The NCAA is taking another major step toward protecting student-athletes and competition integrity from sports betting influences by announcing a new player availability reporting system for the men’s and women’s basketball championship tournaments. The 2025-26 season will mark the first time March Madness games operate under the new rules.
The press release highlights that the Association remains committed to protecting student-athletes’ well-being. This is the latest example of how the NCAA continues to analyze the current landscape to devise effective initiatives that increase protections.
The idea behind the new player availability reporting during the tournaments is to reduce betting-related pressure along with solicitations and harassment student-athletes receive connected to their playing status.
“After months of thorough discussion and exploration, I applaud the Division I Men’s and Women’s Basketball Committees for taking such important action,” NCAA President Charlie Baker said. “Implementing player availability reporting is a major step to increasing student-athlete protections by alleviating pressures for the enhancement of their college experience.”
The NCAA will be using HD Intelligence (HDI) as its player availability service provider. HDI bills itself as “basketball’s premier analytics consulting company.” The Southeastern Conference, Big East Conference, USA Basketball, and the UConn Huskies are just a handful of the 100+ basketball programs the company works with.
Availability reports will apply to all March Madness contests and will be made publicly available. The 2026 NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship Tournament will run between Tuesday, March 17, and Monday, April 6. The NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship Tournament begins Wednesday, March 18, and ends Sunday, April 5.
Under the new rules, teams will be required to submit initial reports to the NCAA the night before games and again two hours before tip time to ensure accuracy. Student-athletes will be assumed to be available unless designated as questionable or out.
Teams that fail to comply or accurately report player availability could result in penalties for that school. The specific penalties will be determined by the Men’s and Women’s Basketball Committees.
The Association will look at continuing this pilot program at subsequent Division I basketball and other championship events.
With sports betting currently legal in 38 states plus Washington, D.C., the NCAA is well aware that bettors are regularly wagering on Division I college football and basketball games. This includes player prop bets in which a bettor wagers on how many touchdowns or points a specific player will score in a game. Several states have banned prop betting on college players, and the Association continues advocating to remove them completely.
The NCAA is known for having one of the world’s largest integrity monitor programs, and it has flagged several former athletes. In September, the Association announced it was investigating alleged sports betting violations against 13 former student-athletes.
Eastern Michigan, Temple, Arizona State, New Orleans, North Carolina AT&T, and Mississippi Valley are the schools that the unnamed student-athletes in question attended. The majority of these investigations remain open.
The NCAA recently made a change to its sports betting policies that will soon allow student-athletes and athletics department staff members to bet on pro sports. It was originally set to begin over the weekend, but it has been pushed back to November 22.
