teams in the NET Top 100. The Mountain West and A-10 are, thus, not “one bid” leagues anymore; they are functioning as mini-power leagues where the experience and continuity of the veterans is regularly prevailing over the younger, highly recruited squads of the SEC and ACC.
Financial Tiering and the House Settlement Impact
It is the first season of the $2.8 billion House settlement, which has opened the door for schools to share a maximum of $20.5 million per year with their athletes. This has resulted in the emergence of a “Financial Tiering” pattern in the sport, which is clear when reviewing Weekly NCAAB Game Highlights across conference play.
Within the SEC and Big 12, almost every member has chosen to go on the maximum revenue sharing cap, thus they’ve created a professionalized “low floor” for those leagues. The conferences don’t have “cellar-dwellers” anymore that are easily overlooked, because even the teams at the bottom now have the payroll to attract high, level veteran talent.
March Belongs to the Adaptable
With college basketball going into March, the programs that will not only have talent but also be adaptable will be the ones to go far. Top conferences have eliminated comfort zones, financial tiering has increased the level of competition, and mid-major leagues have ceased to be spoilers. Success in this new era depends on having the same lineup from year to year, the capability to endure travel, and the proficiency to get tough wins in hostile environments. For fans, analysts, and bettors, the old shortcuts no longer work.
