The ABA is composed of 24 teams. The league is subdivided into a National League and an American League, each of which consists of three 4-team divisions. The names of the divisions are currently as follows:
| National League | Atlantic Division |
| Western PA Division | |
| South Central Division | |
| American League | New England Division |
| Northern Division | |
| Coastal Division |
Teams are assigned to divisions based on approximate geographical location, especially to facilitate possible head-to-head play. When new members join the league, the divisional alignment is reevaluated and changes made if appropriate. Divisional alignment changes are generally announced during the season that a new manager has joined the league and take effect the following season.
The 162-game playing schedule for each team is determined as follows:
| Opponent | Home Games | Road Games | Number of Teams | Total Games |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Teams in Same Division | 7 | 7 | 3 | 42 |
| Teams in Same League but Different Division | 5 | 4 | 4 | 36 |
| Teams in Same League but Different Division | 4 | 5 | 4 | 36 |
| Teams in Opposite League | 4 | 0 | 6 | 24 |
| Teams in Opposite League | 0 | 4 | 6 | 24 |
| Total Games | 81 | 81 | 162 |
Note: Home and Road games are reversed each season such that each team will play an equal number of home and road games against each other team in the league in each two-year period while playing every team at least once in each season. Here's an example using a team from the Atlantic Division:
| Opponent | Year 1 | Year 2 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home Games | Road Games | Home Games | Road Games | |
| Atlantic Division Teams | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 |
| Central Division Teams | 5 | 4 | 4 | 5 |
| Southern Division Teams | 4 | 5 | 5 | 4 |
| Northern Division Teams | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| New England Division Teams | 0 | 4 | 4 | 0 |
| Western Division Teams (2 teams) | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Western Division Teams (2 teams) | 0 | 4 | 4 | 0 |
ABA games are scheduled as two home series and two road series every month for an 8-month period (April through November) with an extra home/away pair slotted in as an "April/May" series (that series can be played any time in April or May in addition to games regularly scheduled during those two months). With the exception of divisional series, each series is either 4 or 5 games in length so a typical game load for a month would be 8-10 home games. Divisional series (7 games in length) are scheduled in May, June, July, September, October and November so in three of those months, an extra 2-3 home games will be scheduled. Each team plays each divisional opponent once in the first half of the season and once in the second half of the season (since home/road assignment is reversed each year, a team will host a particular divisional opponent in the first half one year and in the second half the following year).
In order to facilitate head-to-head play, special requests for being scheduled against a specific opponent in a specific month may be addressed to the commissioner. However, only a small number of such requests can be honored due to the challenge of laying out the schedule as described above. It will be up to the discretion of the commissioner to determine whether such requests can be honored.