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Watch the 2026-27 College Basketball Season with Sling
The biggest storylines, teams and players to know as the 2026-27 men’s and women’s college basketball season tips off.
College basketball is back. And if you haven’t thought much about hoops since March Madness ended, you have some catching up to do.
The offseason delivered everything we’ve come to expect from the modern college game: stars changing schools, loaded freshman classes arriving on campus, championship contenders reloading and more than a few programs looking almost completely different from the last time we saw them. And somehow, that barely covers it.
The defending men’s champ lost its coach to the NBA. Michael Malone is coaching North Carolina. Kansas may have the next No. 1 NBA Draft pick. March Madness is getting bigger. On the women’s side, JuJu Watkins is finally back, South Carolina wants revenge and the defending national champion basically had to build a new team.
It’s been a busy seven months.
Here’s what you missed, who you need to know and why the 2026-27 college basketball season should be a blast.
College Basketball on Sling TV: How to Watch the 2026-27 Season
College basketball lives across a lot of networks, and Sling gives fans several ways to build a lineup around the teams and conferences they actually want to watch.
Sling Orange includes ESPN and ESPN2. Sling Blue includes FS1, plus FOX, ABC and/or NBC in select markets. Both Orange and Blue include TNT and TBS. Fans looking for even more college basketball can add Sports Extra, which includes ESPNU, SEC Network and ACC Network with Sling Orange, and FS2 and Big Ten Network with Sling Blue.
Sling Select is another option for fans who primarily follow conferences including the Big Ten, Big 12 and Big East. Select includes FS1, along with FOX, ABC and NBC in certain markets.
Does Sling Have ACC Network?
Yes. ACC Network is available with Sports Extra when paired with Sling Orange. Orange + Sports Extra also includes ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU, giving ACC fans access to even more games throughout the season.
Is SEC Network on Sling?
Yes. SEC Network is available with Sports Extra when paired with Sling Orange. The package also includes ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU for additional SEC and college basketball coverage.
Is FS1 on Sling?
Yes. FS1 is available with Sling Blue and Sling Select. FS1 carries college basketball throughout the regular season, including games from conferences such as the Big Ten,
Big 12 and Big East.
The right Sling setup depends on the teams and conferences you follow, so check the latest channel lineup and local availability before tipoff.
Top Men’s College Basketball Storylines for 2026-27
Can Michigan Repeat as National Champions?
Michigan cut down the nets last April after a dominant 37-3 season. The celebration barely had time to end before the whole thing started coming apart.
Head coach Dusty May left Ann Arbor for the NBA. Four starters from the championship team departed. Then five-star freshman Brandon McCoy Jr., one of the players expected to help restock the roster, tore his ACL during Michigan’s summer tour.
So yes, the Wolverines are defending national champions. They’re also No. 16 in the preseason AP poll and barely resemble the team that just won the whole thing. Welcome to defending a title in 2026.
Why Is Florida the Preseason No. 1 Team?
If Michigan represents the chaos of modern college basketball, Florida is the increasingly rare counterpoint: a powerhouse that managed to keep almost everybody around.
The preseason No. 1 Gators return four starters from last year’s team, with Thomas Haugh, Alex Condon and Rueben Chinyelu all carrying championship experience from Florida’s 2025 title run. Haugh enters this season as one of the best players in the country, and that veteran frontcourt should make Florida a nightmare from Day 1.
There’s some fun history lurking here, too. The last Florida team to begin a season ranked No. 1 was the 2006-07 squad.
They won the national championship. Again. No pressure.
Kansas Freshman Tyran Stokes Is a Player to Watch
Last season’s freshman class was absurdly good. Now Kansas freshman Tyran Stokes gets first crack at becoming college basketball’s next obsession.
The 6-foot-8, 230-pound Stokes was the No. 1 recruit in the 2026 class and arrives in Lawrence as an early favorite to become the No. 1 pick in the 2027 NBA Draft. Bill Self has called him the most naturally gifted passer he’s ever coached.
Bill Self has coached college basketball since 1993, so we should probably pay attention.
Stokes also lands at Kansas at a fascinating moment. The Jayhawks haven’t reached the Sweet 16 since winning the 2022 national championship. One freakishly talented freshman isn’t guaranteed to fix that, but he certainly makes the experiment more fun.
How the Transfer Portal Changed Men’s College Basketball for 2026-27?
The portal isn’t really an offseason storyline anymore. It’s just how the sport works.
Michigan won last year’s national championship with four transfers in its starting lineup. Naturally, everybody spent the offseason trying to find their own version.
Louisville landed former Kansas big man Flory Bidunga. Duke grabbed Wisconsin star John Blackwell. Players who were central to one program six months ago are suddenly expected to lead another.
Basically, prepare to spend November saying, “Wait, HE plays there now?” A lot.
Michael Malone Takes Over as North Carolina Head Coach
Yes. That Michael Malone.
The former Denver Nuggets head coach and 2023 NBA champion is now running one of the most famous programs in college basketball after Hubert Davis stepped down at North Carolina.
Malone spent most of the past two decades in the NBA. Now he gets Duke, the ACC, recruiting, NIL, the transfer portal, teenagers and everything else that makes modern college basketball wonderfully strange.
The basketball part should be fascinating. Watching an NBA lifer navigate the rest of it may be even better.
Men’s College Basketball Teams to Watch in 2026-27
Duke
Stop us if you’ve heard this one before: Duke is loaded.
The No. 2 Blue Devils have won 70 games over the past two seasons and still finished both with painful NCAA Tournament exits. This time there’s no Cooper Flagg or Cameron Boozer as the obvious center of the universe. Wisconsin transfer John Blackwell joins a strong returning group, while 7-foot-1 freshman Joaquim Boumtje Boumtjemay not remain anonymous for long.
Different cast. Same expectation: Final Four or bust.
Illinois
Illinois finally got back to the Final Four last season, its first trip since 2005.
Now comes the more interesting part: doing it again.
The No. 3 Illini return five of their top eight scorers, including David Mirkovic and Andrej Stojakovic. Last year was the breakthrough. This year, nobody is going to be surprised.
Gonzaga
Same Zags. Very different neighborhood.
After 47 years in the West Coast Conference, Gonzaga officially begins life in the rebuilt Pac-12 this season. Mark Few’s program immediately becomes the league’s biggest basketball brand and the team everyone else gets to measure itself against.
Gonzaga has spent decades dominating one conference. Now we get to find out what happens when it moves into another.
Men’s College Basketball Players to Watch in 2026-27
Jeremy Fears Jr., Michigan State: The Spartans point guard is a preseason First-Team All-American and a legitimate National Player of the Year candidate. More importantly for Michigan State fans, he gives 71-year-old Tom Izzo another real shot at that elusive second national championship.
Braden Huff, Gonzaga: A knee injury cut Huff’s 2025-26 season short after just 18 games. Now healthy, the 6-foot-10 forward returns as a potential All-American just in time for Gonzaga’s Pac-12 debut.
David Mirkovic, Illinois: The 6-foot-9 point forward helped push Illinois to the Final Four last season and could become one of the biggest breakout stars in the country. If the Illini are still playing deep into March, expect to know him very well.
March Madness Expands to 76 Teams in 2027
Yep. They expanded it. Both NCAA Tournaments grow from 68 to 76 teams in 2027, adding 12 opening-round games before the familiar 64-team bracket begins.
That means more teams, more bubble drama and even more fan bases absolutely certain the selection committee has a personal vendetta against them. Perfect. No notes!
Top Women’s College Basketball Storylines for 2026-27
JuJu Watkins Returns to USC
It’s been a very long time since we’ve actually watched JuJu Watkins play college basketball.
The USC superstar tore her ACL during the 2025 NCAA Tournament and missed the entire 2025-26 season while recovering. She finally returned to the court this month in USC’s exhibition against Cal, scoring 18 points in 23 minutes after 580 days away from competition.
And somehow, USC got scarier while she was gone. Jazzy Davidson emerged as one of the country’s brightest young stars during Watkins’ absence. Now the Trojans add Saniyah Hall, the No. 1 recruit in the 2026 class.
JuJu. Davidson. Hall. Good luck with that.
South Carolina Opens the Season at No. 1
Dawn Staley’s Gamecocks reached yet another national championship game last spring.
UCLA then beat them 79-51.
That’s not exactly how South Carolina is accustomed to ending a season.
Now the Gamecocks are back at No. 1, with Joyce Edwards and Tessa Johnson returning, Texas transfer Jordan Leejoining the roster and elite freshman Jerzy Robinson entering the mix.
South Carolina has won three national championships under Staley and played for the title in three straight seasons. Somehow, the most accomplished program of this era enters 2026-27 with something to prove. That seems dangerous.
Sarah Strong Leads No. 2 UConn
Paige Bueckers is gone. Azzi Fudd is gone.
And UConn has Sarah Strong.
Strong enters her junior season as the reigning AP National Player of the Year after averaging 18.4 points and 7.7 rebounds while shooting 58.2 percent from the floor. She received 30 of 31 votes for the preseason AP All-America team and gives the No. 2 Huskies yet another legitimate candidate for best player in America.
Some programs spend years searching for their next superstar. UConn apparently just waits for the next one to arrive.
Defending Champion UCLA Rebuilds Its Roster
The Bruins finally broke through last spring, hammering South Carolina to win the first national championship in program history.
Then practically everybody left.
UCLA sent a record six players to the WNBA Draft, including five first-round picks, leaving Cori Close with the wonderfully simple assignment of defending a national championship with a rebuilt roster. Sophomore Sienna Betts becomes one of the new faces of the program, while the Bruins hit the transfer portal looking for reinforcements.
UCLA opens the season at No. 11. The champs are still the champs. They’re just almost completely different champs.
Women’s College Basketball Teams to Watch in 2026-27
Michigan
This is no longer a cute little Michigan basketball story. The Wolverines are a legitimate national contender.
The Wolverines reached the Elite Eight last season and now open at No. 5, the highest preseason ranking in program history. Olivia Olson and Syla Swords give Michigan two of the Big Ten’s best players and a chance to turn last year’s breakthrough into a new normal.
Duke
Kara Lawson has quietly built a monster in Durham.
The Blue Devils have won back-to-back ACC championships and reached consecutive Elite Eights. Now they enter the season ranked No. 4, their highest preseason ranking since 2013.
At some point, “can Duke reach the Final Four?” becomes “why not Duke?” We may be there.
Oklahoma State
Oklahoma State apparently looked at the transfer portal and decided to take the fun option.
The Cowgirls landed former Iowa State star Audi Crooks and former Florida standout Liv McGill, the No. 1 and No. 2 transfers in the country according to CBS Sports, as part of the nation’s top-ranked transfer class. That’s enough to make preseason No. 22 Oklahoma State one of the more intriguing wild cards anywhere in the sport.
No idea where this ends. Very interested in finding out.
Women’s College Basketball Players to Watch in 2026-27
Hannah Hidalgo, Notre Dame: “Controlled chaos” feels about right. Hidalgo averaged 25.3 points and an absurd 5.6 steals per game last season. Five-point-six steals. Per game. That sounds fake. It is not.
Mikayla Blakes, Vanderbilt: The nation’s leading scorer is back after averaging 27 points per game last season and an even more ridiculous 30.5 against SEC opponents. Vanderbilt basketball has itself a bona fide superstar.
Madison Booker, Texas: Booker has already helped take Texas to consecutive Final Fours. The two-time conference Player of the Year has done just about everything in college basketball except win the last game of the season.
You can probably guess what’s left on the list.
College Hoops Is Back
College basketball returns with loaded rosters, fresh faces, transfer-portal chaos and no shortage of teams dreaming about March. The road to the Final Four starts now, and if the offseason was any indication, getting there should be one heckuva ride.
