
It’s January, February, and March madness!
The long-running franchise that is One Piece has dominated manga, anime, video games, card games, live action TV, and Times Square. Recently, it’s even had its sights set on many of the USA’s biggest sports, with the most recent being NCAA basketball, which is getting the One Piece treatment at not just one but 15 games between January and March 2026.
One Piece College Basketball: US Voyage will bring fun activities and limited-edition merch to teams and schools from coast to coast, starting with Rutgers University in New Jersey and Gozanga University in Washington, from late January to early February. It can also be experienced at St. John’s University in New York throughout February. The latter half of February and early March will see events take place at the University of Houston in Texas and the University of Illinois. A full schedule can be found at the end of this article.
Three One Piece-themed games will be held at each venue, and one of those three will feature a special halftime show. Attendees at those games will be treated to a special performance of the theme song “We are!” by the schools’ marching bands and cheerleading squads, while limited-edition T-shirts will be launched into the stands. And speaking of T-shirts, students of the participating schools who attend games will receive free T-shirts featuring Luffy and their school’s logo.
All spectators will receive a similar image of Luffy flexing his stuff by a team logo for each school in the form of a poster given away for free.
Not only that, but they’ll also receive a very limited One Piece College Basketball: US Voyage card for the One Piece Card Game.
Much like in past sports collaborations, the venues will be decked out in One Piece displays to give them a whole new look. Also, before the Rutgers game on 23 January and during a timeout of the St. John’s game on 6 February, a video shout-out by cast members of the live-action One Piece series will be shown.
▼ I wonder if my fellow Guinness Record holders Emily Rudd and Mackenyu Maeda will be a part of the video.
Now, with NCAA basketball another notch in One Piece’s scabbard, its conquering of American sports is nearly complete. We’ll be sure to let you know when it eventually reaches the shores of NHL, FIFA, and International Sports Onigoko Federation games.
Game Schedule
Friday, 23 January
Rutgers University vs Indiana University (with special halftime show)
Saturday, 24 January
Goznga University vs University of San Francisco
Tuesday, 27 January
Rutgers University vs Michigan State University
Saturday, 31 January
Gozanga University vs Saint Mary’s College of California (with special halftime show)
Friday, 6 February
St. John’s University vs University of Connecticut (with special show)
Saturday, 7 February
Rutgers University vs University of Nebraska
Monday, 9 February
St. John’s University vs Xavier University
Tuesday, 10 February
Gozanga University vs Washington State University
Saturday, 14 February
University of Houston vs Kansas State University (with special halftime show)
Sunday, 15 February
University of Illinois vs Indiana University
Saturday, 21 February
University of Houston vs University of Arizona
Friday, 27 February
University of Illinois vs University of Michigan (with special halftime show)
Saturday, 28 February
St. John’s University vs Villanova University
Tuesday, 3 March
University of Illinois vs University of Oregon
Wednesday, 4 March
University of Houston vs Baylor University
Related: One Piece College Basketball: US Voyage
Images: ©Eiichiro Oda/Shueisha, ©Eiichiro Oda/Shueisha, Toei Animation, ©Bandai Namco Entertainment Inc., ©SoraNews24
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