As Matt Norlander of CBS Sports reported and our friends at Mountain West Wire re-published: the NCAA is currently exploring four potential start dates for the 2020-2021 college basketball season.
With Big Ten football moved to the spring and there still being much uncertainty around when the season will start and what it will look like, any sense of concreteness and presence of a sure-fire plan in either basketball or football will be more than a welcome sight.
Related: Could college basketball be headed towards an NBA-style bubble?
Here’s what the NCAA is currently contemplating for the season:
Option 1:
First practices: September 29
First day of the season: November 10
Option 2:
First practices: October 9
First day of the season: November 2
Option 3:
First practices: October 14
First day of the season: November 25
Option 4:
First practices: October 24
First day of the season: December 4
Here are some other key dates on the timetable of planning and starting the season:
- August 31: Meeting between men’s and women’s oversight committees
- First week of September: Target date for season model to bring to the Division I council for a vote
- September 16: Division I council’s vote on how and when to conduct the season
- Immediately after: Vote by men’s and women’s basketball oversight committees
- October 13 or 14: Meeting between the NCAA and the aforementioned council
There are numerous unknowns about the upcoming basketball season, but at least it seems like there is a plan in place and clear timeline for when decisions need to be made. Maybe the Big Ten and Pac-12 should take notes on what a deliberate timeline and constant meetings look like.
Even the athletic directors and basketball coaches are chiming in about how they believe the sport should move forward towards playing. Here’s what some of them had to say about how to conduct a successful and safe season:
College Hoops coaches and AD's all agree that we need to find a way to have a 2020-21 season and NCAA Tourney.
How do we get there though? There are a wide-range of responses and ideas. Here's a brief sample… pic.twitter.com/WxP904hGaF
— Rocco Miller (@roccomiller8) August 25, 2020
I don’t think anybody would ever bet on Greg Gard and the Wisconsin men’s basketball team playing games before their classmates on the gridiron. Well, it seems like we’re heading there as Big Ten football pushed their season to the spring and basketball seems to be on a great path towards playing this winter.
Stay tuned in to BadgersWire as we follow the developments and preview the 2020-21 college basketball season.