As college football dithers, can the ACC basketball season be saved?
After students were sent home from Chapel Hill on Monday, the cancellation or postponement of the ACC football season certainly feels inevitable at this point, even if the conference is likely to drag it out to the last possible minute before it follows the example of the Big Ten and Pac-12.
Football is the big deal financially for the ACC. Basketball always has been, and always will be, a bigger deal emotionally for the ACC. And while football may not be salvageable, thanks entirely to the rampant and unchecked state of COVID-19 in this country, it’s not too early to ask the question whether basketball can be saved.
It does feel, for the moment, like basketball is being overlooked. Some of that is just chronology — it’s hard to figure out what to do with winter sports before you figure out what to do with fall sports — but it’s still no small consideration, especially in the ACC.
Not only is basketball even more vital to the spirit of the ACC than football, it’s an even bigger financial engine for the ACC than it is for any other conference. Football may drive the bus in the ACC as it does everywhere, but where else are there two schools — Duke and Syracuse — that actually depend more on basketball than football?
Unlike football, which is autonomously governed by the Power 5 conferences, the NCAA still calls some of the shots in basketball, and appears determined to have some kind of basketball tournament this spring, even if that means May Madness. NCAA basketball czar Dan Gavitt said Monday the NCAA was still hoping to start in November but was studying contingency plans and would wait another month or so to make any decisions.
Time could play into basketball’s favor, if the development of rapid, point-of-care testing for COVID-19 accelerates and quick-turnaround diagnostic technology becomes the norm. But if the general situation on college campuses continues to worsen, as it has during the first few days of classes at North Carolina and elsewhere, it’s going to be increasingly hard to justify college athletics of any kind.The one ray of light that something might actually be happening with basketball — PNC Arena general manager Dave Olsen said a few weeks ago the ACC had asked if the building would be available earlier than normal for N.C. State basketball — now appears to be a bit of a red herring.
“Status quo,” ACC basketball commissioner Paul Brazeau texted, which pretty much sums things up. His hands, obviously, are tied. Any decisions on basketball will be made by the conference presidents, who are a bit busy at the moment. But the menu from which they’ll choose will be set by the conference and its athletic directors, and it’s still far too early to say what any potential restrictions or scenarios might be.
A successful attempt on the part of the ACC to play football starting in mid-to-late September, unlikely as that may be, would leave the door open for a relatively normal basketball season. (The Pac-12 canceled all sports through the end of 2020, so that basketball season is starting late regardless.) A push to the spring would have consequences not only for timing but television inventory. It’s going to be tough to play basketball games on Saturday night if there’s a full day of football on TV, and given the conference’s financial stake in the ACC Network, that’s the single most important consideration.
The success of professional sports in their coronavirus bubbles — the NWSL, MLS, the NHL and NBA — suggests something similar could work in college basketball, with the smaller traveling parties and quicker turnaround between games compared to football. That’s clearly going to be the plan in the NCAA tournament, but it could be an option in the regular season as well.
The ACC could potentially do two neutral-site bubbles, each a 14-game round robin spread over five weeks. If the bubbles were timed right — around the semester break and spring break — athletes might not end up spending any more time away from campus than they do in a normal basketball season, not that being on campus means anything at colleges that have gone fully online like UNC.
On top of all the other moving parts, there’s one additional moving part to consider there: The ACC would probably have to set up bubbles for both men’s and women’s basketball for gender-equity reasons, which might elevate expenses beyond whatever revenue the ACC Network might generate.
Or the ACC could attempt to proceed like pro baseball and golf, traveling by charter in a closed group. They could perhaps even do what the NBA and NHL teams do in preseason and fly in before a game and out afterward: From campus to bus to plane to bus to arena and back again, with limited contact with the outside world. That would preserve the traditional college basketball atmosphere, even with no fans in attendance.
Because is an ACC basketball season played entirely off campus — even in Greensboro — still an ACC basketball season? Even if the alternative is no basketball at all?
This story was originally published August 19, 2020 at 5:00 AM with the headline "As college football dithers, can the ACC basketball season be saved?."
