MIES (Switzerland) - The Official Draw Ceremony for the eighth season of the Basketball Champions League will take place on Wednesday, July 5 at the Patrick Baumann House of Basketball in Mies, Switzerland. The draw will start with the Qualification Rounds, followed immediately with the Regular Season groups.

Draw procedure:

The 2023-24 Basketball Champions League competition will consist of thirty-two (32) teams. Twenty-nine (29) teams are directly qualified for the Regular Season, with the last three (3) teams set to qualify through three (3) Qualification Round tournaments.

For both the Qualification Rounds and the Regular Season Draws, teams have been placed into pots, based firstly on the BCL Club Ranking and, for clubs that have not yet participated in the competition, on the BCL Country Ranking. 

The 2023-24 BCL season will start on September 25 with the Qualification Rounds.

Qualification Rounds

The twenty-four (24) teams will compete in three (3) Qualification Round tournaments.

Qualification Round, Group I - Champions Path

The first Qualification Round tournament will feature eight national champions from countries not represented yet in the Regular Season. This part of the Qualification Rounds is called the Champions Path.

Those eight teams will be split into two pots (seeded and unseeded) based on the BCL Club Ranking and, when no Club Ranking is available, on the BCL Country Ranking. All eight teams start the Qualification Round from the Quarter-Finals, the winner of this knockout stage will earn their spot in the Regular Season.

There will be no country protection applied at the Regular Season draw for the winner of the Champions Path Qualification Round tournament.

Qualification Round, Groups II and III

The other two Qualification Round tournaments involve teams from countries already represented in the Regular Season, plus Play-Offs finalists and semi-finalists from countries not represented yet. They will be divided into four pots based on BCL Club and Country Ranking, with teams from Pot 3 up against teams from Pot 6, and teams from Pot 4 facing teams from Pot 5 in the Quarter-Finals.

The winners of these two Qualification Round tournaments will enter the Regular Season draw with country protection - meaning they cannot be drawn into the same group as another team from their country.

The Swiss Champs Fribourg Olympic (CH) have been additionally granted access to Season 8, and will face Caledonia Gladiators in a Pre-Qualifier game.

Regular Season

Twenty-nine (29) clubs have qualified directly for the 2023-24 Basketball Champions League Regular Season. They will be joined by the three (3) winners of the Qualification Rounds. The Regular Season will tip off on October 17.

For the purpose of the Draw, the twenty-nine (29) directly qualified teams and the three (3) teams coming from the Qualification Rounds will be divided into four (4) pots of eight (8) teams each. The pots are based on the above mentioned BCL Club and Country Rankings.

Play-In series and Round of 16 groups

There will be no additional draw for the Play-In series and the Round of 16. Play-In pairings will be set up by neighboring groups (A2 v B3, B2 v A3; C2 v D3, D2 v C3; E2 v F3, F2 v E3; G2 v H3, H2 v G3), and the winners of each pairing will go into their predetermined Round of 16 group:

• Group I: A1, E1, C2/D3, G2/H3
• Group J: B1, F1, D2/C3, H2/G3
• Group K: C1, G1, B2/A3, E2/F3
• Group L: D1, H1, A2/B3, F2/E3

Draw restrictions: 
Country protection applies for the Regular Season stage of the Draw: clubs cannot be drawn in groups with other clubs from the same country.  

The Draw for the 2023-24 Basketball Champions League Regular Season will be completed once all teams have been drawn. The Regular Season will tip off on October 17.

The Official Draw Ceremony will be streamed live on www.championsleague.basketball, on Wednesday, July 5, from 11:30 CET.