How much does it cost to build the typical high-major college basketball roster in 2026? The answer is a thick $13.5 million. That's the number CBS Sports can reveal after an exhaustive research project that lasted nearly six weeks and relied on more than 100 sources across college sports.
The $13.5 million is the average number across all 79 Power Five programs, plus Gonzaga, which has operated as a high-major outfit for well over a decade. The numbers and details in this story represent the most accurate information to date on how much college basketball teams are paying in order to keep up with an ever-escalating market. Predictably, the 2026 offseason brought another massive hike in spending.
A year ago, the average price of a power-conference squad was in the realm of $7 million. But for the fourth straight offseason, the open market spiked yet again, leading to the most unruly portal frenzy yet. Numerous big-man-needy teams entered free agency with $4 million earmarked for a star center.
Many of the best bigs in free agency earned close to a $5 million payday. Elite guards and wings usually commanded a price that encroached on $4 million. The market was further sent into commotion in the summer when dozens upon dozens of players sued for a fifth year of eligibility after an NCAA rule change in late June exposed them to (still very much ongoing) litigation.
The season is less than two weeks away. We still don't know which players who have lawyered up will win out. With those circumstances in mind, our ambitious endeavor to uncover the NIL capacities at every high-major program had a few stipulations and non-negotiables.
The first was how we defined the terms that place each program into one of our seven spending tiers. Every school listed is based on the hypothetical that every player who is trying to get eligible as of Oct. 21 will remain eligible. Very important context: There are a lot of schools that would drop down a tier if they didn't wind up having to pay these fifth-year guys.
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