NCAA Releases Penalty and Process Details for March Madness Player Availability Reports

The NCAA Division I Men’s and Women’s Basketball Committees detailed the penalties and reporting requirements for the Men’s and Women’s March Madness player availability reporting program.

Implemented for the first time in NCAA championships, player availability reports are intended in part to reduce betting-related pressure, solicitations and harassment student-athletes and other team personnel receive from bettors connected to playing status. The NCAA runs the largest integrity monitoring service program in the world and provides college athletes with online threat detection services as part of its comprehensive strategy to respond to the rise of sports betting.

Implementation of player availability reports for the 2026 Division I Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships will serve as a pilot program. The reporting system will not be implemented for other NCAA championships in 2025-26 while the program is evaluated.

HD Intelligence will serve as the player availability reporting service provider for the 2026 Division I Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships. Several conferences already use HDI for their members and are familiar with the interface. A video training was provided in February, and a frequently-asked-questions document will be offered.

Availability reports will be applicable to all Division I men’s and women’s basketball championship contests. These reports will be publicly available on ncaa.com.

Process

Teams must submit initial reports to the NCAA by 9 p.m. (local competition venue time) the night before competition and provide any updates to the initial report by two hours prior to their scheduled tip time on game day to ensure accuracy. The portal will open five hours prior to the reporting deadline each day.

Under the reporting structure, student-athletes will be designated as available (more than a 75% chance to play), questionable (up to a 75% chance to play) or out (will not play).

Student-athletes will be assumed to be available unless designated as questionable or out.

Penalties

Failure to adhere to the policy or misconduct violations may result in penalties for the institution and head coach, as determined by the Division I Men’s and Women’s Basketball Committees. For the 2026 championships, the following penalty structure has been established:

• First offense: Up to a $10,000 institution penalty.

• Second offense: Up to a $25,000 institution penalty.

• Third and any successive offenses: Up to $30,000 institution penalty and a head coach penalty of up to $10,000.

All penalties will be assessed after the tournaments conclude.