The piece opens by celebrating the 2025–26 college basketball season’s exceptional start, arguing it should become the standard scheduling approach and urging high‑major coaches to continue locking in tough nonconference opponents.

It highlights the Players Era event—its format, financials, and partnerships (notably with the Big 12)—and notes its potential to grow in prominence and revenue, while addressing scheduling, brackets, and payment considerations.

A preview highlights upcoming marquee, ranked-on-ranked games and major matchups, underscoring the ongoing national dialogue around nonconference play.

The early, high-quality schedule is boosting media attention and viewership, with the argument that this scheduling philosophy should be replicated annually to elevate the sport’s profile.

Power rankings for the Power Five teams place the Big Ten first, followed by the Big 12, ACC, SEC, and Big East, alongside metrics on nonconference results and KenPom Top 50 records.

Through five weeks, there have been 36 ranked-on-ranked nonconference matchups—up from prior years—with potential to approach 50 before the NCAA Tournament.

Closing sentiment: this season represents the best scheduling model the sport has ever had, and it should be the standard going forward.

Key takeaways frame this as a blueprint for lifting the sport through deliberate scheduling, media strategy, and conference collaboration, with Las Vegas likely to become the permanent home for the Players Era.

Coaches should treat this as an ongoing strategy, urging high‑major programs to maintain aggressive scheduling for 2026–27 and 2027–28 negotiations.

Marquee early results illustrate the narrative: UConn at Kansas, Florida’s rally at Duke, UNC vs. Kentucky with numerous lead changes, and other Top 15/Top 25 nonconference clashes slated for upcoming games.