2019–20 Basketball Champions League
The 2019–20 Basketball Champions League is the fourth season of the Basketball Champions League, a European-wide professional basketball competition for clubs, that was launched by FIBA. The competition began in September 2019, with the qualifying rounds, and was supposed to conclude in May 2020. On 12 March 2020, the competition was suspended because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Format changes
For this season, eight teams will come from two qualifying rounds. The [|round of 16] and quarter-finals changed to best-of-three playoff series instead of two legs. From this season no teams were sent from the regular season to the FIBA Europe Cup, which was the case in each previous BCL season.Changes due to the 2020 coronavirus pandemics
On 12 March 2020, FIBA suspended all its competitions, including the BCL, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On 31 March, the BCL decided the season will have to be finished with a "Final Eight" tournament planned for 30 September until 4 October. The tournament is to be held in a single venue and will be a single-elimination tournament. Two games which were still not played in the [|Round of 16] will be played beforehand.Eligibility of players
In 2017, FIBA agreed to adopt eligibility rules, forcing the clubs to have at least 5 home-grown players in rosters of 11 or 12 players, or at least four, if the team has got fewer players.Team allocation
A total of 48 teams from 29 countries will participate in the 2019–20 Basketball Champions League. On June 24, 2019, Benfica entered in the [|first qualifying round] and Mornar were upgraded to the [|second qualifying round] after the Openjobmetis Varese's withdrawal.Teams
League positions after eventual playoffs of the previous season shown in parentheses. Gaziantep |  SIG Strasbourg |  Iberostar Tenerife |  Happy Casa Brindisi |
| Beşiktaş Sompo Sigorta |  AEK |  Rasta Vechta |  Filou Oostende |
| Türk Telekom | Peristeri Winmasters | Brose Bamberg |  ERA Nymburk |
| Teksüt Bandırma | PAOK |  VEF Rīga | |
| JDA Dijon | Casademont Zaragoza |  Hapoel Holon |  Neptūnas |
| Pau-Lacq-Orthez | Baxi Manresa |  Anwil Włocławek |
 Kapfenberg Bulls |  Bakken Bears |  Donar |  Inter Bratislava |
 Tsmoki Minsk |  Karhu | Legia |  Södertälje Kings |
 Balkan |  Falco |  Benfica |  Fribourg Olympic |
 Keravnos |  Sigal Prishtina |  Oradea |  Kyiv Basket |
Round and draw dates
The schedule of the competition is as follows.Qualifying rounds
Draw
The 16 teams that entered in the first round were divided into two pots. Seeded teams would play the second leg at home.First qualifying roundA total of 16 teams will play in the first qualifying round. The first legs will be played on 17 September, while the second legs on 20 September 2019.Second qualifying roundA total of 16 teams will play in the second qualifying round: eight teams which enter in this round, and the eight winners of the first qualifying round. The first legs will be played on 26 September, while the second legs on 29 September 2019.Regular seasonThe 32 teams are drawn into four groups of eight, with the restriction that teams from the same country cannot be drawn against each other. In each group, teams play against each other home-and-away, in a round-robin format. The group winners, runners-up, third-placed teams and fourth-placed teams, advance to the round of 16, while the remaining four teams in each group of the Regular Season will be eliminated.A total of 32 teams play in the regular season: 24 teams which enter in this stage, and the eight winners of the second qualifying round. The regular season will start on 8 October 2019 and end on 5 February 2020. DrawTeams were divided into two pots according to the club ranking published by the organization. Twelve teams were named seeded teams while the rest would be unseeded teams. The seeded teams will be split, allocating three per group.Firstly, the eight teams from qualifying round will be split in the four groups, with a maximum of two teams per group.
Group AGroup BGroup CGroup DPlayoffsThe playoffs start on 3 March 2020 and end 3 May 2020.In the playoffs, teams play against each other over two legs on a best-of-three basis, except for the Final Four. In the playoffs draw, the group winners and the runners-up are seeded, and the third-placed teams and the fourth-placed teams are unseeded. The seeded teams are drawn against the unseeded teams, with the seeded teams hosting the second leg. Teams from the same group cannot be drawn against each other. BracketQuarterfinals and semifinals must be drawn yet.Round of 16The first legs were played on 3–4 March, the second legs on 10–11 March. Third legs will be played in September 2020.Final EightThe concluding Final Eight tournament will be played between 30 September and 4 October 2020.AwardsGame Day MVPAfter each gameday a selection of five players with the highest efficiency ratings is made by the Basketball Champions League. Afterwards, the official website decides which player is crowned Game Day MVP.Regular season |