A little early to start this topic, but the whole when is the season going to start isssue has been up in the air. Now it's being reported that it will start Nov 25th, no exhibition games though. I think most teams played at least 1 exhibition game against somebody like Athletes in Action or something like that. Season was originally set to start Nov 10, and recently a lot of people thought it would be pushed back to Jan 1. One thing for sure is that everybody agrees that we absolutely have to have March Madness, even if it's May Madness. The money that was lost last year would be even worse if it's not played again. https://www.si.com/college/2020/09/01/college-basketball-oversight-committee-nov-25-start
A lot of schools are going to be done at Thanksgiving, so by starting that weekend they'll have the entire month of Dec where they aren't going to class and students are for the most part not on campus. So that will help in the sense that there will be fewer contacts if they live in a dorm. Plus maybe by then we'll all be in a better place when it comes to Covid.
I see that Billy Donavan was let go by the Oklahoma City Thunder. I wonder if he's had his fill of the NBA and will look to return to the college game? He was so successful at Florida, you would think that he would have multiple opportunities at some really good programs around the country.
It has been released as mutual agreement for Donovan to leave. However a knowledgable poster on GatorCountry said the OKC wanted to keep him but Donavan wanted to move on. He also doubts that Donovan returns to college and claims a number of NBA teams have interest in him. Billy D will always be one of my favorites.
Might be Terry. Also in the discussion about Donovan more than one person felt he would not go back to College Basketball because he was unhappy with the recruiting situation and some of the folks involved in it.
So if we have March Madness what will it be like? Well ACC coaches have proposed that it be all NCAA teams, that is 128 Div 1 basketball programs. It would certainly eliminate the whining about who got that 65th slot! It would also kill the NIT. I would think that if it was successful it might become the way it's done going forward. _____________________ ACC men's basketball coaches are proposing an expanded 2021 NCAA tournament that would include every Division I team. Several ACC coaches would prefer to avoid nonconference games in the 2020-21 season due to complications from the coronavirus pandemic, with sources telling ESPN that Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski is spearheading the push for an all-inclusive NCAA tournament. ACC to pitch all-inclusive NCAA hoops tourney
More on Donovan leaving OKC. Thunder coaching search: Top candidates for OKC's surprising job opening after Billy Donovan's departure
Schedules are starting to come out finally The Irish get Ohio State in the ACC / Big 10 challenge. Other non conference games are reported to be Mich State Kentucky Purdue Tenn Howard. That's a huge change from the usual schedule which is heavy on cupcakes. ACC is going to play a 20 game conference schedule
Looking forward to watching some basketball after football season is over. Ken Pom has us rated number 10, but I think that is a bit generous.
Terry, I know Notre Dame has lost a number of players to graduation. Any news as to what to expect this year?
Don, we do have a core of Jr's who when recruited were considered good players, including one who we got from Ohio who had been a Buckeye commit till the coaching change. Dane Goodwin. They didn't do much as freshman, showed some improvements as Sophs and should be good players this season. But truthfully the pre-season rankings has the Irish at the bottom of the ACC. So I'm not esp hopeful of a NCAA tournament bid this year. It might be time for our coach, Mike Brey, who has been a good representative of the University and had some good success, 2 elite 8's and a ACC Tournament Championship. He's had some excellent college players along the way and we had solid Big East Teams. But things haven't been trending well of late and I do wonder if he has the fire that it takes to recruit and build teams that are successful in the ACC. He's even talked about it himself. Maybe this team will out perform the preseason predictions. I hope so.
Well Covid hit's basketball. UConn has shutdown it's basketball program over positive tests. This is going to be UConn first season in the "New" Big East.
One of the more interesting aspects of this season is that most schools are done by Thanksgiving and don't come back till Feb. That means the 1st two months of the season will be played without classes. I'm pretty sure most of the NCAA mandates limiting practice time are only in effect while school is in session, I think it's 20 hrs a week. So will this mean the teams will be better prepared in Dec and Jan?
Irish lose backup center / forward Elijah Taylor to ankle surgery. He won't play this year. A position we were already thin at, with both Taylor and Matt Zona both freshman were the backups to Juwahn Durham the Senior starter.
Looks like Bobda's Wolverines are building a Kentucky North in Ann Arbor. 5-star recruit Moussa Diabate commits to Michigan Five-star power forward Moussa Diabate committed to the University of Michigan's 2021 class, he confirmed to Joe Tipton on Monday. © Michael Reaves / Getty Images Sport / Getty Diabate joins Caleb Houstan as the second five-star recruit to commit to the Wolverines. Michigan now boasts the No. 1 ranked recruiting class for 2021, according to 247 Sports. Diabate is ranked as the seventh-best prospect and fourth-best power forward in the 2021 class by ESPN.
AP Top 25 poll First-place votes in parentheses: 1. Gonzaga (28) 2. Baylor (24) 3. Villanova (11) 4. Virginia (1) 5. Iowa 6. Kansas 7. Wisconsin 8. Illinois 9. Duke 10. Kentucky 11. Creighton 12. Tennessee 13. Michigan State 14. Texas Tech 15. West Virginia 16. North Carolina 17. Houston 18. Arizona State 19. Texas 20. Oregon 21. Florida State 22. UCLA 23. Ohio State 24. Rutgers 25. Michigan