Ok I know this is crazy but hear me out. We can do the NCAA Basketball Tournament its possible. Please read the following.
The tournament will start July 14 and end August 3.
Games will be played at the team with the highest ranking which is assigned during the selection show.
Selection show can be anytime before that so tickets can be allocated to the road team.
This can be done. Players are going to be available all summer with NBA pushing out the season. The NCAA can work with the NBA to make these dates open.
The NIT does home games like this in a matter of minutes after selection so this is easily done for the big tournament. These games will be jammed with fans and with TV everyone makes gigantic money.
I've thought this through and I have yet to think what could stop this plan. Maybe I am missing something but there is nothing to lose by proposing this idea. This could energize a whole nation at the right time.
But I am just one person with an idea. We need a place like Duke - the best college basketball program by far! Maybe we can start a petition. Get Coach K to listen to the idea. Get admin on board. These players deserve a chance to go out the right way so if it can be done why not? What school and what team out there would not jump at this chance?
If I am wrong about this tell me. But if its possible lets do it! Anything can be done in this day and age. All the other sports are pushing back dates to get their big events in. Why not college basketball?
Thank you for listening I appreciate it. GO DUKE!!!!
The biggest red flag? The fact that many players will have signed with agents by then, making them ineligible. Likely including Jones, Stanley, and Carey. Not to mention the seniors.
There are others, one being that the draft declaration date is potentially going to be a problem unless the NBA then delays the NEXT season.
And of course the fact that the NCAA has cancelled the tournaments, and you'd still have to play all of the conference tournaments first, and so on. And you'd be forcing a bunch of unnecessary travel to accommodate the tournament, without the certainty that it will be safe (they are still not sure there will be a 2020 FOOTBALL season for the NCAA).
It's almost certainly not feasible unfortunately.
NCAA is not flexible enough in its rules or organized enough at the top to make anything like this remotely viable, even without the health concerns.
My preferred feasible "solution" was for them to announce a Selection Sunday bracket (making a bracket really isn't that hard, and can very easily be done virtually), and then use that bracket to have a 68-team November madness tournament at the beginning of next season, with games played at the home court of the better seed. Obviously, the rosters would be so different for most teams that it would not actually be a meaningful reflection of the 2019-2020 season, but just as some way to have a large tournament in the calendar year 2020.
When would they practice as a team. Practice. Practice.
"This is the best of all possible worlds."
Dr. Pangloss - Candide
I can answer to all those concerns so hear me out.
1- Signing with agents is an artificial rule set by the NCAA. The NCAA can lift that rule for 3 weeks and no harm would be done. We are in times where we need to accommodate the situation.
2- Draft declaration date is another artificial rule. And something that can be worked around. Like I said NCAA can work with NBA to get past this.
3- There is absolutely no need to play conference tournaments. Those tournaments are set by each conference to make money. It just happens to be a standard that the winning team gets the auto bid. This year the team that wins the conference gets the auto bid.
4- There is no travel to accommodate the tournament. Like I said the better ranked team according to the selection show gets home court. The NIT does it and they do it in a matter of hours.
5- There is no certainty of safety for the Kentucky Derby and the Masters yet they at least have scheduled it out. This tournament can do similar without any problems.
So at this point I still don't have a reason not to try this idea. People just have to be flexible understanding the times we live in. Thank your for your consideration.
Thank you! We are both on a similar path. Again NCAA has got to alter the rules for the times. They need to stop acting like players committed some great crime by doing it a bit different for 3 weeks out of a lifetime.
So think about your idea and then think about the fact that players from the year before just play in November (or better yet October to first week of November) for the 3 weeks? Is it such a crime that we show some flexibility for such a short period of time?
You are the best fans in college basketball so I know if you can't present an obstacle that can be worked out then I know probably nobody can. If this plan looks feasible I will try to start an online petition and see what momentum we can gather. We all need to be safe but we also need to be bold in planning our future. All the other big events have pushed out in hope that they can be realized. The NCAA tournament is the only one that will not try to work something out. If enough people care then maybe the NCAA will listen.
I know your heart is in the right place. And I wish sports could safely resume by mid-July as you posited. But it isn’t going to happen. That’s only two months away. We are still going to be mired in the pandemic at that time. Not to mention there is going to be a second wave of Covid-19 in the fall. No, we are in this for the long haul, unfortunately.
How many people by mid-July are going to be willing to sit in an arena with people on either side of them and in front and in back? I assure you not many. Just imagine walking into the arena with people all around you while going through security, walking through crowded hallways/concourses, waiting in line for the bathroom, waiting in line for food and drinks, waiting in line for merchandise, etc.
No, it is very unlikely to happen. At least not until maybe sometime in late 2020, and quite possibly not until 2021.
It’s over. Give it up.
1. It is an artificial rule yes. But not one that the NCAA wants to change even in a theoretically unique circumstance. Once you break that seal, it is going to be a legal headaches moving forward.
2. It is not artificial. The NBA has that rule for a reason: to allow teams to spend their time focusing on the prospects that are officially in. They have no incentive to make their lives more difficult just for the NCAA’s sake.
3. There is no “need”. But tell that to the “last four out”, let alone the schools further off the bubble looking to be Cinderella. The schools have to buy into the idea.
4. There most certainly IS travel. The visiting team has to get there to each game. I am not talking about the logistical problems of travel. I am talking about the “we are still dealing with a pandemic so making unpaid college kids travel unnecessarily is a bad idea” problems.
5. The Kentucky derby and Masters are one-week/end events for professionals who would be doing these same things at that time anyway. They are in no way comparable to an NCAA b-ball tourney in the late-summer.
You may not think these are reasons why it couldn’t happen. But I am pretty sure they ARE reasons why it won’t happen.
Everything I’ve seen, including the NYT article from today linked below, makes me doubt there will be any sports in July much less an event that was already canceled. The Chinese Basketball league isn’t restarting anytime soon and China is way ahead of us curve wise. Also as this article states no school is doing anything with athletes while classes are virtual. Sports will probably be the last part of society to return to normal. At this point college football in the fall is kinda doubtful.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/06/s...ronavirus.html
I could continue to counter but I think I have my answer. Anything more would just be time wasted. Thank you Duke fans for responding. It was an idea that is just not going to get any traction. If Duke fans aren't interested nobody else will be either. Take care be safe.