Big East 20 Game Conference Schedule

[MUMonster03]

With the addition of UConn next year we will be moving to a 20 game conference schedule.

Does anyone know if this will be implemented like the Big 10 and ACC has where 2 games are played in December, then a few more non-conference opponents over the holidays, before jumping back into conference in the new year.

I believe the MWC has also moved to this scheduling model.

[IrwinFletcher]

And the ACC is doing it this year.

[Galway Eagle]

I get why they have to do that but it's a shame because most college teams aren't going to hit their stride till at least January. Almost seems to be advocating for worse play to matter more.

[MUMonster03]

Actually I hadn't noticed until after I posted, the ACC actually started the season with a conference game, except for Duke.

[brewcity77]

I get why they have to do that but it's a shame because most college teams aren't going to hit their stride till at least January. Almost seems to be advocating for worse play to matter more.

This is such a college basketball specific notion and I think it's pretty silly. Whether it's college football, the NBA, or any other sport, games at the start of the season still matter. And on Selection Sunday, the Champions Classic, our win over Vandy at the Naval Academy, and other November games still matter. If you aren't ready when the season starts, then why play the games?

[MUMountin]

This is such a college basketball specific notion and I think it's pretty silly. Whether it's college football, the NBA, or any other sport, games at the start of the season still matter. And on Selection Sunday, the Champions Classic, our win over Vandy at the Naval Academy, and other November games still matter. If you aren't ready when the season starts, then why play the games?

Agreed.  And, I think it is/would be better for the sport to have the conference and non-conference games a little more intermingled, more like the NFL does.  College hoops gets a bit ignored until after football and then the holidays are over, and so some of these decent non-con games (that often don't have rivalry implications) end up being inevitably overlooked.  And, I think that having non-conference games later in the season can help give a better indication of the comparative strength of each conference, instead of all those data points front-loaded in the first two months of the season when teams are still in flux. 

Personally, I'd love to see a model where the conferences agree to schedule one conference week (2 games per) in both November and December, and then leave open a few weekend dates in January and February for (hopefully) marquee non-con games, maybe in conjunction with the "challenges" or scheduling agreements.  I personally would rather have had our win on Saturday come in late January or February when people are a bit more tuned in to college hoops. 

[Mr. Sand-Knit]

Completely disagree.  And think having conference games at the very beginning is very dumb too.  It is my hope that the Beast simply starts the conference season a week before new years and maybe eliminates one of the buy dates during the conference season.  Conference games during November are stupid and do no teams any good

[The Sultan]

Right.  College oftentimes starts with conference games.  I don't have a problem with how the B10 is doing it - after the Thanksgiving tournaments.  By then teams have played enough games to work out the kinks.  I'm sure that's how the BE will do it.

I just don't think we are going to see non-conference games of note as a regular thing after conference play starts up - except as an occasional thing.  Coaches are too focused on the conference play.

[wadesworld]

This is such a college basketball specific notion and I think it's pretty silly. Whether it's college football, the NBA, or any other sport, games at the start of the season still matter. And on Selection Sunday, the Champions Classic, our win over Vandy at the Naval Academy, and other November games still matter. If you aren't ready when the season starts, then why play the games?

That's kind of the point.  Why have the very first game of the season be against a guaranteed high major opponent (given it's from your high major conference) vs. having the option to get 2 games against mid or low major programs in first and then schedule a high major or tournament game?  If you're a conference scheduler and had the option to have UNC vs. UVA be in early December or in mid February, why would you choose early December?

[The Sultan]

Completely disagree.  And think having conference games at the very beginning is very dumb too.  It is my hope that the Beast simply starts the conference season a week before new years and maybe eliminates one of the buy dates during the conference season.  Conference games during November are stupid and do no teams any good

They aren't going to play conference games around Christmas.  Between ending the semester and giving kids a break, it's actually a perfect time for a bunch of buy games. For television's sake, they have to put them in early to mid December at the earliest.  But I agree that November doesn't make sesne.

[Dr. Blackheart]

The only thing with early November conference games, the quality of the play has been putrid.  The allowable start of practice should be moved into August.

[Nukem2]

They aren't going to play conference games around Christmas.  Between ending the semester and giving kids a break, it's actually a perfect time for a bunch of buy games. For television's sake, they have to put them in early to mid December at the earliest.  But I agree that November doesn't make sesne.

Yes, November also affected by the various tournaments and mid-December have exams.  Early December is really about the best alternative to having quality conference games.

[Cheeks]

Jim Boeheim is right in my opinion on this issue...it is really stupid to play conference games this early.


The NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB all have preseasons or Spring Training.  College basketball, in particular, is in an odd spot here because the season overlaps multiple semesters.  Transfers are sometimes eligible second semester so you will have a situation where conference games are played against teams that are not fully rostered whereas other conf teams will have to play them full strength.  I realize this happens today with injuries, but that is different because it isn't process driven.  Conf schedules are made up AFTER knowing when kids are eligible from transfers so that adds some added elements of certain schools potentially receiving unfair advantages.

[The Sultan]

Jim Boeheim is right in my opinion on this issue...it is really stupid to play conference games this early.


The NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB all have preseasons or Spring Training.  College basketball, in particular, is in an odd spot here because the season overlaps multiple semesters.  Transfers are sometimes eligible second semester so you will have a situation where conference games are played against teams that are not fully rostered whereas other conf teams will have to play them full strength.  I realize this happens today with injuries, but that is different because it isn't process driven.  Conf schedules are made up AFTER knowing when kids are eligible from transfers so that adds some added elements of certain schools potentially receiving unfair advantages.

Then what are the alternatives when you want to keep a 20 game schedule?  Especially when you keep that schedule and every team has to take two "byes" because there is an odd number of teams?

EDIT:  Look at this year.  With 20 games and two byes, that means you have to have 11 weeks of games assuming you stick to two games a week - one mid week, the other on a weekend.  Counting back from the week before the Big East tournament, week 10 is the week of December 29.

That means you have only a couple options to add an 11th week:

**Start BE play the week of Christmas - with games say December 20-22 and December 28-29
**Find a week in early to mid December to play two conference games early a la the B10
**Play three games a week twice after January 1

To me, the middle option is the best one because of the breaks involved.  But the first one is doable I guess.

[auburnmarquette]

Actually I hadn't noticed until after I posted, the ACC actually started the season with a conference game, except for Duke.

Yeah, UVa holding Syracuse to 34 points was a nice opener as I recall