BleedGopher
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per Hamilton and Quinn:
The seven Big Ten hoops coaches The Athletic spoke to since Friday’s windfall additions of Oregon and Washington represented quality adds in that particular sport, bringing nationally recognized brands and programs with high floors that will enhance the league’s already considerable depth, if not its chances to end a national championship drought at 23 years and counting. Coaches want a stable league with wide aisles leading to NCAA Tournament bids. The Ducks and Huskies don’t cause any angst there.
https://theathletic.com/4750278/2023/08/04/realignment-big-ten-washington-oregon-arizona-basketball/
But coaches also want to figure out how an 18-team league with four squads on the West Coast will schedule games without creating the unintended consequence of contenders too gassed and worn out to actually contend in March. “The million-dollar question,” as Purdue coach Matt Painter put it. The Big Ten announced its 2023-24 conference opponent lineup in April. The clock is therefore already ticking loudly for 2024-25.
And on Friday, one head coach summed up his view on how to manage it this way: “I have zero clue.”
“The reality is, we have to get on it, because they’re joining next year,” said another Big Ten head coach, who was granted anonymity in exchange for his candor. “I’ve felt the last couple years, as good as our league has been, that teams have been a little bit worn out at the end, when you add the conference tournament, too. The wear and tear of it all, the grind of it all — at the end of the day, we want to have (NCAA) Tournament success. We want to make sure we’re in a position where we get a lot of bids, but also when we get to the NCAAs that we’re positioned to make deep runs.”
All ideas probably will be on the table, assuming it doesn’t buckle under the weight of an overstuffed suggestion box.
Because, at least in men’s basketball, it’s an issue that could be exacerbated rather than solved with two more teams. The Big Ten received eight bids to the NCAA Tournament in April and sent one team to the Sweet 16. Two out of nine entrants in the 2022 event reached the second weekend, and it was one of nine in the 2021 tournament. (Michigan did advance to the Elite Eight that year, too.) As everyone knows, Michigan State was the last team from the league to win a national title, way back in 2000. Oregon reached the Elite Eight in 2016 and the Final Four 2017 but has missed the last two NCAA Tournaments entirely. Washington hasn’t been to the Elite Eight since 1953. Instant fixes, they are not.
But they are instant travel quandaries, along with UCLA and USC. So does the Big Ten stay at 20 league basketball games or add more? Will it only play conference games, period, allowing the schedule to stretch out over two more months? (“It’s my uneducated opinion, but I think that’s where this whole thing is heading,” Rutgers coach Steve Pikiell said. “That’s what TV wants. It wants those games over the nonconference games anyway.”) Are there travel partners to alleviate the back-and-forth with longer stays? Will the travel be, as Painter says, “definitely more frequent west to east than it will be east to west,” mitigating the problem somewhat? What’s better for recovery purposes: Taking a redeye home after a night game out West or waiting until the morning and losing half of the next day?
theathletic.com
Go Gophers!!
The seven Big Ten hoops coaches The Athletic spoke to since Friday’s windfall additions of Oregon and Washington represented quality adds in that particular sport, bringing nationally recognized brands and programs with high floors that will enhance the league’s already considerable depth, if not its chances to end a national championship drought at 23 years and counting. Coaches want a stable league with wide aisles leading to NCAA Tournament bids. The Ducks and Huskies don’t cause any angst there.
https://theathletic.com/4750278/2023/08/04/realignment-big-ten-washington-oregon-arizona-basketball/
But coaches also want to figure out how an 18-team league with four squads on the West Coast will schedule games without creating the unintended consequence of contenders too gassed and worn out to actually contend in March. “The million-dollar question,” as Purdue coach Matt Painter put it. The Big Ten announced its 2023-24 conference opponent lineup in April. The clock is therefore already ticking loudly for 2024-25.
And on Friday, one head coach summed up his view on how to manage it this way: “I have zero clue.”
“The reality is, we have to get on it, because they’re joining next year,” said another Big Ten head coach, who was granted anonymity in exchange for his candor. “I’ve felt the last couple years, as good as our league has been, that teams have been a little bit worn out at the end, when you add the conference tournament, too. The wear and tear of it all, the grind of it all — at the end of the day, we want to have (NCAA) Tournament success. We want to make sure we’re in a position where we get a lot of bids, but also when we get to the NCAAs that we’re positioned to make deep runs.”
All ideas probably will be on the table, assuming it doesn’t buckle under the weight of an overstuffed suggestion box.
Because, at least in men’s basketball, it’s an issue that could be exacerbated rather than solved with two more teams. The Big Ten received eight bids to the NCAA Tournament in April and sent one team to the Sweet 16. Two out of nine entrants in the 2022 event reached the second weekend, and it was one of nine in the 2021 tournament. (Michigan did advance to the Elite Eight that year, too.) As everyone knows, Michigan State was the last team from the league to win a national title, way back in 2000. Oregon reached the Elite Eight in 2016 and the Final Four 2017 but has missed the last two NCAA Tournaments entirely. Washington hasn’t been to the Elite Eight since 1953. Instant fixes, they are not.
But they are instant travel quandaries, along with UCLA and USC. So does the Big Ten stay at 20 league basketball games or add more? Will it only play conference games, period, allowing the schedule to stretch out over two more months? (“It’s my uneducated opinion, but I think that’s where this whole thing is heading,” Rutgers coach Steve Pikiell said. “That’s what TV wants. It wants those games over the nonconference games anyway.”) Are there travel partners to alleviate the back-and-forth with longer stays? Will the travel be, as Painter says, “definitely more frequent west to east than it will be east to west,” mitigating the problem somewhat? What’s better for recovery purposes: Taking a redeye home after a night game out West or waiting until the morning and losing half of the next day?
How will Big Ten manage 18-team, bicoastal basketball league? 'I have zero clue'
Oregon and Washington bring value but also logistical quandaries to the league's hoops slate. Is a 22-game (or more) schedule coming?
theathletic.com
Go Gophers!!
