The Basketball Tournament 2026 was the thirteenth edition of The Basketball Tournament (TBT), a 5-on-5, basketball tournament with a $2 million winner-take-all prize. The tournament, involving 14 teams, began on July 18 and ended on August 2. Twenty games were broadcast live on FOX, FS1, and FS2. Other games were streamed on YouTube.
Kentucky alumni team La Familia won the alumni bracket and hosted the non-alumni champion, Davis Steel on their home court Memorial Coliseum in Lexington, Kentucky. Davis Steel won the tournament 67–59, claiming the $2 million prize for the first time since competing in 13 tournaments.
Format The tournament featured a bracket for the eight alumni teams. The first round was a best of three series and the remaining rounds a standard single elimination format. The teams and the bracket placements for alumni entrants were revealed on May 21, 2026. The non-alumni teams were divided into two 3-team groups for round robin play, then seeded into a single-elimination bracket.
Alumni rounds were played at campus sites around the country with most teams hosting at least one game. The non-alumni rounds took place at M Resort Spa Casino in Las Vegas. The alumni and non-alumni semifinal winners faced each other in the championship round at the alumni champion's home court.
As with previous years, all tournament games operate with the "Elam Ending", a format of ending the game without use of a game clock. Under the Elam Ending, the clock is turned off at the first dead-ball whistle with four minutes or less to play in the game. At that time, a target score, equal to the score of the leading team (or tied teams) plus eight, is set, and the first team to reach this target score is declared the winner of the game. Thus, all games end on a made basket (field goal or free throw) and there is no overtime.
Venues Bramlage Coliseum, Manhattan, Kansas (Purple Reign) Charles Koch Arena, Wichita, Kansas (AfterShocks) Freedom Hall, Louisville, Kentucky (The Ville) Lee Arena, Topeka, Kansas (JHX Hoops) M Resort Spa Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada (Non-alumni games) Memorial Coliseum, Lexington, Kentucky (La Familia) The Oncenter, Syracuse, New York (Boeheim's Army) Walsh Gymnasium, South Orange, New Jersey (Hall In)
Teams TBT has a history of teams rostered primarily with alumni from specific NCAA Division I college basketball programs; 8 such teams entered the 2026 tournament.
+ Alumni teams Name College affiliation Source of team name AfterShocks Wichita State alumni Wichita State Shockers school nickname Boeheim's Army Syracuse alumni Former Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim New Mexico alumni "The Land of Enchantment" official nickname for New Mexico Hall In Seton Hall alumni Play on the phrase "all in" using the university's name JHX Hoops Kansas alumni Variation of the Kansas Jayhawks mascot name La Familia Kentucky alumni 2009-24 Kentucky coach John Calipari's Italian heritage; also name of a UK basketball NIL collective Purple Reign Kansas State alumni Kansas State University school colors Louisville alumni City nickname + Non-alumni teams Name Sponsor affiliation Source of team name Knueppel Crew Kon Knueppel and his father Heartfire Elite Airo Combination of previous teams Heartfire, Elite Nation, and The Shine Davis Steel Owners Ashley & Adam Davis Davis tubing and fencing company Gotham City Bockers Founder Philip B. McDonald, M.D. Nicknames of New York City and another form of New York Knickerbockers The Mecca Long Beach, California Red Rose War Ready Porter's Pool & Spa, Ripley, WV Combination of previous teams Red Rose Thunder and War Ready
Source:
Alumni bracket
Non-alumni groups
After group play, the teams were seeded in a 6-team single game elimination bracket with the top seeds getting a bye for the first round.
Semifinals
Championship
Awards + All Tournament Team Pos Player Team SG Gabe York Davis Steel PG Archie Goodwin La Familia C Willie Cauley-Stein La Familia PG Zeke Mayo JHX Hoops SG Marvelle Harris The Mecca Coach Jon Hood La Familia GM Stephen Almquist The Mecca
References
External links