What Memphis season might look like
It’s official: the Division I college basketball season is set to begin Nov. 25.
The NCAA’S Division I Council put its stamp on that and other details Wednesday pertaining to everything from when teams can begin practicing to how the courtside area must be set up on gameday.
What do the newly adopted mandates mean for Memphis?
Division I teams can begin spending up to eight hours per week practicing on Monday, and full practice can begin Oct. 14.
Penny Hardaway returns the majority of his roster from last season, when Memphis finished 21-10 and was in line to compete in the conference tournament as the fifth seed before the coronavirus pandemic brought sports to a halt in March.
New to the team are freshman center Moussa Cisse, sophomore perimeter player Landers Nolley II (a Virginia Tech transfer) and junior forward Ahmad Rand. Junior forward Deandre Williams, who transferred from Evansville, is still awaiting the NCAA’S decision on his waiver request for immediate eligibility.
The Tigers will await further guidance from the American Athletic Conference before finalizing their schedule. Commissioner Mike Aresco told The Commercial Appeal earlier this week the league has been busy formulating a number of plans and will be prepared to pick one soon.
One possibility, according to reports, is a 20-game, double round-robin format that will begin in late December. That would represent an increase from the traditional 18-game conference schedule AAC teams play.
The NCAA is reportedly mandating a maximum of 27 total games (four fewer than normal), so Memphis may only play seven non-conference games (six fewer than last season). It seems unlikely that most of the team’s marquee nonconference contests will be affected.
The Tigers have at least eight nonconference games scheduled on or after
Nov. 25, including: at Ole Miss (Dec. 5), Auburn (Holiday Hoopsgiving Dec. 12 in Atlanta), Tennessee (Dec. 18 or 20 in Nashville), Central Arkansas (Dec. 27) and at Georgia (Jan. 2).
The Battle 4 Atlantis — with a field that includes Memphis, Duke, Texas A&M, Ohio State, Wichita State, Creighton, West Virginia and Utah — was scheduled for Nov. 25-27 in the Bahamas. It will reportedly be played at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D.
If the Tigers are allowed to choose which game is dropped, Central Arkansas would be the most likely candidate. Memphis is also scheduled to host Saint
Louis, but the date has not been announced, putting it in contention for removal.
The Tigers were set to host at least three games before Nov. 25 (Mississippi Valley State, Arkansas State and Murray State), all of which will likely not be played.
Should the AAC decide to stick with an 18-game schedule, that could give Memphis more flexibility on the nonconference side of things. ESPN’S Jeff Borzello recently reported Holiday Hoopsgiving is exploring of bubbling its event and allowing participating teams to play multiple games.
The field includes Memphis, Auburn, Kentucky, Georgia Tech, Dayton, Mississippi State, South Florida and LSU.