The 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began on November 25, 2020 and concluded on March 14, 2021. The 2021 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament culminated the season and began on March 18 and concluded on April 5.

Season headlines

* November 11 – The

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

preseason All-American team was released.

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

center

Luka Garza Luka H. Garza (born December 27, 1998) is an American-Bosnian professional basketball player for the Minnesota Timberwolves of the National Basketball Association (NBA), on a two-way contract with the Iowa Wolves of the NBA G League. He played c ...

was the lone unanimous selection (64 votes). Joining him on the team were Baylor guard

Jared Butler Jared Gladwyn Butler (born August 25, 2000) is an American professional basketball player for the Grand Rapids Gold of the NBA G League. He played college basketball for the Baylor Bears. As a junior in 2021, he was named a consensus first-team ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

guard

Ayo Dosunmu Quamdeen Ayopo Dosunmu (born January 17, 2000) is an American professional basketball player for the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball at Illinois, where he was named a consensus first-team A ...

Oklahoma State Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...

guard

Cade Cunningham Cade Parker Cunningham (born September 25, 2001) is an American professional basketball player for the Detroit Pistons of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He attended Bowie High School in his hometown of Arlington, Texas, before tran ...

, Gonzaga guard

Corey Kispert Corey James Kispert (born March 3, 1999) is an American professional basketball player for the Washington Wizards of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Gonzaga Bulldogs, where he was a consensus first- ...

(26), and

Arizona State Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...

guard Remy Martin (26). * November 15 – The

UT Martin Skyhawks The UT Martin Skyhawks (also known as Tennessee–Martin Skyhawks) are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Tennessee at Martin (UTM) in Martin, Tennessee, United States. The Skyhawks athletic program is a member o ...

announced that head coach Anthony Stewart, who had been set to start his fifth season with the Skyhawks, had died earlier that day. No cause of death was given at the time. * January 18 – When the

AP Poll The Associated Press poll (AP poll) provides weekly rankings of the top 25 NCAA teams in one of three Division I college sports: football, men's basketball and women's basketball. The rankings are compiled by polling 62 sportswriters and broad ...

's Week 9 top 25 rankings were released, it was the first time since December 18, 1961 that neither

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ran ...

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

, nor

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

were included on the list. In 1961, the poll was only composed of the top 10 teams. * February 7 – The

UTRGV Vaqueros The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) is a public research university with multiple campuses throughout the Rio Grande Valley region of Texas and is the southernmost member of the University of Texas System. The University of Texas ...

announce the death of fifth-year head coach Lew Hill from coronavirus. Longtime assistant Jai Steadman was named interim head coach four days later. * February 9 – For the first time since an 0–2 start to the 1999–2000 season, the

men's basketball team fell below .500 after an 89–93 loss to Notre Dame. * March 23 – Just three days after playing in the NCAA tournament,

Grand Canyon The Grand Canyon (, yuf-x-yav, Wi:kaʼi:la, , Southern Paiute language: Paxa’uipi, ) is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in Arizona, United States. The Grand Canyon is long, up to wide and attains a depth of over a m ...

senior Oscar Frayer died in a car crash, along with his sister and one other person.

COVID-19 pandemic-related

* October 14 – The NCAA announced that all student-athletes in winter sports during the 2020–21 school year, including men's and women's basketball, would receive an extra year of athletic eligibility, whether or not they or their teams play during that school year. * October 27 – Bethune–Cookman, which had previously canceled its 2020 fall sports due to

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

concerns, announced that none of its other teams, including men's and

women's A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female humans regardl ...

basketball, would play in the 2020–21 school year. * November 12 – The

Ivy League The Ivy League is an American collegiate athletic conference comprising eight private research universities in the Northeastern United States. The term ''Ivy League'' is typically used beyond the sports context to refer to the eight schools ...

became the first conference to cancel all winter sports for the 2020–21 season, including men's and women's basketball, due to COVID-19 concerns. * November 19 –

Maryland Eastern Shore The Eastern Shore of Maryland is a part of the U.S. state of Maryland that lies mostly on the east side of the Chesapeake Bay. Nine counties are normally included in the region. The Eastern Shore is part of the larger Delmarva Peninsula that ...

became the second MEAC program to opt out of the 2020–21 men's and women's basketball seasons due to

concerns. * December 23 –

Chicago State Chicago State University (CSU) is a predominantly black public university in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in 1867 as the Cook County Normal School, it was an innovative teachers college. Eventually the Chicago Public Schools assumed control of t ...

ended its 2020–21 season after an 0–9 start marked by many

-related issues. Head coach Lance Irvin opted out before the season started due to concerns over the disease; the Cougars played one game with only six available players and another with only seven; the team's final game before suspending its season was canceled due to a lack of players. * February 9 –

Howard Howard is an English-language given name originating from Old French Huard (or Houard) from a Germanic source similar to Old High German ''*Hugihard'' "heart-brave", or ''*Hoh-ward'', literally "high defender; chief guardian". It is also probabl ...

ended its 2020–21 season after a 1–4 start of an abundance of caution due to the health and safety concerns related to the COVID-19 pandemic. * February 11 – Organizers of the

CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament The CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT) was an American men's college basketball postseason tournament founded by Collegeinsider.com. The tournament was oriented toward schools that did not get selected for the NCAA Division I men's ...

announced that the 2021 edition had been canceled. * February 13 –

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...

decided to conclude their 2020–21 season due to challenges related to COVID-19 after not being cleared to practice or play a game since January 17. * February 23 –

Charleston Southern Charleston Southern University (CSU) is a private Baptist university in North Charleston, South Carolina. It is affiliated with the South Carolina Baptist Convention ( Southern Baptist Convention). History Charleston Southern University was ch ...

ended its 2020–21 season after a 3–18 start, citing player concerns over COVID–19. * February 26 –

Jacksonville Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...

ended its 2020–21 season after an 11–13 start, citing player concerns over COVID–19. * March 2 – Holy Cross ended its 2020–21 season after a 5–11 start, citing player concerns over COVID-19.

Milestones and records

*During the season, the following players reached the 2,000 career point milestone – Austin Peay swingman

Terry Taylor Paul Worden Taylor III (born August 12, 1955) is an American retired professional wrestler better known by his ring name Terry Taylor and for his time as an in-ring performer in National Wrestling Alliance, World Championship Wrestling, and Wo ...

Pepperdine Pepperdine University () is a private research university affiliated with the Churches of Christ with its main campus in Los Angeles County, California. Pepperdine's main campus consists of 830 acres (340 ha) overlooking the Pacific Ocean and ...

guard

Colbey Ross Colbey Ross (born October 22, 1998) is an American professional basketball player for Derthona Basket of the Italian Lega Basket Serie A, LBA. He played college basketball for the Pepperdine Waves men's basketball, Pepperdine Waves. High school c ...

center

Bowling Green A bowling green is a finely laid, close-mown and rolled stretch of turf for playing the game of bowls. Before 1830, when Edwin Beard Budding of Thrupp, near Stroud, UK, invented the lawnmower, lawns were often kept cropped by grazing sheep ...

guard

Justin Turner Justin Matthew Turner (born November 23, 1984) is an American professional baseball third baseman for the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Baltimore Orioles, New York Mets and Los Angeles Dod ...

, Detroit Mercy guard

Antoine Davis Antoine Davis (born October 3, 1998) is an American college basketball player for the Detroit Mercy Titans of the Horizon League. Early life and high school career Davis was born in Bloomington, Indiana, where his father, Mike Davis, was a membe ...

, UTSA guard Keaton Wallace, and

Davidson Davidson may refer to: * Davidson (name) * Clan Davidson, a Highland Scottish clan * Davidson Media Group * Davidson Seamount, undersea mountain southwest of Monterey, California, USA * Tyler Davidson Fountain, monument in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA * ...

guard

Kellan Grady Kellan Grady (born September 11, 1997) is an American professional basketball player for the Grand Rapids Gold of the NBA G League. He played college basketball for the Kentucky Wildcats and the Davidson Wildcats. Early life and high school care ...

. * November 30 –

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

took sole possession of the record for most consecutive weeks ranked in the

. The Jayhawks' 222nd straight appearance surpassed UCLA's 221 from 1966 to 1980. The Jayhawks' streak ended at 231 when they dropped out of the poll released on February 8. * December 1 –

UC Riverside The University of California, Riverside (UCR or UC Riverside) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Riverside, California. It is one of the ten campuses of the University of California system. Th ...

head coach Mike Magpayo became the first head coach of Asian or Filipino descent to coach and won a Division I game in their 57–42 victory over

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

. Magpayo had missed the Highlanders' season opener on November 25 against

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

due to his child's birth. * February 21 –

center

scored 23 points in a win against Penn State to become the school's all-time leading scorer, breaking a 32-year old record previously held by

Roy Marble Roy Lane Marble, Jr. (December 13, 1966 – September 11, 2015) was an American professional basketball player, 6'6" tall, who played as a swingman (shooting guard/small forward). After playing four seasons at the University of Iowa from 1985 t ...

(2,116 points).

Conference membership changes

Ten schools joined a new conference for the 2020–21 season with four schools leaving Division II for Division I.

Arenas

New arenas

James Madison James Madison Jr. (March 16, 1751June 28, 1836) was an American statesman, diplomat, and Founding Father. He served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. Madison is hailed as the "Father of the Constitution" for hi ...

opened the new

Atlantic Union Bank Center Atlantic Union Bank Center is a multi-purpose arena on the campus of James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia that plays host to the James Madison Dukes men's and women's basketball teams. It seats 8,500 and opened for the 2020–21 ...

on November 25, 2020, defeating Division II

Limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

89–55. *

Liberty Liberty is the ability to do as one pleases, or a right or immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant (i.e. privilege). It is a synonym for the word freedom. In modern politics, liberty is understood as the state of being free within society fr ...

played its first game at Liberty Arena, winning 78–62 over Saint Francis (PA) on December 3, 2020. The first event at the arena, which had officially opened on November 23, was a women's game on December 1.

Arenas of new D-I teams

Three of the four new D-I members for this season are using existing on-campus facilities: * Dixie State plays in Burns Arena. * Tarleton State plays in

Wisdom Gym Wisdom Gymnasium is a 3,000 seat multi-purpose arena in Stephenville, Texas. It was built in 1970. It is the home of the Tarleton State University Tarleton State University is a public university with its main campus in Stephenville, Texas. I ...

. *

UC San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego or colloquially, UCSD) is a public land-grant research university in San Diego, California. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego is t ...

plays in

RIMAC Arena The Recreation, Intramural, and Athletic Complex (RIMAC, ) is a sports complex at the University of California San Diego comprising an arena, a weight room and various other event and athletic facilities. It is one of the largest college athleti ...

. The other D-I newcomer, Bellarmine, announced a multi-year deal with the Kentucky State Fair Board on November 2, 2020 to play home games at

Freedom Hall Freedom Hall is a multi-purpose arena in Louisville, Kentucky, on the grounds of the Kentucky Exposition Center, which is owned by the Commonwealth of Kentucky. It is best known for its use as a basketball arena, previously serving as the home ...

, located at the

Kentucky Exposition Center The Kentucky Exposition Center (KEC), is a large multi-use facility in Louisville, Kentucky, United States. Originally built in 1956. It is overseen by the Kentucky Venues and is the sixth largest facility of its type in the U.S., with of indoor ...

near

Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport , formerly known as simply Louisville International Airport, is a civil-military airport in Louisville in Jefferson County, Kentucky. The airport covers and has three runways. Its IATA airport code ...

. The arena had been home to

Louisville Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...

for more than 50 years before that team moved to the downtown KFC Yum! Center in 2010. Due to

restrictions, Bellarmine could only seat 300 at its on-campus facility, Knights Hall. With Freedom Hall's basketball capacity of 18,252, the Knights were able to seat 2,700.

Arenas closing

* High Point had originally planned to open Nido and Mariana Qubein Arena and Conference Center for the 2020–21 season. However, construction delays brought on by

led to the university delaying the new arena's opening until 2021–22, meaning that the

Millis Center The James H. and Jesse E. Millis Athletic and Convocation Center is a 1750-seat multi-purpose athletic and academic facility on the campus of High Point University (HPU) in High Point, North Carolina. The basis of the building is Alumni Hall, whic ...

was in use for one more season. * This was intended to be Idaho's final season at the

Kibbie Dome The William H. Kibbie-ASUI Activity Center (commonly known as the Kibbie Dome) is a multi-purpose indoor athletic stadium in the northwest United States, on the campus of the University of Idaho in Moscow, Idaho. It is the home of the Idaho ...

, a facility also home to Idaho football, with its basketball configuration known as Cowan Spectrum. When Idaho moved its 2020 football season to spring 2021, it displaced the men's and

basketball teams, forcing them to use Memorial Gymnasium. The latter facility had been home to both basketball teams before the Kibbie Dome opened in 1976, and remained a part-time home for both. The school plans to open the new

Idaho Central Credit Union Arena Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyom ...

for the 2021–22 season. The Dome will remain in use for football and several other sports.

Temporary arenas

* Due to

restrictions in

Santa Clara County Santa Clara County, officially the County of Santa Clara, is the sixth-most populous county in the U.S. state of California, with a population of 1,936,259, as of the 2020 census. Santa Clara County and neighboring San Benito County together f ...

, Santa Clara and Stanford played the majority of their home games at

Kaiser Permanente Arena Kaiser Permanente Arena is an indoor arena located in Santa Cruz, in the U.S. state of California. It has a seating capacity of 2,505 spectators. It hosts the Santa Cruz Warriors of the NBA G League. It was also the home of th ...

in neighboring Santa Cruz County.

Season outlook

Pre-season polls

The top 25 from the AP and USA Today Coaches Polls.

Regular season top 10 matchups

Rankings reflect the

AP poll The Associated Press poll (AP poll) provides weekly rankings of the top 25 NCAA teams in one of three Division I college sports: football, men's basketball and women's basketball. The rankings are compiled by polling 62 sportswriters and broad ...

Top 25. *November 26 **No. 1 Gonzaga defeated No. 6

, 102–90 (Fort Myers Tip-Off,

Suncoast Credit Union Arena Suncoast Credit Union Arena is a multipurpose arena on the campus of Florida SouthWestern State College (FSW) in Fort Myers, Florida. It is the home of the FSW Buccaneers men's and women's basketball and volleyball teams. It holds 3,500 people i ...

Fort Myers, FL Fort Myers (or Ft. Myers) is a city in southwestern Florida and the county seat and commercial center of Lee County, Florida, United States. The Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program calculated that the city's population was 92,245 in 202 ...

) *December 1 **No. 8

Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It i ...

defeated No. 6

, 75–69 ( Champions Classic,

Cameron Indoor Stadium Cameron Indoor Stadium is an indoor arena located on the campus of Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. The 9,314-seat facility is the primary indoor athletic venue for the Duke Blue Devils and serves as the home court for Duke men's ...

Durham, NC Durham ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Durham County. Small portions of the city limits extend into Orange County and Wake County. With a population of 283,506 in the 2020 Census, Durham is the 4th-m ...

) *December 2 **No. 2 Baylor defeated No. 5

, 82–69 (

Jimmy V Classic The Jimmy V Classic is an annual basketball game organized by ESPN Events to raise money and awareness for cancer research. It is named after Jim Valvano and features clips from his speech at the 1993 ESPY Awards An ESPY Award (short for Excell ...

Bankers Life Fieldhouse A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets. Becaus ...

Indianapolis, IN Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Mari ...

) *December 8 **No. 5 Kansas defeated No. 8 Creighton, 73–72 (

Big East–Big 12 Battle The Big East–Big 12 Battle was an annual NCAA Division I men's college basketball series in which teams from the Big East Conference faced the teams of the Big 12 Conference. The series was played annually for four years, from 2019 through 2022. ...

Allen Fieldhouse Allen Fieldhouse is an indoor arena on the University of Kansas campus in Lawrence, Kansas. It is home of the Kansas Jayhawks men's and women's basketball teams. The arena is named after Phog Allen, a former player and head coach for the Jayhaw ...

Lawrence, KS Lawrence is the county seat of Douglas County, Kansas, United States, and the sixth-largest city in the state. It is in the northeastern sector of the state, astride Interstate 70, between the Kansas and Wakarusa Rivers. As of the 2020 census, ...

) **No. 6 Illinois defeated No. 10 Duke, 83–68 (

ACC–Big Ten Challenge The ACC–Big Ten Challenge (or Big Ten–ACC Challenge as it was called in alternating years) was an in-season NCAA Division I men's college basketball series that matched up teams from the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) and the Big Ten Confer ...

, Cameron Indoor Stadium, Durham, NC) *December 19 **No. 1 Gonzaga defeated No. 3

, 99–88 (

Sanford Pentagon The Sanford Pentagon (colloquially known as The Pentagon) is an indoor arena located in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The Pentagon opened in September 2013 and has a seating capacity of 3,250 spectators. It hosts the Sioux Falls Skyforce of the NBA ...

Sioux Falls, SD Sioux Falls () is the most populous city in the U.S. state of South Dakota and the 130th-most populous city in the United States. It is the county seat of Minnehaha County and also extends into Lincoln County to the south, which continues up t ...

) *December 22 **No. 3 Kansas defeated No. 7

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the B ...

, 79–65 (Allen Fieldhouse, Lawrence, KS) *January 2 **No. 8

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

defeated No. 3 Kansas, 84–59 (Allen Fieldhouse, Lawrence, KS) *January 12 **No. 7

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

defeated No. 9

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

, 77–54 (

Crisler Arena Crisler Center (formerly known as the University Events Building and Crisler Arena) is an indoor arena located in Ann Arbor, Michigan. It is the home arena for the University of Michigan's men's and women's basketball teams as well as its women's ...

Ann Arbor, MI Ann Arbor is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Washtenaw County. The 2020 census recorded its population to be 123,851. It is the principal city of the Ann Arbor Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all ...

) *January 18 **No. 2 Baylor defeated No. 9 Kansas, 77–69 (

Ferrell Center The Paul J. Meyer Arena, which is part of the Ferrell Center, is an arena in Waco, Texas. Built in 1988 and located adjacent to the Brazos River, it is home to the Baylor University Bears basketball and volleyball teams. It is named for Charle ...

Waco, TX Waco ( ) is the county seat of McLennan County, Texas, United States. It is situated along the Brazos River and I-35, halfway between Dallas and Austin. The city had a 2020 population of 138,486, making it the 22nd-most populous city in the ...

) *February 2 **No. 2 Baylor defeated No. 6 Texas, 83–69 (

Frank Erwin Center The Frank C. Erwin Jr. Center (commonly known as Frank Erwin Center or UT Erwin Center and originally Special Events Center) is an inactive multi-purpose arena located on the campus of the University of Texas at Austin in Austin, Texas. It is also ...

Austin, TX Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

) *February 4 **No. 7

Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...

defeated No. 8 Iowa, 89–85 ( Carver-Hawkeye Arena,

Iowa City, IA Iowa City, offically the City of Iowa City is a city in Johnson County, Iowa, United States. It is the home of the University of Iowa and county seat of Johnson County, at the center of the Iowa City Metropolitan Statistical Area. At the time ...

) *February 21 **No. 3 Michigan defeated No. 4 Ohio State, 92–87 (

Value City Arena Value City Arena is a multi-purpose arena, located on the campus of Ohio State University, in Columbus, Ohio, United States. The arena opened in 1998 and is currently the largest by seating capacity in the Big Ten Conference, with 19,049 seats, w ...

Columbus, OH Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and ...

) *February 25 **No. 3 Michigan defeated No. 9 Iowa, 79–57 (Crisler Arena, Ann Arbor, MI) *February 28 **No. 9 Iowa defeated No. 4 Ohio State, 73–57 (Value City Arena, Columbus, OH) *March 2 **No. 3 Baylor defeated No. 6 West Virginia, 94–89 ^OT (

WVU Coliseum The WVU Coliseum is a 14,000-seat multi-purpose arena located on the Evansdale campus of West Virginia University in Morgantown, West Virginia. The circular arena features a poured concrete roof. It was built with state funds and replaced the W ...

Morgantown, WV Morgantown is a city in and the county seat of Monongalia County, West Virginia, United States, situated along the Monongahela River. The largest city in North-Central West Virginia, Morgantown is best known as the home of West Virginia Universit ...

) **No. 4 Illinois defeated No. 2 Michigan, 76–53 (Crisler Arena, Ann Arbor, MI) *March 6 **No. 4 Illinois defeated No. 7 Ohio State, 73–68 (Value City Arena, Columbus, OH) *March 13 **No. 3 Illinois defeated No. 5 Iowa, 82–71 (

2021 Big Ten men's basketball tournament The 2021 Big Ten men's basketball tournament was a postseason men's basketball tournament for the Big Ten Conference of the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season which took place March 10–14, 2021. The tournament was originally to ...

Lucas Oil Stadium Lucas Oil Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in downtown Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. It replaced the RCA Dome as the home field of the National Football League (NFL)'s Indianapolis Colts and opened on August 16, 2008. The stadium was ...

, Indianapolis, IN) **No. 9 Ohio State defeated No. 4 Michigan, 68–67 (2021 Big Ten Men's Basketball Tournament, Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis) *March 14 **No. 3 Illinois defeated No. 9 Ohio State, 91–88 ^OT (2021 Big Ten Men's Basketball Tournament, Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis)

Regular season

Early season tournaments

The Battle 4 Atlantis tournament in Nassau, Bahamas was cancelled due to logistical issues associated with COVID-19. A new tournament known as the Crossover Classic is scheduled to be held at the

Sioux Falls, South Dakota Sioux Falls () is the most populous city in the U.S. state of South Dakota and the 130th-most populous city in the United States. It is the county seat of Minnehaha County and also extends into Lincoln County to the south, which continues up ...

, and had invited almost all of the teams that had originally planned to compete in the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament (although five teams would later drop out). On October 26, 2020,

ESPN Events ESPN Events is an American multinational sporting event promoter owned by ESPN Inc. It is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, and shares its operations with SEC Network and formerly with ESPNU. The corporation organizes sporting events ...

cancelled 10 early-season tournaments that it organizes. It had planned to hold them at the

ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex The ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex is a multi-purpose sports complex located in the Walt Disney World, Walt Disney World Resort, in Bay Lake, Florida, Bay Lake, Florida, United States, near Orlando, Florida, Orlando. The complex includes ni ...

Orlando Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures re ...

within a protected "bubble" (the same site had recently hosted the remainder of the 2019–20 NBA season under similar circumstances), but ''

The Athletic ''The Athletic'' is a subscription-based sports website that provides national and local coverage in 47 North American cities as well as the United Kingdom. ''The Athletic'' also covers national stories from top professional and college sports ...

'' reported that there had been disagreements over health and COVID-19 testing protocols that had been mandated by ESPN Events (in accordance with recommendations by the

CDC The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the national public health agency of the United States. It is a United States federal agency, under the Department of Health and Human Services, and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgi ...

), which were stricter than those being adopted by conferences.

Upsets

Teams listed in bold type won "true road games", defined as games held at an opponent's regular home court (including regularly used alternate homes). In addition to the above listed upsets in which an unranked team defeated a ranked team, there were ten non-Division I teams to defeat a Division I team this season. Bold type indicates winning teams in "true road games"—i.e., those played on an opponent's home court (including secondary homes).

Conference winners and tournaments

Each of the 31 Division I

athletic conference An athletic conference is a collection of sports teams, playing competitively against each other in a sports league. In many cases conferences are subdivided into smaller divisions, with the best teams competing at successively higher levels. Conf ...

s that played in 2020–21 ended its

regular season In an organized sports league, a typical season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session: for example, in Major League Baseball the season lasts approximately from the last week of March to the last week of Se ...

with a

single-elimination tournament A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

. The team with the best regular-season record in each conference was given the number one seed in each tournament, with tiebreakers used as needed in the case of ties for the top seeding. The winners of these tournaments received automatic invitations to the 2021 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament.

Statistical leaders

Postseason

NCAA tournament

Tournament upsets

For this list, an "upset" is defined as a win by a team seeded 7 or more spots below its defeated opponent. This is more restrictive than the NCAA's official definition, in which a difference of 5 seed lines is sufficient to declare an "upset".

Teams eliminated from postseason participation due to COVID-19

* March 5 –

Northern Iowa Iowa () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wiscon ...

* March 9 – FIU * March 11 –

* March 12 –

North Carolina A&T North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (also known as North Carolina A&T State University, North Carolina A&T, N.C. A&T, or simply A&T) is a public, historically black land-grant research university in Greensboro, North Caro ...

Conference standings

Award winners

2021 Consensus All-America team

Major player of the year awards

Wooden Award The John R. Wooden Award is an award given annually to the most outstanding men's and women's college basketball players. The program consists of the men's and women's Player of the Year awards, the Legends of Coaching award, and recognizing the ...

Naismith Award Naismith Award is a basketball award named after James Naismith, and awarded by the Atlanta Tipoff Club. Naismith Awards include: * Naismith College Player of the Year (men's and women's; NCAA Division I basketball) * Naismith College Coach of t ...

: Luka Garza, Iowa * Associated Press Player of the Year: Luka Garza, Iowa *

NABC Player of the Year The NABC Player of the Year is an award given annually by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) to recognize the top player in men's college basketball. The award has been given since the 1974–75 season to National Collegiate Athl ...

: Luka Garza, Iowa *

Oscar Robertson Trophy The Oscar Robertson Trophy is given out annually to the outstanding men's college basketball player by the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA). The trophy is considered to be the oldest of its kind and has been given out since 195 ...

(

USBWA The United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) was founded in 1956 by National Collegiate Athletic Association director Walter Byers to serve the interests of journalists who cover college basketball. Scholarships The USBWA annually awar ...

): Luka Garza, Iowa * ''Sporting News'' Player of the Year: Luka Garza, Iowa

Major freshman of the year awards

Wayman Tisdale Award The USBWA National Freshman of the Year, with the men's and women's versions respectively named the Wayman Tisdale Award and Tamika Catchings Award, is an annual basketball award given to college basketball's most outstanding freshman male player ...

(

NABC Freshman of the Year The NABC Freshman of the Year is an annual college basketball award presented by Adidas Adidas AG (; stylized as adidas since 1949) is a German multinational corporation, founded and headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, that designs a ...

: Cade Cunningham, Oklahoma State * Sporting News Freshman of the Year: Cade Cunningham, Oklahoma State

Major coach of the year awards

* Associated Press Coach of the Year:

Juwan Howard Juwan Antonio Howard (born February 7, 1973) is an American former professional basketball player and current head coach of the Michigan Wolverines men's team. A one-time All-Star and one-time All-NBA power forward, he began his NBA career ...

Henry Iba Award The Henry Iba Award was established in 1959 to recognize the best college basketball coach of the year by the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA). Five nominees are presented and the individual with the most votes receives the a ...

(

): Juwan Howard, Michigan *

NABC Coach of the Year The NABC Coach of the Year Award has been presented by the National Association of Basketball Coaches since . A longtime sponsor of the award was Kodak; it is currently sponsored by the UPS Store The UPS Store (formerly Mail Boxes Etc.) is a s ...

Mark Few Mark Norman Few (born December 27, 1962) is an American college basketball coach who has been the head coach at Gonzaga University since 1999. He has served on Gonzaga's coaching staff since 1989, and has been a constant on the sidelines through ...

, Gonzaga *

Naismith College Coach of the Year Naismith College Coach of the Year Award is an award given by the Atlanta Tipoff Club to one men's and one women's NCAA Division I collegiate coach each season since 1987. The award was originally given to the two winning coaches of the NCAA Divis ...

: Mark Few, Gonzaga * ''Sporting News'' Coach of the Year: Juwan Howard, Michigan

Other major awards

* Naismith Starting Five: **

Bob Cousy Award The Bob Cousy Award presented by The College of the Holy Cross (or Bob Cousy Collegiate Point Guard of the Year Award) is an annual basketball award given by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame to the top men's collegiate point guard. ...

(best point guard):

Jerry West Award The Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year Award is an annual basketball award given by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame to the top men's collegiate shooting guard. The award is named after former Los Angeles Lakers shooting guard, ...

(best shooting guard): Chris Duarte,

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

Julius Erving Award The Julius Erving Small Forward of the Year Award is an annual basketball award given by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame to the top men's collegiate small forward. Following the success of the Bob Cousy Award which had been awarde ...

(best small forward):

, Gonzaga **

Karl Malone Award The Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year Award is an annual basketball award given by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame to the top men's collegiate power forward. Following the success of the Bob Cousy Award which had been awarded ...

(best power forward):

Drew Timme Andrew Matthew Timme (; born September 9, 2000) is an American college basketball player for the Gonzaga Bulldogs of the West Coast Conference (WCC). Early life and high school career Timme grew up in the northern Dallas suburb of Richardson, ...

, Gonzaga **

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award The Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year Award is an annual basketball award given by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame to the top men's collegiate center. Following the success of the Bob Cousy Award which had been awarded sinc ...

(best center): Luka Garza, Iowa *

Pete Newell Big Man Award The Pete Newell Big Man Award has been awarded by the National Association of Basketball Coaches since 2000. It is presented to the top low-post player each season. The award is named after Pete Newell, the coach who ran the Pete Newell Big Man C ...

(best big man): Luka Garza, Iowa *

NABC Defensive Player of the Year The NABC Defensive Player of the Year is an award given annually by the National Association of Basketball Coaches to recognize the top defensive player in United States college basketball. The award has been given since 1987 and was previously kn ...

Davion Mitchell Davion De'Monte Earl Mitchell (born September 5, 1998) is an American professional basketball player for the Sacramento Kings of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Auburn Tigers and the Baylor Bears. H ...

, Baylor * Naismith Defensive Player of the Year: Davion Mitchell, Baylor *

Senior CLASS Award The Senior CLASS Award is awarded to the most outstanding senior student-athlete in 10 NCAA Division I sports. An acronym for "Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School," the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete ...

(top senior on and off the court): Luka Garza, Iowa * Robert V. Geasey Trophy (top player in Philadelphia Big 5):

Collin Gillespie Collin Gillespie (born June 25, 1999) is an American professional basketball player for the Denver Nuggets of the National Basketball Association (NBA) on a two-way contract with the Grand Rapids Gold of the NBA G League. He played college basket ...

, Villanova *

Haggerty Award __NOTOC__ The Lt. Frank J. Haggerty Award is given to the All-New York Metropolitan NCAA Division I men's college basketball player of the year, presented by the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) and the Met Basketball Writers Association (MBWA) ...

(top player in NYC metro area):

Sandro Mamukelashvili Alexander "Sandro" Mamukelashvili ( ka, ალექსანდრე "სანდრო" მამუკელაშვილი; born May 23, 1999) is a Georgian-American professional basketball player for the San Antonio Spurs of the Nationa ...

Seton Hall Seton Hall University (SHU) is a private Catholic research university in South Orange, New Jersey. Founded in 1856 by then-Bishop James Roosevelt Bayley and named after his aunt, Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, Seton Hall is the oldest diocesa ...

Ben Jobe Award The Ben Jobe National Coach of the Year Award is an award given annually to the most outstanding minority men's college basketball head coach in NCAA Division I competition. The award was established in 2010 and is named for head coach Ben Jobe, wh ...

(top minority coach):

Leonard Hamilton James Leonard Hamilton (born August 4, 1948) is an American basketball coach and the current men's basketball head coach at Florida State University. He is a former head coach at Oklahoma State University, the University of Miami, and for the Nat ...

Florida State Florida State University (FSU) is a public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher e ...

Hugh Durham Award The Hugh Durham National Coach of the Year Award (formerly called the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Coach of the Year Award from 2005 to 2009) is an award given annually to the most outstanding mid-major men's college basketball head coach in NCAA ...

(top mid-major coach): Byron Smith, Prairie View A&M *

Jim Phelan Award The Jim Phelan National Coach of the Year Award (formerly called the CollegeInsider.com National Coach of the Year Award from 2003 to 2009) is an award given annually to the most outstanding men's college basketball head coach in NCAA Division I ( ...

(top head coach):

Todd Simon Todd Andrew Simon (born April 21, 1972) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre. Biography As a youth, Simon played in the 1985 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with the Toronto Young Nationals minor ice hockey team. ...

Southern Utah Southern Utah University (SUU) is a public university in Cedar City, Utah. Founded in 1897 as a normal school, Southern Utah University now graduates over 1,800 students each year with baccalaureate and graduate degrees from its six colleges. ...

Lefty Driesell Award The Lefty Driesell Defensive Player of the Year Award is an award given annually to the most outstanding men's college basketball defender in NCAA Division I competition. The award was established in 2010 and is named for head coach Lefty Driesel ...

(top defensive player): Davion Mitchell, Baylor *

Lou Henson Award The Lou Henson Award is an award given annually by '' CollegeInsider.com'' to the most outstanding mid-major men's college basketball player in NCAA Division I competition. The award, established in 2010, is named for legendary Illinois Fighting Il ...

(top mid-major player):

Max Abmas Maxwell Abmas ( ; born April 2, 2001) is an American college basketball player for the Texas Longhorns of the Big 12 Conference. He previously played for four seasons at Oral Roberts. High school career Abmas attended Jesuit College Preparatory ...

Oral Roberts Granville Oral Roberts (January 24, 1918 – December 15, 2009) was an American Charismatic Christian televangelist, ordained in both the Pentecostal Holiness and United Methodist churches. He is considered one of the forerunners of t ...

Lute Olson Award The Lute Olson Award is an award given annually to the most outstanding men's college basketball player in NCAA Division I competition. The award was established in 2010 and is named for former Arizona Wildcats head coach Lute Olson Robert Lut ...

(top non-freshman or transfer player): Luka Garza, Iowa *

Skip Prosser Man of the Year Award The Skip Prosser Man of the Year Award is an award given annually to the nation's men's head basketball coach in NCAA Division I competition who also exhibits strong moral character. The award was established in 2008 and is named for head coach Sk ...

(coach with moral character): Lew Hill, UTRGV * Academic All-American of the Year (top scholar-athlete): Corey Kispert, Gonzaga *

Elite 90 Award The Elite 90 Award or more formally The Elite 90 Academic Recognition Award Program, originally the Elite 88 Award and later the Elite 89 Award, is an award by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) recognizing the student athlete wi ...

(top GPA among upperclass players at Final Four): Russell Stong,

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

* Perry Wallace Most Courageous Award: This award was not presented to a Division I basketball figure. The award went to the men's basketball team of NAIA

Bluefield College Bluefield University is a private Baptist university in Bluefield, Virginia. It offers 22 majors and is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. The campus is about from the state line between Virginia and West Virgi ...

, which decided to kneel during the pregame playing of the

national anthem A national anthem is a patriotic musical composition symbolizing and evoking eulogies of the history and traditions of a country or nation. The majority of national anthems are marches or hymns in style. American, Central Asian, and European n ...

on February 8, 2021 in defiance of orders from the college's president.

Coaching changes

56 teams changed coaches during the season and after it ended. Two schools changed coaches between their first practice and first game of the season. One coach resigned and one died.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2020-21 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball season NCAA Division I Men

Season headlines

COVID-19 pandemic-related

Milestones and records

Conference membership changes

Arenas

New arenas

Arenas of new D-I teams

Arenas closing

Temporary arenas

Season outlook

Pre-season polls

Regular season top 10 matchups

Regular season

Early season tournaments

Upsets

Conference winners and tournaments

Statistical leaders

Postseason

NCAA tournament

Tournament upsets

Teams eliminated from postseason participation due to COVID-19

Conference standings

Award winners

2021 Consensus All-America team

Major player of the year awards

Major freshman of the year awards

Major coach of the year awards

Other major awards

Coaching changes

See also

References