According to a tweet from Jon Rothstein, the NCAA has approved two sets of schedules for college basketball. The NCAA has approved a 28-game schedule with a three-game multiple-team event (MTE), and a 29-game schedule with a two-game MTE.
These multiple-team events are non-conference tournaments — early-season events/tournaments like the Maui Invitational.
Source: The NCAA has approved a 28-game schedule with a 3-game MTE and a 29-game schedule with a 2-game MTE.
Significant news in the college basketball scheduling world.
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) April 24, 2020
The current system in place allows programs to go one of two routes. To start, a team can play a schedule of 31 games, if said team participates in an MTE. This breaks down to 27 scheduled games, plus participation in an MTE with up to four additional games.
Depending on the length of that team’s conference slate, that program would schedule 11-17 non-conference contests. The MTE, however, covers a potion of those games — three or four.
However, if a program opts to not play in a midseason event, they can play a schedule of up to 29 games. Under this circumstance, hypothetically, an ACC team with a 20-game conference schedule for the 2019-20 season would be responsible for scheduling an additional nine non-conference games. Teams from leagues with fewer conference games would be responsible for schedule more out-of-conference contests.