The 2021–22 NCAA college basketball season for the Division I starts on November 9 with the Baylor Bears as the defending champions. They won their first title last season against Gonzaga Bulldogs. But this season everything starts from scratch, Gonzaga number one in the Preseason AP Poll and the other four that remain on the list until the fifth spot are Illinois, Baylor, Michigan and Alabama.
The new 2021-22 includes some changes to the College Basketball rules, one of the new changes is the one regarding Flopping, which will now be considered a technical foul. Another important change is the personal fouls before the disqualification, the number increases to six personal fouls for the whole game, but the player cannot commit four personal fouls in a single half otherwise he will be disqualified.
Three other changes for the new 2021-22 NCAA College Basketball season are the team timeouts, that will now serve to replace the media timeouts. On Shot Clocks the NCAA said that now the clocks will show the tenths of a second as it is done in the NBA. And finally, the technology, video and other devices is allowed to all the coaching staff during the game on the bench.
NCAA College Basketball 2021: When does the 2021-2022 season start
The season begins on November 9, 2021, and the first game of the season, in the Top 25 of Division I is in Villanova, Pennsylvania. The local team the Villanova Wildcats play Mount St. Mary’s Mountaineers. Another pair of Top 25 games for the first day of the season will be Gonzaga vs. Dixie State, Duke vs. Kentucky, and Kansas vs. Michigan State.
News and headlines for the new season, one of the most important news is about the University of Hartford since the institution formally asked the NCAA for a reclassification from Division I to Division III, the reclassification will be completed by the end of 2026. The university will not offer more full athletic scholarships.
The big favorites for this season are Gonzaga, UCLA, Villanova, Duke, Kentucky and the defending champions Baylor Bears. The regular season ends on March 13, 2022, a few days later the March Madness begins on March 15. The following month, on April 4, they will play the championship game of the 2021-22 NCAA Basketball season.