How many games played in college basketball season?

Answer 1

40 games are the most that have been played in an academic year (fall and spring semesters plus post-regular season games) to date.

43 games are mathematically possible (but practically impossible) in one academic year, if a team is in the right conference and makes the the title game of every tournament it plays in that year.

Regular Season Games Allowed:

31 games in one season, consisting of

27 regular schedule games

+ up to 4 games if in an in-season tournament like the Preseason NIT or Great Alaska Shootout (my quick research showed most are just 3 game tournaments),

or

29 games if not participating in any in-season tournaments.

[Source: NCAA 2010-11 Division 1 Manual, Section 17.3.5 Number of Contests]

Postseason:

Add in the # of games needed to make the title games for both the conference and the NCAA tournaments to get the total games possible.

7 games are possible in the NCAA tournament, but the historical reality is no team has played more than 6.

Conference Tournaments

5 games are possible in the Big East tournament

4 games are possible in the other major conferences (I assume this is the same number for the non-majors, but I am not sure).

Based on the above, the maximum number of games possiblewould be

31 games before post-season

+5 games possible in a conference tournament

+7 games in the NCAA tournament

=

43 games possible

More realistically, the most likely maximum number of possible games played in any academic year (and the most ever played as of this writing) is

31 games before the post-season

+3 games in a conference tournament

+6 games in the NCAA tournament

=

40 games max in an academic year

Answer 2

If you don't count the playoffs, it usually last about 14 months. Then every four years there is a championship series that last 1 year and a half.

Answer 3

It varies from team to team, year to year. There is no set number.

Answer 4

Depends usually between 28-33, depending on conference and schedule....and if the team entered an early season tournament or NCAA 64!

Answer 5

About 30, give or take 3.