A new tournament has been proposed that could elevate the excitement in the early part of the college basketball season, and UConn is reportedly involved.
According to a report from CBS Sports’ Matt Norlander, UConn is one of eight high-profile programs involved in “deep discussions” about taking part in the proposed “Diamond Cup,” which would be an eight-team, pool-play event debuting in the 2027-28 season and featuring an intriguing number of blue-blood programs.
It would help generate interest in the early part of the college basketball season, when the sport is competing for viewership and attention with the NFL and college football.
Dan Hurley and the Huskies have made a clear effort to stack their nonconference schedule with big games and the Diamond Cup would ensure that continues going forward. The list of schools reportedly involved includes Arizona, Gonzaga, Kansas, Kentucky, Indiana, Michigan and North Carolina. Duke reportedly bowed out due to its three-game contract with Amazon Prime Video, which includes the recently-announced matchup with the Huskies in Las Vegas on Nov. 25.
According to Norlander’s report, Diamond Cup organizers define the event as “a premium, scalable, made-for-media college basketball franchise built to redefine the regular season. It delivers guaranteed blue-chip brands, premium viewership and serialized national narratives across multiple cities.”
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Participating schools could earn equity in the Diamond Cup, according to the report, allowing for more earning potential if the event becomes a mainstay on the sport’s calendar.
The inaugural event in the 2027-28 season is proposed as a two-game agreement and could potentially move to a four-game format (one preseason, three regular season) for 2028-29. Schools could earn $2.25 million apiece in 2027-28, and it could bump to $3.75 million per school in the proposed formats for the second and third years.
The games would be held at neutral site locations in major cities across the country due to conflicts with broadcast rights, which would be owned by the conference of the respective home team.
“Because there’s still no broadcast partner inked and some teams are still awaiting more details before they sign contracts, the Diamond Cup isn’t yet a guarantee. But this story has been brewing for almost a year, and as the months have gone on, sources at most schools continue to express their interest in participating,” Norlander wrote.
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UConn scheduled six high-major games last season and has upped it to seven for 2026-27, including a national championship rematch against Michigan at TD Garden in Boston on Nov. 6, a home game against Ohio State on Nov. 13, a trip to Arizona on Nov. 18, the Duke meeting in Vegas on Nov. 25, a Final Four rematch against Illinois in Chicago on Dec. 4, a home game against Kansas on Dec. 12 and a meeting with Virginia at Madison Square Garden on Dec. 20.
The Diamond Cup would add some extra juice to the schedule, which would likely still include multiple additional big games.
