Big Monday an Advantage Come Tourney Time

[dukejunkie]

While watching Notre Dame versus Marquette tonight I thought it was odd that they just played UConn Saturday. Coach K likes to compartmentalize two tightly scheduled games as preparation for the NCAA Tournament. While it seems like a great idea, it doesn't happen after the regular season starts in the ACC.

After looking at Big East scheduling, the top teams get more than one shot at a Monday game. It seems a quick match-up versus two Big East teams is better preparation than Duke will ever get. Teams like UConn get two chances at such mini tourneys (Sat-Mon).

Coach K likes to plan tough out of conference games during the regular season so the squad is prepared for other styles it doesn’t see in the ACC. However, back-to-back games in two days versus top ten teams makes the first rounds of tournament competition seem easy. Is it possible (and I haven't looked at the empirical statistics) that is part of the reason the ACC hasn't done as well in the NCAAs recently?

I seem to recall ACC games on Tuesdays in the past. This would allow for Sunday-Tuesday games. If they used to play on Tuesday, did this change because of ESPN? Can the ACC set some of these "tourney tests" up?

[jjasper0729]

the ACC used to be part of "Super Tuesday" on ESPN, but that's gone by the boards. There are still a few games on Tuesdays (NCSU plays tonight for example)

Back in the day, the ACC schedule was wednesday/thursday and saturday/sunday (15 or so years ago). I think this was because high school games were tuesdays and fridays.

[DukeDevilDeb]

the ACC used to be part of "Super Tuesday" on ESPN, but that's gone by the boards. There are still a few games on Tuesdays (NCSU plays tonight for example)

Back in the day, the ACC schedule was wednesday/thursday and saturday/sunday (15 or so years ago). I think this was because high school games were tuesdays and fridays.

And we played NC State last Tuesday!

[duketaylor]

I don't really know the answer to your question, but ND just lost two home games in three days, not sure how that helps you prepare for the tourney. Might keep you out of the tourney in the long run. Could wear a team out, all the emotion invested in such a short time without time to recover. I've wondered if making the ACC finals nearly every year hasn't taken a toll on the Blue Devils, three games in three days in a very intense and usually hostile environment. (Note: I say hostile because every non-Duke fan roots against us without fail.)

[KyDevilinIL]

It's possible that playing two games in three days during the regular season might benefit a team from a mental-preparation standpoint, but I doubt it's much to get worked up about.

So much is different in the NCAA Tournament than the regular season, from tip times to travel schedules to practice schedules to the elapsed time of games. It's a totally different animal, and it's almost impossible to adequately mimic or mirror during the regular season.