Five College Basketball Trends to Watch for in 2026-27

As the season is about to start and rosters are still being finalized, it feels like a good time to take a macro-level look at where college basketball stands. I'm not talking about NIL spending or eligibility concerns, but rather the macro trends in college basketball that could affect many teams this season.

Some of these may be one- or two-year abnormalities, but they are still worth monitoring.

Double big dominance

One of the best things about college basketball is the variety of styles. With (roughly) 365 teams in a given season, there are so many schemes and systems.

But college basketball, just like every other sport, is still a copycat league at heart. If some specific scheme is working for top teams, there's a pretty good chance others are going to try to copy it.

To me, many teams will start trying out double-big lineups.

Teams will be more willing to pair what would traditionally be considered two centers, even if neither can shoot. It can create spacing concerns, but we'll discuss ways to overcome them in point two.