College basketball stuck in holding pattern

Baseball has begun its coronavirus-delayed season with limited longdistance travel and no fans in the stands.

The NBA has its Disney World bubble. The NHL will have two bubbles, in Toronto and Edmonton.

NFL rookies began reporting to training facilities last week as teams build up toward the start of training camp.

But while the major sports are finding ways to return to competition, college basketball is in a holding pattern, much like college football.

College basketball coaches do have an advantage over the football coaches while in limbo. Since their season starts later, they get a chance to see how things play out, both in professional sports and in college football.

“I know this for sure: it’s not going to be like any other season we’ve ever had,” Southern Miss coach Jay Ladner said. “And even if we have a season, you’re certainly looking at all types of changes and we all know that. But football is certainly the first order of business for administrators. A lot of what happens to them is going to drive, eventually, what happens to us.”

The 2019-20 college basketball season came to an emphatic end on March 17 when the growing pandemic led to cancellation of the NCAA

In the four months since, the pandemic has ballooned as hot spots have popped up across the country. The sports world has started to come back to life in recent weeks, starting with NASCAR and the UFC.

The other major sports followed, but the NCAA has delayed a decisionabout starting the fall sports seasons, including football.

College basketball, as it stands now, is slated to begin on Nov. 10. The NCAA initially looked at bumping up the start of the season to afford more scheduling wiggle room, but that was shelved as COVID-19 cases rose in dozens of states.