Published Sep 16, 2020
WBB: NCAA sets guidelines for 2020-21 season
Chris Wellbaum  •  GamecockScoop
Staff Writer
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@ChrisWellbaum

The NCAA approved guidelines for the 2020-21 college basketball season, but there is still a lot to be figured out in a very short time.

When can preseason practice start?

October 14, regardless of when the first game is. Teams can hold 30 practices over the next 42 days. There will be a transition period from September 21 through October 14, when teams can "participate in strength and conditioning activities, sport-related meetings and skill instruction for up to 12 hours a week, with an eight-hour limit on skill instruction.”

When can the season start?

November 25. This is pushed back from the normal start date of November 10.

Does that mean South Carolina is starting November 25?

Not necessarily. I’d guess that Dawn Staley and Frank Martin are flipping a coin to see who gets opening night and who has to wait, although “multiple-team events” will also be a factor.

Are there any schools that won’t start playing in November?

Yes. The Ivy League and Pac-12 canceled all sports through the end of the calendar year. The Ivy League has given no indication it will change that policy. The Pac-12 has wavered a little, mostly because it wants to play football, but also because it has a deal for rapid testing in place. There may still be other conferences or individual schools, especially those lower on the economic ladder, that decide that starting basketball this fall is financially impossible.

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How many games will be played?

The NCAA reduced the season by four games. For women’s basketball, that means 25 regular season games, or 23 games and up to four games during a multiple-team event. That means we probably won’t see too many single-season records broken this year.

Will those be all conference games or a mixture?

The NCAA has recommended, but not required, that teams play a minimum of four non-conference games. The NCAA also banned the super-secret scrimmages that are never a secret and exhibition games. Without these, one would think a team like South Carolina would want to open the season with a buy game.

What does that mean for South Carolina’s schedule?

This is the great unknown, and a lot of it is out of South Carolina’s hands. First, how many conference games will the SEC play? It could stick with the current 16-game season, or bump it up to 20 to maximize flexibility. Will the SEC and Big 12 continue with their scheduled games this season (South Carolina was supposed to visit Iowa State), or postpone them for a year? Could they expand it to a couple of games? It also depends on what other conferences do. South Carolina had previously scheduled games against ACC, Big Ten, and Big East opponents, not to mention mid majors. Fortunately, the NCAA and the conferences have reportedly worked very closely together on this proposal, so the conferences should be able to announce their schedules sooner than later.

I would guess South Carolina's non-conference schedule will include at least one buy game, Clemson, and at least one marquee match-up (and I recognize your joke about Clemson being the buy game). It shouldn’t be any trouble to schedule the buy games: with fewer to go around, small schools will be banging down doors trying to get those coveted paydays. I also suspect that conferences will frown on scheduling non-conference games for February, which means the traditional date for the UConn game is probably out.

And the Battle4Atlantis?

The other big waiting game. Organizers have said they intend to hold the tournament, but have slowly conceded it will have to be relocated. The men’s tournament will reportedly be played in South Dakota. The inaugural women’s tournament, which has already lost its co-headliner Oregon because the Pac-12 canceled all sports until January, is still up in the air. If they decide not to hold the Battle4Atlantis, South Carolina would probably try to latch on to one of the other multiple-team events that are popping up around the country.

What about the SEC and NCAA tournaments?

Knock on wood, they are still expected to be played as scheduled. However, the minimum number of games a team must play to qualify for the NCAA tournament has been reduced to 13. It appears likely that the NCAA tournament will not be played at numerous sites across the country like normal, but in more centralized bubbles, but that remains to be seen.

Anything else?

The NCAA extended the recruiting dead period through the end of the year. That means no in-person recruiting, only phone calls and correspondence. It is an understandable decision for safety and competitive balance, but it’s going to cause some rushed recruiting and ill-informed decisions, so get ready for mass transfers in all sports in a couple of years.