The newly-released regular season schedule for the 2026-27 NBL campaign features 165 games over 21 rounds, one of the most anticipated opening nights in recent league history - and an analysis of the draw has given us a picture of who may have an early edge.
Opening Night sets the tone immediately, with five-time Olympian Joe Ingles' Melbourne United debut taking place against six-time MVP Bryce Cotton and his Adelaide 36ers; the contest acting as the centrepiece of an extraordinary nine-day opening stretch that packs 13 games into the competition's first week.
The league's schedule also features the return of the Ignite Cup -- 20 in-season tournament games will be played -- four themed rounds, another trip to Perth for HoopsFest, and the annual Christmas Day game highlighting a smorgasbord of fixtures over the holiday period.
"This schedule has been built for the fans," NBL Chief Operating Officer & Head of Basketball Operations Vince Crivelli said.
"The rivalries, the stars, the individual matchups - they're all here. There's not a round that doesn't have something huge at stake. That's what makes the regular season so compelling, and why we can't wait to get underway. In our League, every game matters and there's nowhere to hide."
Round 7 brings the return of Rookie Round, celebrating grassroots basketball and the next generation of talent. Round 10 is Indigenous Round, honouring First Nations culture and heritage across the competition. Pride Round arrives in Round 16, before the entire NBL community makes the trip west for HoopsFest in Perth from January 13-17.
Other notable games:
- The 36ers face the Perth Wildcats at RAC Arena in Round 2, where Cotton and new Adelaide head coach Trevor Gleeson will make their return to the building they won multiple titles in as a duo.
- The first Championship Series rematch takes place in Round 4, with the Sydney Kings hosting the 36ers on October 11.
- The first Throwdown -- United vs the South East Melbourne Phoenix -- of the new season takes place on September 4 at John Cain Arena.
- A double header on New Years Eve. The Phoenix face the Illawarra Hawks in Wollongong's WIN Entertainment Centre, before the New Zealand Breakers travel to Cairns for a matchup with the Taipans.
While rosters continue to take shape and the title contenders remain to be determined, the draw itself offers a different lens through which to assess the season ahead. Put simply: not all 33-game schedules are created equal.
To assess the difficulty of each team's draw, we calculated and analysed a range of scheduling factors: back-to-back games -- defined as any two games separated by just two days -- cross-timezone road games to Perth and New Zealand, the accumulation of consecutive away games where teams stay on the road between stops, back-to-backs that specifically require city-to-city travel, and the length of each team's longest consecutive road stretch. Together, these factors produce a composite difficulty assessment that captures what each franchise is genuinely being asked to absorb across the season.
We also tracked which teams were chosen for Saturday games as an indicator of broadcast scheduling load, but excluded from the difficulty calculation. The NBL's marquee games on free-to-air television moved from Sunday afternoon to Saturday evenings; there are ostensibly more eyes on those games, which teams can leverage, so did the league favour big market franchise in those high-profile time-slots?
Here are the numbers, followed by a team-by-team analysis.
View the full NBL 2026-27 season schedule here
2026-27 NBL schedule difficulty assessment:
Back-to-back: two games separated by only a one-day break.
Travel back-to-back: two games separated by only a one-day break where travel is required between them.
Longest away stretch: Consecutive road games (doesn't necessarily indicate road trip)
Saturday game significance: Marquee games on FTA.
Strength of schedule calculated using a weighted composite formula incorporating travel distance, back-to-back frequency, cross-timezone games, road stead accumulation, travel back-to-backs, maximum road streak length.
Adelaide 36ers
The 36ers play in the league's regular season opener on September 19, and are treated like the powerhouse they're expected to be, which includes the most Saturday games of any team in the competition.
What stands out: The 2026-27 opener is one of the must-watch games of the season: our first regular season look at Trevor Gleeson at the helm of Bryce Cotton's 36ers, as they face a Melbourne United team that will suit up five-time Olympian Joe Ingles. A list of must-watch games will likely be quite Adelaide-heavy: the Gleeson-Cotton duo's return to Perth on September 24 is their second game of the season, while a Championship Series rematch against the Kings takes place in Sydney on October 11.
The big picture: A deeper look at the 36ers' schedule reveals that not one of their road games is followed by another road game within a three-day window, meaning they return to Adelaide between virtually every road assignment. They join Melbourne as the only two teams in the league with that luxury. The practical implication is that Adelaide never experiences the kind of extended road grinds that other teams will go through multiple times.
Yes, but: That doesn't mean the schedule is without difficulty. Adelaide's schedule features seven back-to-backs, all requiring travel, and there's an October road trip --19 days covering Sydney, Hobart, Melbourne, and Auckland that ends with a New Zealand-to-Adelaide back-to-back on October 30-November 1, where the 36ers would return home to face the Bullets on the second game of a back-to-back.
Star power: Adelaide's 11 Saturday games are the clearest indicator of where the 36ers sit in the league's commercial thinking. The figure reflects the degree to which they are positioned as a prime-time broadcast asset.
Matchup note: The 36ers face Cairns, New Zealand and Sydney only three times each rather than four.
Brisbane Bullets
The Bullets' schedule is, by the measure of this analysis, the most favourable in the competition.
What stands out: Will Weaver's team opens the regular season on September 22 with a home game against the Breakers, and the highlight of their calendar arrives soon after: a six-game home stand from December 27 to January 23, with the team spending the entirety of the Christmas and post-holiday period in Brisbane. They'll play Cairns, Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney, Illawarra and Melbourne again during that stretch.
The big picture: Four back-to-backs is the joint-lowest count in the league, alongside Cairns, and all of them will require travel. The three teams the Bullets only play three times -- Perth, South East Melbourne and New Zealand -- is also notable, because it means they travel to Perth only once across the regular season, not including HoopsFest.
Yes, but: The most challenging commitment is a four-game December road stretch covering Melbourne, Cairns, Adelaide and New Zealand over 16 days, closing with a 3,245-kilometre Adelaide-to-Auckland flight just before Christmas. It is a demanding close to the first half of the season - though it resolves directly into six consecutive home games on the other side.
Matchup note: The Bullets face Perth, South East Melbourne and New Zealand only three times each rather than four.
Cairns Taipans
There are some early-season challenges the Taipans will need to navigate as their new-look roster finds its feet.
What stands out: The season opener is tough -- September 20 against the reigning champion Kings in Sydney -- and the difficulty doesn't ease immediately. A road trip from September 27 to October 3 takes Adam Forde's team to Adelaide, New Zealand, and Melbourne over a six-day span, which is likely just one of two multiple-game road stretches they'll face all season.
The big picture: Away from those clusters, the Taipans' schedule is relatively manageable. Four back-to-backs is the joint-lowest count in the league, and their maximum away streak of three games means they're never asked to sustain extended road pressure.
Matchup note: The Taipans face Adelaide, Illawarra and Tasmania only three times each rather than four.
Illawarra Hawks
The Hawks drew, according to this analysis, the most difficult schedule in the league.
What stands out: Justin Tatum's team opens their season on September 20 with a road game in New Zealand against the Breakers, and doesn't play a home game until October 2. Four of their first five games are on the road.
The big picture: The Hawks' schedule features nine back-to-backs -- the most of any team -- including six that require interstate travel, and they'll also play in four cross-timezone road games, split between Perth and New Zealand. There's also a five-game road streak beginning on October 31 that visits Perth, Cairns, Adelaide, Melbourne, and Perth again across 14 days; and keep in mind the game against the 36ers is the second of a travel back-to-back, where the Hawks will have just played the Taipans.
Yes, but: There is some home relief. The Hawks play the now-annual Christmas Day game in Sydney against the Kings, before returning to Wollongong for a four-game home stand. Three of the nine back-to-backs are also consecutive home games; a concession of a kind.
Matchup note: The Hawks face Melbourne United, Cairns and South East Melbourne only three times each rather than four.
Melbourne United
Melbourne United's schedule is largely favourable; and that, of course, is partially due to the geographic advantage of their location.
What stands out: The season opens with the marquee clash against the 36ers, before a four-day break leads into the first Throwdown of the new season: a home game against the Phoenix on September 24.
The big picture: Like Adelaide, there are parts of the schedule where United have multiple road games in a row, but they would return home to Melbourne between virtually all of them. They functionally have no genuine road trips this season. Seven back-to-backs -- six requiring travel -- is a moderate load, though one of those is the cross-town Throwdown against the Phoenix.
Yes, but: There is an early-season challenge worth monitoring. The October 23-25 back-to-back brings United home from Perth with one recovery day before hosting the defending champion Kings.
Matchup note: United face Illawarra, Perth and Sydney only three times each rather than four.
New Zealand Breakers
The New Zealand Breakers have to travel the most of any team, and the schedule-makers have clearly done their best to accommodate that.
What stands out: The Breakers' three back-to-backs are the fewest in the competition, and one of them falls in the opening round of the season. Their three Saturday evening games are also the fewest by a significant margin, which seems like a concession that reduces the number of games played at times that would force particularly demanding trans-Tasman departures or arrivals. There are two extended home stands in the Breakers' schedule -- four games in December, and five games from late January through mid-February -- so Gordie Herbert's team will get that slight advantage coming out of the holiday period.
The big picture: The five-game road stretch in October, running from Adelaide through Perth, Sydney, Tasmania, and Cairns over 21 calendar days, is the longest away streak by calendar span in the entire schedule.
Yes, but: All three back-to-backs require trans-Tasman travel -- the distances range from 2,156 to 2,626 kilometres -- and the travel total of 106,795 kilometres across the season is the highest in the competition by nearly 5,000 kilometres. The scheduling office has made accommodations, but the underlying geography cannot be fully equalised.
Matchup note: The Breakers face Adelaide, Brisbane and Melbourne only three times each rather than four.
Perth Wildcats
While some teams get a mixture of fortune throughout the season, the Wildcats' schedule seems to be broken up into two distinct sections.
What stands out: Perth plays nine of their first 13 games at RAC Arena, opening on September 19 against the Phoenix, which will theoretically allow for home comfort and rhythm through the early weeks.
The big picture: From November 20, the Wildcats play four consecutive road games against Cairns, Brisbane, Sydney, and Melbourne over 23 days, with a FIBA window embedded in that stretch. After a brief return home, they depart again; this time, for six consecutive road games that won't end until January 9. Within that six-game stretch, there is a four-game sequence from January 1-9 where Perth travel from city to city without returning home: Tasmania to New Zealand, then Melbourne, then Adelaide. Four road games in nine days, city to city, across the Tasman and back. All up, that's 10 road games in 50 days through the holiday period.
Yes, but: Perth's relative isolation in the west means every road game is a significant undertaking at the best of times, so it'll be fascinating to see how the team continues to handle these road game clusters.
Matchup note: The Wildcats face Brisbane, Melbourne and Tasmania only three times each rather than four.
South East Melbourne Phoenix
The Phoenix's schedule features a few quirks.
What stands out: The season opens with a road back-to-back: Perth on September 19, then Tasmania on September 21. That's a roughly 3,000-kilometre leg between the first two games of the year, before Nathan Sobey's side has set foot on their home floor. It's as demanding an opening as any team faces in the draw.
The big picture: The trend of the Phoenix's schedule is short, consistent road steads; they have four separate stretches of two consecutive away games where they won't be back in Melbourne in between, making them one of four teams with at least that amount. The Phoenix never face a giant road trip, but they are consistently away in pairs throughout the season.
Yes, but: All five back-to-backs involve travel, and four cross-timezone away games -- two in Perth, two in New Zealand -- add an extra layer of difficulty. With ten Saturday games, the Phoenix also carry one of the heavier broadcast scheduling loads in the competition.
Matchup note: The Phoenix face Brisbane, Illawarra and New Zealand only three times each rather than four.
Sydney Kings
The Kings are similar to the Wildcats, in that there's a stark contrast between the beginning of their schedule and what follows.
What stands out: The Kings open the 2026-27 regular season against the Taipans on September 20, in what's the first of six consecutive home games at Afterpay Arena - formerly Qudos Bank Arena - which is equal to the longest home stand in the entire schedule, shared only with Brisbane's Christmas-period run. Their opponents in that stretch include Cairns, Illawarra, Brisbane, Adelaide, New Zealand, and Perth. Six weeks into the season, Sydney will have played 18% of their schedule without leaving the city.
The big picture: Then, there schedule pivots slightly. Between October 22 and October 30, the Kings play four consecutive road games in eight days; the first is down in Wollongong, then in Melbourne, Perth, and Tasmania. A known frustration of head coach Brian Goorjian's over the years has been the amount of back-to-backs that come after travel; and unfortunately, all eight of Sydney's two-day turnarounds involve city-to-city travel. That is a league-wide outlier; no other team is asked to travel every single time they face a short recovery window.
Yes, but: The December schedule compounds the challenge. A New Zealand-to-Adelaide back-to-back on December 11-13 covers 3,245 kilometres, and a second four-game away stretch in late January and early February closes the regular season in Cairns, Adelaide, Melbourne, and New Zealand. The Kings also play two games in Canberra this season; October 14 against New Zealand, and December 17 against Cairns.
What star power? A surprising element of the Kings' schedule is just five Saturday prime-time games, which is notably low for the defending championship finalists in one of the league's biggest markets.
Matchup note: The Kings face Adelaide, Melbourne and Tasmania only three times each rather than four.
Tasmania JackJumpers
There are a few things that stand out about the JackJumpers' schedule.
What stands out: Tasmania opens on September 21 with a home game against the Phoenix at MyState Bank Arena, then heads directly to Cairns. Their schedule features eight back-to-backs -- tied with Sydney for third-most in the competition -- with seven of those involving travel. They'll face a challenge in December when four consecutive road games takes them to Adelaide, Illawarra, Melbourne, and New Zealand across 13 days, though they'd travel back to Hobart multiple times doing that stretch.
Yes, but: What the JackJumpers will look forward to are two separate four-game home stands; one in mid-to-late October, and the other in late January and early February.
Matchup note: The JackJumpers face Perth, Cairns and Sydney only three times each rather than four.