The NCAA men’s and women’s basketball seasons will begin Nov. 25, the day before Thanksgiving.
The Division I Council voted to push the start date back from the originally scheduled Nov. 10 as one of several precautions against the spread of coronavirus. The later start date coincides with the decision most schools made to send students home from Thanksgiving until January out of concern about a potential late-fall and early-winter flareup of COVID-19.
Closed campuses could serve as a quasi bubble for players and provide a window for nonconference games. The maximum number of regular-season games has been reduced from 31 to 27. The minimum number of games for consideration for the NCAA Tournament was cut from 25 to 13.
With the start date being Nov. 25 that means full-blown practices can start, per NCAA rules, 42 days prior. That equates to Oct. 14 serving as the start of college basketball's preseason according to Matt Norlander from CBS Sports. He also writes that the new start date is not set in stone. if the climate surrounding the coronavirus were to worsen, college basketball's season could be pushed back again.
The Division I Council is next scheduled to meet in mid-October, when it's expected to address men's and women's basketball again and vote as necessary on any potential amendments.