For college basketball fans, Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026 is a rarity. ESPN notes that for only the fifth time in the AP Poll era (since 1949), two top‑four matchups will be played on the same day: No. 4 Arizona at No. 2 Houston and No. 1 Michigan vs. No. 3 Duke.

Those rankings are as real as it gets right now: the latest AP Top 25 lists Michigan #1, Houston #2, Duke #3, and Arizona #4.

We analyzed hundreds of listings on Gametime to bring you a price snapshot of get‑in prices (lowest available) and median ticket prices (a view of the typical ticket price) for the two marquee games, plus how they compare to the rest of college hoops right now.

Price Overview: Top‑4 Saturday tickets on Gametime

No. 1 Michigan vs. No. 3 Duke (Washington, D.C.)

Get‑in price:$374
Median price:$1,094

Why it matters: the median is ~$720 higher than the get‑in (nearly 3x the get‑in). This top-heavy interest suggests demand isn’t only for “any seat.” Buyers are paying up for better inventory, the kind of behavior we normally see for high-value, championship games.

No. 4 Arizona at No. 2 Houston (Houston)

Get‑in price:$230
Median price:$508

Why it matters: the median is ~$278 higher than the get‑in (about 2.2x the get‑in).

Prices reflect a Feb. 19 Gametime snapshot and can move quickly as inventory changes.

How rare is a $374 get‑in in February?

Across the regular‑season games left this year, only 10 have a get‑in above $200, and Michigan–Duke is one of them. Only four regular‑season games clear $300+ get‑in territory at all.

And on the Feb. 21 slate specifically, the market makes the separation obvious:

Michigan–Duke: $374 get‑in
Arizona–Houston: $230 get‑in
Next‑closest game on Saturday: $161 get‑in (Cincinnati at Kansas)

In other words, outside the other Top-4 matchup, Michigan–Duke is more than double the get‑in of the next most expensive game on Saturday’s schedule.

Is this one of the most expensive weekends in college basketball?

The “two top‑four games in one day” fact alone is historically rare. But the more interesting question (and the one Gametime can quantify) is: Does the ticket market treat it like one of the most expensive weekends?

In our snapshot, Feb. 21 is the priciest regular‑season day outside Cameron Indoor

Duke home games at Cameron Indoor Stadium (especially rivalry spots) live in their own pricing universe — and they often dominate “most expensive” lists. When you exclude Cameron Indoor games, Feb. 21 stands out as the biggest day on the regular‑season calendar because it’s the rare day where two different games both live above the $200 threshold.

That’s what makes it “one of the most expensive weekends” for fans: there are fewer “cheap” entry points into the most consequential matchups.

The “Final Four preview”

Could this be a way to catch a Final Four matchup at a lower price point? Unfortunately, even though the cheapest seat to this preview can be cheaper than Final Four entry, the typical seat may not be.

In our Feb. 19 snapshot, the NCAA Men’s Final Four at Lucas Oil Stadium shows:

$496 get‑in
$945 median

Compare that to Michigan–Duke:

$374 get‑in (about $122 less than the Final Four all‑sessions get‑in)
$1,094 median (about $150 higher than the Final Four all‑sessions median)

So fans might be able to “get in” to this weekend’s “Final Four preview” for less than the Final Four weekend. But if you’re buying the kind of seat most fans are buying, the D.C. showcase is already pricing like April.

Methodology: Prices are based on a Feb. 19, 2026 snapshot of men’s college basketball events on Gametime. Get‑in price refers to the lowest available ticket price at the time of the snapshot. Median price refers to the median ticket price on Gametime for that event (a proxy for the “typical” price), which can differ meaningfully from get‑in when demand concentrates in premium sections. Prices can change quickly as inventory and demand move.

Rikki Bleiweiss is Content Lead at Gametime. Read more about our data journalism and editorial standards at gametime.co/blog/about