If teams opt out of conference tournaments, impact could linger beyond 2021 and COVID-19

When the Houston Cougars wrap up this daunting, devious but magnificently successful regular season, there will be little left for them to accomplish in the American Athletic Conference Championship tournament. Another title, of course. You can never have too many trophies. But the NCAA tournament will stand behind that event, beckoning, while warning that nothing else good will come to add to the nearly assured regular season title.

Houston could be upset and possibly drop a header line into NCAA support. One of the Cougars could be injured. Worst of all, as distant as it may be, is that a team member might encounter a case of COVID-19 that may not have developed in their home.

So why would the Cougars bother playing in the AAC tournament?

“We’re part of the American Athletic Conference,” head coach Kelvin Sampson told reporters Wednesday. “According to our schedule,” says one at the end of the regular season, the conference tournament starts Thursday.

“We don’t just sit here and say, ‘Well, we think we have a good chance of being in the tournament; we don’t want to mess this up. No. It’s not that. We have an obligation to play this conference tournament because we are part of the conference.

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If everyone in college basketball were to articulate this approach, the discussion would end there.

However, the notion of “withdrawal” from conference tournaments has been the subject of discussion in college circles for nearly a month, with some coaches admitting to having given it some thought. And the conversation escalated on Tuesday, when columnist John Canzano of The Oregonian in Portland, an excellent and well-connected basketball reporter in the West, tweeted that Gonzaga and BYU “are wondering if they should step down. of the West Coast Conference basketball tournament.

This is a problem for college basketball that has a very real cause and no easy fix, but depending on how it’s dealt with, could have consequences that linger for years to come.

In 2021, every capable college basketball team faces seven obstacles on the road to an NCAA championship: the standard six opponents who must be defeated in a group of 68 teams and the COVID-19 pandemic. The first is what every coach expects, understands and, in fact, embraces. The second is difficult to anticipate or control.

For teams with obvious NCAA tournament qualification, especially those who realize they have an extraordinary chance to excel in this year’s event and who were positioned to do well a year ago. that this one is canceled, there is an understandable fear regarding what is being held between now and March 19, when the first round begins.

“I’m going to look at it through a coach’s eyes for a minute, and I would say this: you, your staff and your players have made huge sacrifices since August, or even as far back as when we were all shut down,” ESPN analyst Jimmy Dykes told Sporting News. “You’ve fought many battles, some of which we don’t even realize, to get to the point where we reached the NCAA tournament, which is the goal Ultimate Then I think our natural human defense mechanism comes up and says, don’t do anything to spoil this.

“I think it’s a real draw for the coaches now. I know he is. If you’re on any of those first three lines right now, the most important thing is we need to get to Indianapolis, we’re healthy and ready to roll.

Gonzaga has competed in every NCAA tournament since 1999 and made it all the way to the Championship game. He has fielded great teams. His 2017 team reached the last regular season game before losing. The 2019 squad included two of the top 25 picks in the NBA Draft. The final four have crossed the 30-win mark and advanced at least two NCAA rounds; no other team currently has such a long Sweet 16 streak.

But it’s Gonzaga’s best chance of winning the NCAA title. The Bulldogs are 20-0 and beat three of the teams the selection committee named last weekend as top-16 in their fork preview. Only one team, West Virginia, lost to single digits. The average margin for the victims of the Zags: 20 points.

So it’s understandable if everything between now and the NCAAs seems more problematic than it’s worth.

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However, if a participant in the scheduled tournament chooses not to participate in a conference championship that transmits an automatic NCAA nomination, it would have a significant impact on the field composition. That QA spot could go to a team that otherwise wouldn’t be successful. As each spot on the field is worth hundreds of thousands of dollars to conferences and their members, there would be a financial incentive for elite teams to avoid conference tournaments altogether.

You could argue that this is a purely pandemic problem, but the thirst for funds in varsity athletics continues. No one attributes this motivation to a current team, but it’s safe to worry about the potential for future abuse.

Big Ten Network and Fox Sports analyst Steven Bardo compares this situation to the NBA All-Star Game, which takes place this season because it is an important part of the league’s television contract. This is also true for conference tournaments. But in a typical year, these tournaments are also a joyous occasion for their leagues. The ACC is naturally proud of its long tradition. The Big East has made its annual Madison Square Garden hike one of its flagship features. The Big Ten quickly made their championship a gem.

“It’s a fascinating situation. On the one hand, I understand the programs that want to withdraw, ”said Bardo. “On the other hand, the NCAA, conferences are doing all they can to create security. I was very impressed. We’re coming to the end of a regular season that’s been amazing in the way it has gone, the flexibility in which college basketball has been able to function. The same mindset should be applied to conference tournaments. “

In many cases, it is. The Atlantic 10 will host their tournament at two venues in Richmond, reducing intersections between competing teams. The Big Ten have moved their tournament to Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, a large venue that can accommodate multiple courts. Participating in Indy also means that Big Ten teams chosen for the NCAAs will only have to travel from campus once; they will go to Indy and stay there until they are eliminated from the NCAA tournament or come away with the championship trophy.

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Based on comments Thursday from Gonzaga athletic director Mike Roth to Spokane’s review spokesperson, that seems to be the ultimate goal of the Zags: a tournament held in a less crowded environment than Las Vegas. This is probably why BYU has been part of the conversation, as the Cougars are not such a strong lock to be included in the NCAAs, but are the second most important program in the COE.

“It’s a daily conversation,” Roth told writer Jim Meehan. “If the tournament were to be played now, our teams would be there to represent our university and the WCC and would do everything in our power to win it. That’s about as much guarantee as I can give at this point.

“Our players want to play. We want to play games, like every year, leading up to the NCAA tournament. However, my concern continues to go to a place where there may be more people – in hotels and elsewhere – around the players, and the risk that poses. “

Dykes told SN that it was important to take into account the voices of actors on this topic, to present all the variables and issues to them and ask for their input.

“Guys, here are the reasons why we should go, here is why maybe we shouldn’t, and let’s talk about it,” he said.

The power of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Committee to affect teams’ withdrawal potential is limited at this time. Members discussed this issue at length last week, but it would take a change in policy for them to state that all qualifying teams must participate in championship tournaments – if their leagues are in the first leg – to be eligible for the tournament. NCAA. Some leagues have their own policies.

It was enough for NCAA Vice President Dan Gavitt, when asked about churns, to say, “The committee encourages that if a tournament is played, all teams that have qualified for that tournament should participate to honor the game. ” He went on to mention the efforts of players and coaches to end this tough season as well as the value of more games to inform the selection process. But the phrase “honor the game” was well chosen and the most impactful.

“This is what we live for. Conference tournaments have been the best addition to college basketball in the past 30 years, ”said Bardo, who reached the Final Four as a point guard with the“ Flyin ‘Illini ”in 1989, before the Big Ten did not introduce his postseason tournament. “It’s fascinating competition, fascinating television. It is so special. The varsity bowl season doesn’t come close to the excitement of the conference tournaments.

“It’s a difficult situation because COVID has changed everything.”