Rothstein | NCAA To Meet Regarding Earlier Start For College Basketball

https://www.fanragsports.com/rothstein-ncaa-to-meet-regarding-earlier-start-for-college-basketball/

Such a proposal is likely to feature moving the first day of the season to a Tuesday during the second week of November rather than a Friday.


On the other hand, a separate source has informed FanRag Sports that most coaches favor such a move to an earlier start date so that the opening weekend in college basketball won’t directly compete with the college football slate.

“The hope is that the change in start date for basketball will create an excitement around the tip-off of the season and provide better scheduling balance in the calendar,” said Council chair Blake James, athletics director at Miami (Florida). “Because we didn’t increase the number of games, schools also will have more flexibility to provide students time off during the holidays.”

The Council also made changes for football preseasons.

Schools will count back 29 days from their first football game to decide the earliest preseason start date. The previous rules set the preseason start date through the use of a formula of counting back 40 practice units before the first game. Additionally, schools will not be required to provide student-athletes with a day off in the preseason (until classes start or a week before the first game), but practice will be limited to two hours of off-field meetings or film review.