EuroCup introduces new teams and competition format / News - Basketnews.com

EuroCup presented a new competition format in which only 12 teams will advance to the playoffs instead of the previous 16. Semifinals and Final will now become best-of-three series. Three new teams join the competition.

Credit: Euroleague Basketball via Getty Images Credit Euroleague Basketball via Getty Images

The 7DAYS EuroCup will have a new format this season that rewards regular-season dominance and makes it tougher to reach the EuroCup Playoffs.

Starting this season, only six teams from each of the two groups will advance to the playoffs instead of eight. Moreover, the top two teams in each regular season group will receive first-round playoff byes, skipping the Round of 16 to be slotted directly into the quarterfinals.

The Round of 16 pairings will feature third- vs. sixth-place teams and fourth- vs. fifth-place teams from different regular season groups in single games hosted by the higher-placed teams.

The winners of each game advance to visit the first- and second-place teams in do-or-die quarterfinals games.

The EuroCup Semifinals and Finals, which were also single games under the previous format, will now become best-of-three series starting on the court of the higher-placed team at the end of the regular season.

The format changes will bring more excitement to the regular season as the difference between finishing second and third is greater than before. At the tail end of the standings, four teams will now go home after the regular season, making for a tougher push just to reach the postseason.

Under the new format, the finalists could play as few as 23 games and as many as 26.

New teams

Alongside 17 returning clubs from last season, the EuroCup will feature debutante Wolves Vilnius and welcome back Aris Thessaloniki and Besiktas Istanbul.

In the coming season, the EuroCup will see clubs from 14 nations, including two each from France, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, Spain, and Turkiye.

Aris has played seven previous seasons in the EuroCup and reached the final in 2006. This season will mark Besiktas's 10th in the EuroCup; its high-water mark was the quarterfinals in 2008.

Both teams last competed in the competition during the 2015-16 season. Wolves was founded in 2022 and made its first appearance in international competition last season in the European North Basketball League.

EuroCup teams for the 2023-24 season

7Bet-Lietkabelis Panevezys Aris Thessaloniki Besiktas Istanbul Buducnost VOLI Podgorica Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana Dolomiti Energia Trento Dreamland Gran Canaria Hapoel Tel Aviv Joventut Badalona London Lions Mincidelice Jl Bourg en Bresse Paris Basketball Prometey Slobozhanske ratiopharm Ulm Slask Wroclaw Turk Telekom Ankara U-B-T Cluj-Napoca Umana Reyer Venice Veolia Towers Hamburg Wolves Vilnius Subscribe to BN+ and get access to exclusive content.