According to Jon Rothstein, college basketball has set an official start date of Nov. 25. Beginning on the eve of Thanksgiving, the sport was originally scheduled to start on Nov. 10 before COVID-19 caused delays.
The minimum amount of games that schools will be allowed to play to qualify for the 2021 NCAA tournament will be 13. In a normal season, Big 12 teams play home and away round-robin conference games, totaling to 18.
Practice can begin on Oct. 14.
For Texas, five games were on the 2020-2021 schedule before Nov. 25. To open the season, the Longhorns were planning to host Louisiana, Gonzaga, and Stenson before traveling to Hawaii for the Maui Jim Maui Invitational.
Rothstein is also reporting the Maui Invitational could be looking to move into a bubble. Asheville and Indianapolis have been listed as the final two destinations.
Alabama, Davidson, Indiana, North Carolina, Providence, Stanford, and UNLV are the other seven schools participating in the tournament.
Source: The official start date of the 20-21 college basketball season will be November 25h.
Decision is in.
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) September 16, 2020
Sources: The 2020 Maui Invitational is expected to take place in either Asheville or Indianapolis. Decision could come as early as this week.
Field includes North Carolina, Texas, Indiana, Alabama, Stanford, Providence, UNLV, and Davidson.
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) September 14, 2020
As of now, there have been schedule changes for the Longhorns. Keeping a quality opponent such as Gonzaga in the nonconference can go a long way when March rolls around.
With the Bulldogs predicted to begin the preseason as the No. 1 team in the AP poll, a win for Texas would be significant.
With five-star forward Greg Brown in the mix, Shaka Smart’s team has become a contender for a Big 12 championship. Guards Andrew Jones, Courtney Ramey, and Matt Coleman are expected to continue to lead the team throughout the season.
The Longhorns must make the tournament this year, otherwise, the program will be heading in a different direction.
[lawrence-auto-related count=3]