Reports: NCAA picks late-November start
Season likely capped at 27 games rather the normal 31, it appears.
The2020-21collegebasketball DAYTON— season will start Nov. 25, the day before Thanksgiving, according to multiple reports Wednesday, after a vote by the NCAA’s Division I Council.
The original start datewasNov. 10. Pushing the season back gives teams the chance to play games whenmanycolleges have sent students home for the college break.
Teams can start practicing six weeks before their first game, according to a report by Jon Rothstein, of CBS Sports. That would be Oct. 14 at the earliest. From Sept. 21 to Oct. 14, teams can spend up to 12 hours per week in training, with eight of those hours on the court, according to ESPN’s Jeffff Goodman.
Andy Katz, of NCAA. com, reported teams can play a maximum of 27 games this season, insteadof thenormal 31, andmust play a minimum of 13 to be eligible for the postseason, including at least four non-conference games. There will be no preseason scrimmages or exhibitions.
In August, Dan Gavitt, the NCAA’s senior vice president of basketball, said he was confifident there would be a season and that many contingency plans were being discussed. He said then he expected a decision about the start date by mid-September.
The 2019-20 college basketball seasonwas cut short by the coronavirus pandemic on March 11. All conference tournaments that hadn’t already been completed were canceled that day, and the
NCAA Tournament was also canceled. Those cancellations ended the season for Dayton, which set a school record for victories with a 29-2 regular season and rose to No. 3 in the Associated Press top-25 poll.
Wright State finished 25-7 last seasonandwontheHorizon League regular-season title. Miami finished 13-19. Ohio State finished 21-10.
Dayton was scheduled to play intheMyrtleBeach Invitational fromNov. 19-22. Jon Rothstein, of CBS Sports, reported Tuesday that event will move to Orlando along with seven other tournaments and will be heldsometime early in the season.
Daytonhadnotannounced any games prior to theMyrtle Beach Invitational but does have a number of key non-conference games scheduled in November and December. Southern Methodist is scheduled to play at
UD on Nov. 29. Other home games include: Indiana State (Dec. 2) and Mississippi (Dec. 19). Dayton also has a road game scheduled at Nevada (Dec. 6) and a neutral-court game in Atlanta against Mississippi State (Dec. 12).
Ohio Statewas scheduled to play in the Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas fromNov. 25-27, butRothstein reported that event willmove to Sioux Falls, South Dakota.