The regular season schedules for the 2025-2026 OUA basketball season have been released. On Friday, Oct. 24, 14 teams will take the floor to start off their season with the rest beginning the following day. As always, most men's games follow women's games in a doubleheader for the 18 programs.
The Ottawa Gee-Gees swept the OUA basketball titles in 2024, with the men winning the Wilson Cup and the women winning the Critelli Cup. Fans will get to see the defending champs on opening night as they play the Guelph Gryphons in Guelph. The Gee-Gees return home the following weekend to welcome Laurentian and Nipissing.
With teams playing roughly 11 games in the first semester, the first half of the season ends on Nov. 30, and after a holiday pause, play resumes on Jan. 7, 2026.
During the second half of the season, Ottawa and Carleton will put on another rendition of their regular season staple, the Capital Hoops Classic at the Arena at TD Place. When the Gee-Gees and Ravens clash on Feb. 6 2026, it will surely be a event to remember.
After the regular season wraps up on Feb. 15, OUA playoffs begin with their standard 12-team setup. The three division winners and the next best team based on record hold a top four seed with a bye in the first round. The remaining eight are seeded based on record and begin the first round.
The OUA playoffs run from roughly Feb. 18 through until March when the Critelli and Wilson champions are decided and the field for the U SPORTS Final 8 is set.
With Calgary hosting the men's Final 8 tournament from March 6–8 and Laval hosting the women's from March 5–8, OUA teams are left to capture two OUA finalist seeds and one wild card seed for each tournament. Calgary and Laval hold the respective host seeds.
That championship weekend will cap off another year of U SPORTS basketball and crown national champions. On both the men's and women's side, the Carleton Ravens were the last teams from the OUA to capture the U SPORTS national championship, the men last winning it in the 2022-2023 season and the women in the 2023-2024 season.