New Haven Register (New Haven, CT)
Hurley: ‘Good feeling’ to start season on Nov. 25
There will be a 2020-21 college basketball season, after all! Or at least there’s a start date.
The NCAA Division I Council has approved a Nov. 25 start for the men’s and women’s college basketball season. The decision was made at a meeting Wednesday afternoon.
Practices can start Oct. 14, and teams can play a maximum of 27 games (reduced by four) and a minimum of 13. There will be no scrimmages or exhibitions, and teams are encouraged to play a minimum of four nonconference games.
“Just to have a start date we can put a target on and work towards, as a team, as a program and as a sport — certainly, that was a good feeling today,” UConn coach Dan Hurley told Hearst Connecticut Media. “Hopefully, the virus cooperates. Hopefully, we’re in position to play the games.”
Hurley noted that the uncertainty surrounding when (or if) the season would start was tough to deal with. Now, at least that question is answered.
“It certainly feels like there’s real positive momentum towards being able to hopefully have a revised schedule in the near future — both conference, and whatever nonconference we’re able to play,” Hurley said.
Now, the tough part: where and how the games are played, something that has already been discussed by leagues across the country but will have to be figured out in the coming weeks. Really, it all starts with the conferences, and when they want to begin their respective schedules. If the Big East, for example, wants to start its league season Jan. 1, UConn will have about six weeks to line up nonconference games. But if the league wants to begin, say, on Dec. 15, that changes how UConn could set up its non-league schedule.
The Big East or other leagues may even want to begin their conference schedules at the start of the season. It’s also possible leagues could expand their conference schedules. Currently, the Big East plays a 20-game slate, but that could be extended to 22, 24 games, etc.
According to a source, Big East women's coaches are scheduled to meet Friday to discuss scheduling and more.
Decisions on conference schedules have already been discussed within the respective leagues numerous times in recent weeks, including a call between Big East officials and the conferences coaches and athletic directors on Sept. 10. Another such meeting is expected Thursday, but no set schedules are expected to be announced by the Big East or any other league for at least another week or so.
“This was the first domino,” Hurley said. “I think you could see things move a lot quicker from here, in terms of scheduling things. Then you just hope, with the virus, that we’re in a position to play the games that are scheduled.”
On the women's side, Mohegan Sun officials said earlier this month they were committed to hosting the Hall of Fame Challenge — a four-team tournament featuring UConn and Quinnipiac — on Thanksgiving weekend assuming the season started in time, which it will. Still, the status of the event remains uncertain.
Starting the season the Wednesday before Thanksgiving would give the NCAA a nearly two-month window, for most schools, to play with no classes being held and the vast majority of the student body off campus on semester break. A large majority of schools are ending in-person classes at Thanksgiving break and not resuming until the beginning of the spring semester.
At UConn, for example, students will head home for Thanksgiving and resume with online classes only on Nov. 30. Exams will be held online, as well, from Dec. 14-20. The spring semester begins Jan. 19. Ostensibly, that would give UConn a window of Nov. 21 to Jan. 19 (minus the weeklong exam period, most likely) to get in as many games as possible — both nonconference and Big East.
A two-month window to play games with few other students on campus could allow for games to be played on-campus. UConn has a currently scheduled game against Donyell Marshall and Central Connecticut State on Nov. 28 that would seem to be easily kept on the schedule (perhaps
on a different date). However, there have also been numerous reported proposals for multiple games and mini-tournaments to be played in “bubble,” as the NBA and NHL have done with their playoffs.
UConn was slated to play in the Legends Classic on Nov. 23-24 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn along with Notre Dame, Vanderbilt and USC. According to Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports, The Gazelle Group, which operates that tournament along with several other multi-team events, is proposing that teams slated to play in those tournaments play in a bubble in the Mohegan Sun. In theory, UConn could play not only the three teams from the Legends Classic, but teams from other scheduled tournaments, as well.
Depending on testing, travel restrictions to and from other states and numerous other factors, it’s possible UConn and other teams could play games on the road, in opponents’ home gyms, as well.
“You’re gonna have to be comfortable in a constantly changing landscape,” Hurley said. “It’s gonna test your ability to adapt to potentially changing playing dates, your roster potentially. Adaptability is certainly gonna be key.”
UConn didn’t have practice Wednesday, but Hurley had told his players to expect the season to start on either Nov. 21 or 25.
“I know these guys are excited,” he said. “Very, very excited.”
At Quinnipiac, head coach Baker Dunleavy believes his team will still participate in the Mohegan Sun Tip-Off Classic, though likely in a Mohegan Sun bubble. He also believes that, since the MAAC fields teams from just three states — New York, New Jersey and Connecticut — the league will be able to play a 20-game league schedule (though with testing, potential postponements, etc., it may take a little longer).
The Ivy League has canceled all sports for the remainder of 2020, which means Yale’s basketball teams won’t be starting on Nov. 21, barring any reconsideration by the league. The Ivy may frown upon playing games in a bubble, as well, and there’s a chance the league doesn’t play basketball at all this season.
“If anyone’s not playing,” said one prominent member of Yale’s athletics community, “it’s going to be us.”