What’s going on in the Big 12 and beyond? I expand and explain every Sunday in Postscripts at Heartland College Sports, your home for independent Big 12 coverage. This week, we do need more January and February non-conference basketball games — and not just because ESPN wants them for programming.
The Late-Season Non-Conference Basketball Game Push
Last weekend I was driving from Surprise to Tucson here in Arizona for two games at McKale Center and my phone buzzed. Or, actually, I saw an alert on the dash, which I was using for my GPS. Like any good driver, I tapped the button to have the text read to me. It was from our Joe Tillery:
“Why is Baylor playing Louisville in Fort Worth?”
We talked for a bit. I didn’t know “exactly” why the game was being played in Fort Worth. But the game landed during Baylor’s bye week in Big 12 play. The Bears wanted an extra non-conference game late in the season and worked with the Big 12 to arrange the league schedule around it.
It was no different than TCU’s women using its bye week to play Ohio State in the Coretta Scott King Classic in Newark, N.J., in January.
If ESPN has its way, there will be more of these games.
Jon Wilner at the San Jose Mercury-News reported earlier in the week that ESPN wants more games like the Duke-Michigan game that was played on Saturday. The reasons are clear and obvious — money, ratings and attention. And I’m all for it.
I grew up in a time when we had these kinds of games in January and February. I remember when Duke won the national championship for the first time and the following season went to LSU to face the Tigers, led by Shaquille O’Neal. That was a huge game.
Of course, we’ve had these opportunities before. The Big 12 and the SEC used to have a challenge for several years before the SEC and the ACC opted to lean into one another and move their challenge to December. That was, in part, because the ACC and the Big Ten had a challenge and the Big Ten’s TV package went away from ESPN to Fox.
ESPN also used to do a BracketBusters Challenge for a few years, scheduling mid-major games on the fly to generate more buzz and help team’s RPI. My alma mater, Stephen F. Austin, played in that a few times.
But, for the past few years, January and February have been largely bereft of these kinds of games. But they’re starting to trickle back. In addition to the two I mentioned above, Memphis went to Utah State last weekend. The question is why?
For these teams, it’s about helping their tournament chances. Ordinarily, Baylor wouldn’t have needed a win in a game like Louisville. But it’s been a bad season for the Bears, and a win would have helped. They lost. Duke and Michigan are fighting for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, and the winner of that game could be a tiebreaker. Utah State and Memphis need a credential enhancer if they need to get in as an at-large team.
More of This Will Come in College Basketball
There is more opportunity coming, too. Most didn’t notice that the NCAA is allowing teams to play 32 games next season, as opposed to the 31 they usually play. Part of the logic was to help give teams help around multi-team event restrictions. But, with an extra game, everyone in the Big 12 could do what Baylor did with its bye week and find a non-conference game to play.
The trick is to find the right matchup. I’ve felt for the past few years that the Big 12 would be wise to lean into a partnership with the Big Ten in basketball for something like this. I would do it during a bye weekend for both conferences in late January, like the Big 12 did with the SEC. Play some games at home arenas and play others in tripleheaders or even quadruple headers at neutral sites in geographically ideal areas. The benefit of that is that it can help emulate the atmosphere of an NCAA Tournament if done right.
Plus, revenue generation. Brett Yormark will like that. Let’s do it. You’ll thank me later.
NiJaree Canady Breaks a Barrier
Texas Tech softball pitcher NiJaree Canady is one of the most talked about players in the game. You can say it’s about the NIL. But the way she pitched last year in getting the Red Raiders to the Women’s College World Series championship series showed she’s worth it.
Now, she’s broken a barrier.
Y’all may not be old enough to remember, but the first women’s basketball player to get her own shoe was Sheryl Swoopes. Where did she go to school? Yep, Texas Tech.
“I Think It’s Dope”
The Kansas State women got a chance to practice on the ASB GlassFloor when they went to Orlando this week, the same type of floor that will be used at the Big 12 Tournament.
What I thought was interesting in that video was that I heard squeaking, as in the same squeaking you hear from sneakers on a hardwood floor. I’ve never walked on a glass floor so I don’t know if that’s typical or not.
Another thing I noticed? Just a bit of light coming off the floor. I wonder if that could be a distraction to players during game play? I guess we’ll just have to see.
Just prepare yourselves. They’re going to put DJ Khaled’s head on that thing at some point. Can’t wait for that.
Mock Seeding
Earlier this week ESPN’s Joe Lunardi and other sportswriters participated in a mock seeding selection for the men’s tournament. Some things I noticed:
The group agreed that the Big 12 has two No. 1 seeds: Arizona and Houston; A No. 2 seed: Iowa State; and a No. 3 seed: Kansas.
Lunardi also posted a completed bracket. I was curious about the other Big 12 teams:
Texas Tech, No. 6
BYU, No. 6
UCF, No. 9
It didn’t look like TCU made the cut. See for yourself.
