On May 2, 2024, the NCAA Basketball Rules Committee proposed a few rule changes for the 2024–25 season. These changes were approved on June 6 by the Playing Rules Oversight Panel.[1][2]
Officials will be able to review whether a player's foot last touching the court was inbounds on a made shot before time expired. If a player's foot is determined to be out of bounds, officials would put the exact time of the violation on the game clock. However, if the shot is made and time remains on the game clock, a video review would not occur.
A one-game suspension has been added to the ejection of any player, coach, or bench personnel who "disrespectfully contacts an official or makes a threat of physical intimidation or harm, to include pushing, shoving, spitting or attempting to make physical contact with an official".
An experimental rule for the 2025 NIT will allow a coach to appeal out-of-bounds calls for video replay review in the last two minutes of games, pending NIT board approval.
September 24 – The Pac-12 Conference's rebuilding continued as Utah State would join the other Mountain West defectors in 2026–27.[7]
September 30 – Gonzaga announced it would leave the West Coast Conference to join the Pac-12 Conference for all sports except for football in 2026–27.[8]
October 1 – UTEP announced it would join the Mountain West from Conference USA in 2026–27.[9]
The NCAA Division I Council approved a proposal that reduced the duration of the transfer portal to 30 days. Going forward, the window opens on the day after the completion of the second round of the Division I men's tournament.
The Council also abolished the National Letter of Intent program effective immediately. Written offers of athletics aid will replace the NLI.
The Council introduced a proposal that would shorten the transition periods for schools wishing to reclassify from Division II or Division III to Division I. If approved at the Council's January 2025 meeting, the transition periods for D-II and D-III schools would drop by a year, respectively to three and four years.
October 15 – The Mountain West announced that Hawaiʻi, which has been a football-only member of that conference since 2012, would leave the Big West Conference in 2026 to become a full MW member.[11]
November 1 – The Mountain West announced that Grand Canyon would join the conference no later than 2026 for all sports except for football.[14] Grand Canyon's official announcement stated that it would not compete in the West Coast Conference, which it had previously been scheduled to join in July 2025, and that if MW bylaws allowed, it would join that conference in 2025.[15]
December 10 – The Mountain West announced that UC Davis would leave the Big West alongside Hawai'i to join in 2026 for all sports except for football, where they will remain in the Big Sky Conference as an affiliate.[17]
November 12 – Bill Self became Kansas' all-time leader in wins after recording a 77–69 win over Michigan State in Atlanta. The win was his 591st with the Jayhawks, surpassing Phog Allen as the winngest coach in program history.[22] On November 20, he won his 800th career game in an 84–66 home win over UNC Wilmington. Prior to Kansas, Self coached at Oral Roberts, Tulsa and Illinois.[23]
November 18 – Kansas City defeated local NCCAA member Calvary 119–19, setting several school records, including most lopsided win and fewest points allowed. With the Roos having defeated another local NCCAA school, Kansas Christian, 124–36 on November 8, they became the first Division I men's team with two wins by 85 or more points in a single season.[25]
December 18 – Following a narrow 62–61 win at home against Davidson, Temple became the sixth college basketball program in history to earn 2,000 all-time wins, joining Kansas, Kentucky, North Carolina, Duke, and UCLA.[26]
Conference membership changes
A total of 23 schools joined new conferences for the 2024–25 season. Of these, 20 moved within Division I, two began reclassification from NCAA Division II, and Chicago State ended its two-year stint as an all-sports independent to join the Northeast Conference.
Vermont was originally slated to open their new arena, Tarrant Event Center, as a replacement for the current arena, Patrick Gym. Construction was to continue in 2021 but it has been delayed indefinitely.[29]
In addition to the above listed upsets in which an unranked team defeated a ranked team, there have been four non-Division I teams that defeated a Division I team so far this season. Bold type indicates winning teams in "true road games"—i.e., those played on an opponent's home court (including secondary homes).
Each of the 31 Division I athletic conferences will end its regular season with a single-elimination tournament. The team with the best regular-season record in each conference receives the number one seed in each tournament, with tiebreakers used as needed in the case of ties for the top seeding. Unless otherwise noted, the winners of these tournaments will receive automatic invitations to the 2025 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament.
Louisiana announced on December 19, 2024 that Marlin was relieved of his duties and assistant head coach Derrick Zimmerman would serve as the team's interim head coach for the remainder of the season. Marlin finished with a record of 269–198 and two NCAA tournament appearances during his 14+ year tenure with the Ragin' Cajuns.[35]
On December 26, 2024, Larrañaga announced effective immediately he would be stepping down as head coach of Miami.[37] Larrañaga coached 15 years at Miami finishing with an overall record of 274–174, the winningest record in Hurricanes basketball history. He appeared in six NCAA tournaments, as well as one Final Four in 2023. Hurricanes assistant coach Courtney was announced as the interim head coach for the remainder of the season.
The 43-year-old Abdur-Rahim passed away on October 24, 2024, just 11 days before beginning his second season as South Florida head coach, following complications during a medical procedure at a Tampa hospital. In his first and only season at USF, he led the team to a school-record 25 wins, an American Athletic Conference regular season championship, and was named AAC Coach of the Year.[38] 5 days after his death, Bulls associate head coach Fletcher was named interim head coach for the season.[39]
Virginia announced on October 17, 2024 that Bennett had retired, effective immediately, and made a formal announcement the next day. Bennett leaves the Cavaliers after 15 seasons as the winningest head coach of the program with 364 wins, 10 NCAA tournament appearances, six ACC regular-season titles, two ACC tournament championships, and a national title in 2019.[40] Associate head coach Sanchez, who rejoined the staff last season after spending the past 5 seasons as Charlotte head coach, was named interim head coach for the season.[41]
^"GCU accepts invite to Mountain West Conference" (Press release). Grand Canyon Antelopes. November 1, 2024. Retrieved November 1, 2024. In joining the Mountain West Conference, GCU has formally declined an invitation from the West Coast Conference that would have seen the Lopes become WCC members on July 1, 2025.
^"Vets lead way in shorthanded opening win". gculopes.com. Grand Canyon Antelopes. November 4, 2024. Retrieved December 19, 2024. Harrison climbed past the 2,000-point plateau for his career with a 21-point game that made him the sixth-highest active Division I scorer at 2,012 points.
^"Comeback Falls Just Short at Illinois State". slubillikens.com. Saint Louis Billikens. December 15, 2024. Retrieved December 19, 2024. Gibson Jimerson chipped in with 15 points, and in the process became the ninth active NCAA Division I player to reach 2,000 or more career points.
^Hill, Jerry (December 27, 2024). "No. 25 MBB Walks Over Arlington Baptist". baylorbears.com. Baylor Bears. Retrieved December 29, 2024. "I don't really think about it, it just comes natural," said Omier, a transfer from Miami who also scored his 2,000th career point in the game.
