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Table of Contents
For the 2025–26 Season, the Collegiate Pickleball Tour will have 40 events:
1 Collegiate National Championship (April 2026)
1 Collegiate World Championship (October 31 – November 2)
8 Super Regionals (September through March)
30 Campus Regionals (September through March)
All events require players to be:
Taking at least 9 credit hours at their school (or 6 credit hours for graduate students)
Teamed up only with players from their same school
Signed up on DUPR
The Collegiate National Championship (CNC) is the main event of the competitive pickleball season. To be one of the 64 schools in the championship bracket, a school must obtain a bid earlier in the season. Bids are awarded at the Collegiate World Championship, Super Regionals, and Campus Regionals. Schools can also earn a bid via most Dual Match wins, or receive a wildcard. A school cannot receive multiple bids. Schools without a bid can still play in the 3rd Team Bracket and challenger brackets.
The Collegiate World Championship (CWC) will determine the best collegiate pickleball team in the world. International universities are invited to participate and play for their country. No bid is required to attend. Singles and challenger brackets run alongside the main competition. Check it out here
Pipeline events to the CNC. We aim for every college to access at least one Super Regional. The top 3 performing colleges receive CNC bids. Designed to pack in as much collegiate pickleball as possible in a weekend, with team and doubles brackets.
Pathway events toward the CNC. Each Campus Regional gives out 1 Nationals bid and uses the CPT team format. Unlike Super Regionals, Campus Regionals are run by approved facilities/organizations/schools via application.
Head-to-head events between two schools only — great for local rivalries without full tournament logistics.
For 2025–26, each game will be played with rally scoring to 21 points (win by 2). Players change ends when one team reaches 11. All games are win-by-2 and use win-on-serve score freezing.
During rally scoring, players do not switch sides after winning points. Player A serves/receives on the right when the score is even; Player B serves/receives on the left when odd. Teams may switch player sides during a timeout or end change.
Each team has one 1-minute timeout per game.
Score is frozen (cannot increase) only when both are true:
The team has game point (one point away from winning), and
They are returning the serve.
Only one team can be frozen at a time. A team becomes unfrozen when either condition is no longer true. At 20-20, it’s mathematically impossible to be frozen again.
Each team bracket match consists of four rally-scoring games (see Game Format): Women’s Doubles, Men’s Doubles, Mixed Doubles, Mixed Doubles. If tied 2-2, a singles DreamBreaker™ is played to decide the match.
The toss winner chooses one:
Home or Away
Serve or Receive to start each game
Which side to start Women’s Doubles
Then the toss loser chooses from the two remaining options, and finally the winner takes the last option.
Example: Team A wins the toss → chooses Home. Team B chooses to Receive. Team A chooses the starting side for Women’s Doubles.
If you choose Serve, you start every game serving (vice versa for Receive). If you choose Side, you start Women’s Doubles on that side and only switch sides within a game at 11 points — not between events. The side you finish a game on is the side you start the next game.
Women’s & Men’s Doubles: Home writes lineup first; Away responds.
Mixed Doubles: Away writes lineup first; Home responds.
DreamBreaker: Home writes lineup first; Away responds.
Complete coin toss
Write Women’s & Men’s Doubles lineups
Play Women’s & Men’s Doubles
Write both Mixed Doubles lineups
Play both Mixed Doubles
Write DreamBreaker lineups
Play DreamBreaker
Teams may write lineups early with no penalty. Home may change mixed lineups before mixed begins.
Uses the same rally scoring as doubles. 2 male + 2 female players rotate in 4-rally increments (P1 → P2 → P3 → P4 → repeat). Serving side (left/right) is based on team score (even = right, odd = left). One 1-minute timeout per team.
Participants must have played in at least one doubles game earlier in the match.
If your roster includes more than 2 men or 2 women, you must still select exactly 2 men and 2 women for the rotation.
To conclude the 2025–26 season, we host the 5th annual Collegiate National Championship for the best schools in the country.
April 2026 — Exact Date TBD
Location: TBD
Obtain a bid
Team of 2–3 males and 2–3 females; 9+ credit hours at the same school (grad students may compete with 6 credits)
Your school must have a bid (one bid covers participation in both 1st & 2nd Team Brackets)
Team of 2–3 males and 2–3 females; 9+ credit hours (6 for grad)
2nd Team average DUPR cannot be 0.250 higher than the 1st Team
Priority to schools with a bid; within 10 days of registration close, any school may enter one team
Team of 2–3 males and 2–3 females; 9+ credit hours (6 for grad)
3rd Team average DUPR cannot be 0.250 higher than the 2nd Team
Any college student: 9+ credits (6 if graduate)
Partner must be from the same school
Players may only sign up for one bracket. You cannot join multiple team brackets or a team bracket plus the challenger bracket.
64 schools compete for the 2025–26 title. Schools are split into 16 groups of 4. All teams advance to single-elimination playoffs, March-Madness style (Fri: groups, Sat: first 3 rounds, Sun: final 3 rounds). Each team is guaranteed 6 matches. A challenger bracket (Women’s, Mixed, Men’s Doubles) also runs at the CNC.
Regionals feature a Team Bracket and a Challenger Bracket across two days. Clubs are not locked by location and may enter multiple Super Regionals.
Challenger winner — $250 (×1)
Quarterfinals loser — $250 (×4)
Semifinals loser — $500 (×2)
Finals loser — $1,250 (×1)
Finals winner — $2,500 (×1)
Total: $6,000
The 3 semifinalist teams receive a CNC bid. If a school already has a bid, it passes to the next highest-ranked school. Extra matches may be needed to determine this.
Have a DUPR account
Be enrolled in 9+ credit hours (6 for grad students)
Teams formed only with players from the same school
Group play followed by single-elimination playoffs. All teams play at least three matches. Every team has a Sunday match (consolation or playoff). Teams: 2–3 men + 2–3 women. Schools may submit multiple teams (some events may limit this — check event details).
Any doubles pairing from the same school may participate. Your school doesn’t need a Team Bracket entry to compete in Challenger. Winner receives $250. No bids are awarded in Challenger. Format varies by participants/courts/Team Bracket size. A player can only be in the Team Bracket or the Challenger Bracket, not both. Schools may have players in both Team Bracket and Open Division.
Partner events run by clubs/facilities meeting CPT requirements. Each Campus Regional receives one Nationals bid and is featured on the Collegiate Pickleball Tour site. Check it out here
Ready to challenge local rivals? Dual Matches allow two schools to set up head-to-head events that count toward team record and ranking. Here is the link to our doc explaining how to conduct a dual match with another school.
The two schools with the most Dual Match wins by March 30 receive bids to the 2025–26 CNC.
A school can only gain a win from the same opposing school twice in a season.
The 2025 USA Pickleball Official Rulebook applies to all CPT events, except where this Rulebook specifies otherwise. If there’s a conflict, use this Rulebook. The CPT has final authority on any situation not specifically covered and on disputes/appeals.
