Five weeks of cup action to start season

LEICESTER Riders will begin the defence of their BBL Championship title against arch-rivals Newcastle Eagles.

The Eagles, the most successful team in BBL history and the current BBL Cup and BBL Play-off champions visit the Morningside Arena on Friday, October 29.

The countdown to the next British Basketball League season has begun with the release of the fixtures for the 2021-22 season, which will feature 10 clubs after the demise of the Worcester Wolves.

After a delayed start to last season, the start will return to its traditional tip-off of late September with the new season commencing on Friday, September 24 with the BBL Cup group stages. All matches are expected to admit fans according to pre-Covid guidelines.

Riders will start their season with a first – a pair of home games in the BBL Cup on September 24 and 26 at the Morningside Arena, as they look to go further than last season, when they lost a single-leg semi-final to Newcastle.

After the five weeks of cup games, the BBL Championship will tip off on Friday, October 29, while the first round of the BBL Trophy will open the new year on January 7.

The BBL Cup final will take place on Sunday, January 30, at the Utilita Arena, Birmingham, followed by the BBL Trophy final on Sunday, March 20, at the Emirates Arena, Glasgow. The season will conclude with the BBL play-offs final on Sunday, May 15 at The O2, London.

In the BBL Championship, teams will play each other three times, as in the previous season.

In the BBL Cup the group stages will consist of two groups of five split geographically. Riders have been drawn in the South Group with Bristol Flyers, London Lions, Plymouth and Surrey Scorchers

Making up the North Group are Cheshire Phoenix, Glasgow Rocks, Manchester Giants, Newcastle Eagles and B. Braun Sheffield Sharks.

Teams play each team in their group home and away.

The bottom-placed team will be eliminated from each of the groups, with the quarter final places determined as follows: North winner v South fourth place; South winner v North fourth place; North runner-up v South third place and South runner-up v North third place.

The single-leg quarter finals will be held on November 12-14, with two-legged semi-finals on December 10-12 and the final on Sunday, January 30 in Birmingham.