MIES (Switzerland) - The Basketball Champions League, powered by Ameresco SUNEL Season 11 draw was completed at the Patrick Baumann House of Basketball with 30 teams placed in the Regular Season groups, and 24 teams discovering their brackets in the Qualification Round Tournaments.
Qualification Round Tournaments
The Qualification Round Tournaments will be played on September 14 to 20, in a single-game elimination format, with the two tournament winners advancing to the Regular Season.
Qualification Round Tournament 1
Quarter-Finals QF1: Patrioti Levice (SVK) vs. Salon Vilpas (FIN) QF2: Bakken Bears Aarhus (DEN) vs. Landstede Hammers (NED) QF3: Fribourg Olympic Basket (SUI) vs. BC Batumi 2010 (GEO) QF4: CSM CSU Raiffeisen Oradea (ROU) vs. Petrolina AEK Larnaca (CYP)
Semi-Finals SF1: QF1 winner vs. QF2 winner SF2: QF3 winner vs. QF4 winner
Qualification Round Tournament 2
Round of 16 1: VEF Riga (LAT) vs. Landau Lions (AZE) 2: BK Opava (CZE) vs. Dziki Warszawa (POL) 3: Fitness First Wurzburg Baskets (GER) vs. Manchester Basketball (GBR) 4: Rio Breogan (ESP) vs. Rilski Sportist (BUL) 5: Promitheas Patras BC (GRE) vs. BC Vienna (AUT) 6: Glint Manisa Basket (TUR) vs. Kolossos H Hotels (GRE) 7: SL Benfica (POR) vs. Lions de Geneve (SUI) 8: RASTA Vechta (GER) vs. Yukatel Denizli Basket (TUR)
Quarter-Finals QF1: Winner 1 vs. Winner 2 QF2: Winner 3 vs. Winner 4 QF3: Winner 5 vs. Winner 6 QF4: Winner 7 vs. Winner 8
Semi-Finals SF1: QF1 winner vs. QF2 winner SF2: QF3 winner vs. QF4 winner
Regular Season
The Regular Season will be played in the same format as the previous seasons, with 32 teams placed in eight groups of four.
The top team from each Regular Season group will advance directly to the Round of 16, while the second-placed and third-placed move to the best-of-three Play-Ins in January.
Group A Nanterre 92 (FRA) Rytas Vilnius (LTU) Sabah BC (AZE) Trabzonspor (TUR)
Group B Cibona (CRO) Galatasaray MCT Technic (TUR) Legia Warszawa (POL) SIG Strasbourg (FRA)
Group C AEK BC (GRE) Falco KC Szombathely (HUN) Windrose Giants Antwerp (BEL) QRT1 Winner
Group D BMA365 Bamberg Baskets (GER) Pallacanestro Varese (ITA) Peristeri Betsson (GRE) UCAM Murcia (ESP)
Group E BC Juventus Utena (LTU) BK KVIS Pardubice (CZE) Pallacanestro Reggiana (ITA) Unicaja (ESP)
Group F Cholet Basket (FRA) Hapoel Holon (ISR) Spartak Office Shoes (SRB) QRT2 Winner
Group G ALBA BERLIN (GER) Igokea m:tel (BIH) Slavia Praha ERA NBK (CZE) Surne Bilbao (ESP)
Group H Asisa Joventut (ESP) Bnei Penlink Herzliya (ISR) FC Porto (POR) Telekom Baskets Bonn (GER)
Play-In series and Round of 16 groups
There will be no additional draw for the Play-Ins and the Round of 16.
The second- and third-placed teams in adjacent Regular Season groups will face each other in best-of-three Play-In series (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 feed into a 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
Club Workshop
As part of the event, club representatives were also invited to the Basketball Champions League Club Workshop, where representatives from the NBA engaged with participating clubs to share their vision for the future of European basketball.
"We always expect the next season to be the best ever, but in this lineup, we have the data to back us up. Among the 32 Regular Season clubs, we will have 10 national league champions, and of the 54 teams in the entire draw, a striking 80 percent reached at least the Semi-Finals of their domestic championships," Basketball Champions League CEO Patrick Comninos said.
"We are happy to confirm that the Basketball Champions League Season 11 winners and finalists will qualify for the first season of the NBA and FIBA backed league expected to launch in the fall of 2027. It is our great pleasure that the sporting merit will be an integral part of this new competition, and we are convinced that our collaboration with the NBA will reshape the European basketball landscape for the better," Comninos added.
The discussions during the workshop highlighted a shared ambition to create new opportunities for clubs through sporting merit, support sustainable growth across the game, and further strengthen the European basketball ecosystem for generations to come.
The Regular Season will tip-off on October 6, 2026. The detailed schedule will be published soon.
You can re-watch the Draw - which featured BCL champions Kay Bruhnke and Ignas Urbonas as the shufflers - on our YouTube channel.