Effects of coronavirus on college sports

[Da Coach]

We may see more of this if the coronavirus pandemic continues or worsens. UC Riverside appears to be the first Division I school to consider cutting all sports to try to balance their budget-
UC Riverside weighs axing sports to balance coronavirus-battered budget
https://www.thestridereport.com/post...tic-department

What is surprising is that it is a large state school with a pretty decent sized endowment (25,000+ students, $260 million endowment).
Smaller, private schools would seem to be schools that would be more likely to encounter these kinds of issues.

[Da Coach]

As expected, the Big Ten has unanimously voted to resurrect the fall football season, after they had voted in August to suspend it.

https://twitter.com/bigten/status/1306221427083939841

This is good news. The schools believe it can be done safely with the introduction of numerous safety protocols. The season will start the weekend of October 23-24, and the season will consist of 8 conference games.

This reversal of course was attributed to the development of rapid testing, but that is just a cop out. In reality, this was entirely because the Big Ten Presidents and ADs realized they blew the original decision, IMO.

But this bodes well for the college basketball season to proceed. We are waiting for the announcement today on the vote by the NCAA Division I Council to move the start date of the season to November 21. It is expected to pass easily.

[64NIT]

I've seen that the original start date of November 10 is on the table, too, for discussion.

[Da Coach]

Yes, that is being reported. I hope it still has a chance to be picked as the start date, since it would save 353 Division I schools from having to cancel and reschedule multiple games. But most of the reports I have seen seem to suggest the NCAA Div I Council prefers the Nov. 21 or Nov. 25 dates. We should hear soon.

[Da Coach]

College basketball writers Jon Rothstein and Jeff Goodman are just now reporting that the council has selected the Nov. 25 date, though there has been no official announcement-
https://collegehoopstoday.com/index....november-25th/

https://twitter.com/GoodmanHoops/status/1306343416012382211

[Da Coach]

Other decisions made today, according to CBS Sports' Matt Norlander-
https://twitter.com/MattNorlander/st...45227062521861
https://twitter.com/MattNorlander/st...45394956365824

—NCAA has voted to keep recruiting visits dead/banned until Jan. 1.
—No scrimmages or exhibitions at all this season.
—Regular-season capacity has been reduced by four games
— Teams can start practicing as much as 12 hours per week starting Sept. 21
— COVID-19 protocols on game day, game minimum (13) for NCAAT eligibility, etc.

Another source reports a 25 game maximum.
One reason given for the Nov. 25 date was that 76% of all Division-I schools will have either finished their fall semester completely or released the general student body from in-person instruction by that date.
And Conferences and individual schools are encouraged to make adjustments to fit inside the NCAA framework, such as limiting travel, whether to play non-conference games, etc.

[Da Coach]

Official announcement-
https://www.ncaa.org/about/resources...n-s-basketball

[Da Coach]

Here are the main points-
https://www.ncaa.org/about/resources...n-s-basketball

• First contest date in Division I men’s and women’s basketball to Nov. 25 for the 2020-21 season.
• No exhibition games or closed scrimmages will be allowed before that date.
• Men's basketball teams can schedule 24 regular-season games and participate in one multiple-team event that includes up to three games; 25 regular-season games and participate in one multiple-team event that includes up to two games; or 25 regular-season games if a team does not participate in a multiple-team event.
• In women’s basketball, teams can schedule 23 regular-season games and participate in one multiple-team event that includes up to four games or schedule 25 regular-season games if a team does not compete in a multiple-team event.
• Teams will be considered for NCAA championship selection if they play 13 games, which represents a 50 percent reduction of the current minimum. For NCAA championship consideration, all 13 games must be against another Division I opponent.
• The Division I Men's Basketball and Division I Women's Basketball committees also recommended teams play a minimum of four nonconference games.
• Programs can begin preseason practice on Oct. 14 and will have 42 days to conduct a maximum of 30 practices. During this time, players can work out up to 20 hours per week, four hours per day, and must have one day off per week.
• There is a waiver process for schools to request to play games prior to the Nov. 25 start date, the Division I Men’s Basketball Oversight Committee and Division I Women’s Basketball Oversight Committee have indicated they are unlikely to support such waivers.

That last point might give a glimmer of hope for the Paradise Jam (scheduled Nov. 20-23) to still happen, but it sounds unlikely unless the dates are moved back. But the good news is we will have a basketball season!

[Da Coach]

Illinois State is one of 8 teams in the 2020 Cancun Challenge.
The 2020 Cancun Challenge was originally scheduled to run from Nov. 17-Nov. 25, with campus games from Nov. 17-20, then games Nov. 24-25 in Cancun.
Several weeks ago, the tournament was moved to Melbourne, Florida, to avoid travel issues out of the US and Mexico.

Today, in response to yesterday's announcement by the NCAA, the Cancun Challenge organizers announced they are changing the dates and format. They will eliminate the early campus-site games, and just hold the semifinals and final games for the 4 major participants on November 25 & 26 at the Melbourne, Florida venue-

https://twitter.com/JonRothstein/status/1306585996922945538

This lends a bit of hope that maybe other early-season pre-Nov. 25 tournaments like the Paradise Jam might follow suit and try to resurrect their tournament by changing the dates.

[Da Coach]

Illinois State is one of 8 teams in the 2020 Cancun Challenge.
The 2020 Cancun Challenge was originally scheduled to run from Nov. 17-Nov. 25, with campus games from Nov. 17-20, then games Nov. 24-25 in Cancun.
Several weeks ago, the tournament was moved to Melbourne, Florida, to avoid travel issues out of the US and Mexico.

Today, in response to yesterday's announcement by the NCAA, the Cancun Challenge organizers announced they are changing the dates and format. They will eliminate the early campus-site games, and just hold the semifinals and final games for the 4 major participants on November 25 & 26 at the Melbourne, Florida venue-
https://twitter.com/JonRothstein/sta...85996922945538

Now Illinois State has decided to pull out of the Cancun Challenge-
https://twitter.com/JonRothstein/sta...31052460453893

A bit of a strange decision. The Cancun Challenge Riviera Division, which included Illinois State, also includes Purdue, Clemson, and Mississippi State. They could have had a couple very good, maybe quadrant 1 opponents in the tournament that was moved to Melbourne, FL. Plus, they had at least one home game scheduled against Georgia Southern, one of the lower-level teams in the other division (The Mayan Division includes Buffalo, East Tennessee State, Rider, & Georgia Southern), and may have gotten another home game, too. That wipes out 3 or 4 ready-made games that they will now have to try to replace. Maybe they are looking to switch to a different Multi-Team Event?

[Da Coach]

The Cayman Islands Classic has been cancelled-

https://twitter.com/JonRothstein/status/1310634186483658752

Sources: The 2020 Cayman Islands Classic has officially been cancelled. Initial field included Kansas State, Western Kentucky, Nevada, Oregon State, La Salle, Miami, Ole Miss, and Northern Iowa.

That leaves Northern Iowa looking for a new tournament spot.

[64NIT]

College basketball's biggest question: Will daily testing allow avoidance of contact-tracing quarantine rules?

A looming crisis hovers as major pockets of the schedule could be wiped out if COVID-19 guidelines don't change

https://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/news/college-basketballs-biggest-question-will-daily-testing-allow-avoidance-of-contact-tracing-quarantine-rules/

[Da Coach]

NCAA to decide whether to grant an extra year of eligibility to Winter sports athletes (including men's and women's basketball).-
https://twitter.com/GoodmanHoops/sta...89730032336896

The NCAA already granted fall sports athletes an extra year of eligibility-

https://www.ncaa.org/about/resources/media-center/news/division-i-work-toward-hosting-fall-championships-spring

[bigjimmy]

Now that we're close to starting back up I don't recall if any of the current players have opted out. Any clue?

[Da Coach]

I have not heard any news of opt-outs.