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Source: The official start date of the 20-21 college basketball season will be November 25h.
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) September 16, 2020
Decision is in.
College basketball is coming back! Last night the NCAA announced plans to officially kick off the 2020-21 season on November 25th, which is around three weeks past the typical start date. With COVID restrictions in place (and schedule limitations), it is widely expected that non-conference games will be limited to in-state matches and non-conference tournaments such as the Battle 4 Atlantis, Maui Invitational, or the Preseason NIT, which the Red Raiders are scheduled to compete in.
Tournaments will be hosted in different “bubble” settings to accommodate for logistical concerns surrounding major college basketball, with places such as Orlando being popular destinations for non-conference events.
Here are the details on the aforementioned schedule limitations put in place for this season:
Per the NCAA:
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) September 16, 2020
- Teams can participate in the following:
*24 RS games & a 3 game MTE
*25 RS games & a 2 game MTE
*25 RS games & NO MTE.
- Min. number of games is 13
- Practice officially starts on 10/14
- Teams are allowed 8 hours a week of on-court workouts, starting 9/21 https://t.co/4GIhIsXOkT
In other news, the first day of official fall practice will be September 21st, and there will be no “secret” scrimmages (that always get leaked and mentioned 1,000 times over a season) or exhibitions this year. This is going to be a very strange year for hoops, but if anyone can maximize their team in the midst of chaos, it would be Chris Beard. Stay tuned to Viva the Matadors for more detailed analysis of this year’s exciting young team!