The 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began on November 25, 2020 and is planned to conclude on March 14, 2021. The 2021 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament will culminate the season and begin on March 16 and conclude on April 5, 2021.
The season was initially slated to begin on November 10, 2020, but was postponed due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, which prematurely ended the previous season.
November 15 – The UT Martin Skyhawks 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.[2]
January 18 – When the AP Poll's Week 9 top 25 rankings were released, it was the first time since December 18, 1961 that neither Duke, Kentucky, nor North Carolina were included on the list.[3] In 1961, the poll was only composed of the top 10 teams.[3]
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.[4]
October 27 – Bethune–Cookman, which had previously canceled its 2020 fall sports due to COVID-19 concerns, announced that none of its other teams, including men's and women's basketball, would play in the 2020–21 school year.[5]
November 12 – The Ivy League 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.[6][7]
November 19 – Maryland Eastern Shore became the second MEAC program to opt out of the 2020–21 men's and women's basketball seasons due to COVID-19 concerns.[8]
December 23 – Chicago State ended its 2020–21 season after an 0–9 start marked by many COVID-19-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; and the team's final game before suspending its season was canceled due to a lack of players.[9]
November 30 – Kansas took sole possession of the record for most consecutive weeks ranked in the AP Poll. The Jayhawks' 222nd straight appearance surpassed UCLA's 221 from 1966 to 1980.[13]
December 1 – UC Riverside head coach Mike Magpayo became the first head coach of Asian or Filipino descent to coach and win a Division I game in their 57–42 victory over Washington. Magpayo had missed the Highlanders' season opener on November 25 against Pacific due to the birth of his child.[14]
Conference membership changes
Ten schools joined a new conference for the 2020–21 season with four schools leaving Division II for Division I.
On January 14, 2021, the Western Athletic Conference announced the impending arrival of five new members—Abilene Christian, Lamar, Sam Houston State, and Stephen F. Austin, all Southland Conference members located in Texas, and Southern Utah from the Big Sky Conference.[15] Original plans were for all five schools to join in 2022, but the entry of the Texas schools was moved forward to July 2021 when the Southland chose to expel its departing members.[16][17] Southern Utah's entry remains on the original July 2022 schedule. A current WAC member, Chicago State, announced it would leave the conference after the 2021–22 season; it has yet to announce a new affiliation.[18]
On that same day, Central Arkansas athletic director Brad Teague told media that the school would leave the Southland for the Atlantic Sun Conference (ASUN) after the 2020–21 school year.[19] The ASUN made this move official on January 29, also announcing that Ohio Valley Conference members Eastern Kentucky and Jacksonville State would join at that time.[20]
This will be Idaho's final season at the Kibbie Dome, whose basketball configuration is known as Cowan Spectrum. The school plans to open the new Idaho Central Credit Union Arena for the 2021–22 season. The Dome will remain in use for several other sports, most notably football.
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 Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, 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).[29][30]
On October 26, 2020, ESPN Events cancelled 10 early-season tournaments that it organizes. It had planned to hold them at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando within a protected "bubble" (the same site had recently hosted the remainder of the 2019–20 NBA season under similar circumstances), but The Athletic 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), which were stricter than those being adopted by conferences.[31][32]
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 have been ten non-Division I teams to defeat a Division I team so far this season:
Note: The MAAC has ordered standings based on league wins, not winning percentage, since all teams did not reach 20 conference games played. These standings were also used for seeding purposes in the 2021 MAAC tournament.[33][34]
Neubauer was fired on January 26 after 5½ seasons at Fordham, in which the Rams went 61–104 overall, including a 1–7 start to the season. Assistant coach DePaoli was named interim head coach for the remainder of the season.[35]
Montgomery was fired on January 3 after 9½ years at Northern Illinois, in which the Huskies went 124–170 overall, including a 1–7 start to the season. Assistant coach Chapman was named interim head coach for the rest of the season.[36]
UT Martin announced Stewart's death on November 15, 2020. The 50-year-old was set to start his fifth season as head coach of the Skyhawks.[2] Two days later, assistant coach Robinson, who was hired by the team in September, was named interim head coach for the 2020–21 season.[37]
Marshall resigned from Wichita State on November 17, 2020 after 13 seasons following an investigation into reports of physical and verbal abuse of players. Assistant coach Brown was named the interim head coach of the Shockers for the 2020–21 season.[38]
