Basketball season taking some degree of shape
OXFORD — The college basketball season, at least to some degree, took on some shape late Wednesday.
Official team practices can begin Oct. 14. Games can begin on Nov. 25.
For Ole Miss, that means no exhibition games, no scrimmages and three non-league November games are likely either out or will have to be rescheduled. Ole Miss is also scheduled to play in a tournament in Niceville, Fla., but that might also be difficult to pull off.
“We would like to get to the full 27 games, either the 25 and the two in an (multi-team event) or 24 plus three,” Ole Miss coach Kermit Davis said in a Zoom call with reporters Thursday. “Our goal is to get to 27 games.”
Davis said as of today, Ole Miss’ opener is a Dec. 1 date with Rider. However, he’s hopeful Ole Miss can play in some sort of a multi-team event (MTE) in late November, adding Ole Miss has even had preliminary discussions about hosting one of those events. Regardless, Davis said he felt it was very likely the Southeastern Conference teams would not play league-only schedules this year.
“The NCAA wants non-conference because of the NET,” Davis said. “They want non-conference because of the selection committee having some comparisons with leagues. It may not be the perfect world that it normally is, but if I had to make a guess right now, they’re wanting to play some non-conference games for sure.
“That’s when we sure could go and try to add games. There’s been a lot of talk about so-called bubbles in Orlando or a lot of places. We’ve had conversations with that but for us, it’s about where can it best fit and fit in a timeframe where it works in our schedule.”
Davis said he anticipates the NCAA Tournament will likely be held as usual, meaning a 68-team field.
“Right now, I think they’re pushing forward with a regular tournament,” Davis said, adding he could see conference tournaments not played defending on allowed attendance and costs.”
As for attendance, Davis said he expects fans will be in the Pavilion at Ole Miss. How many? That’s a tougher answer.
“I think what’s encouraging and what I like about the decision is it is state-to-state, so our governor (Tate Reeves) just passed 75 percent (capacity) in restaurants,” Davis said. “That’s a good thing. …Football is going to start (Sept. 26) at 25 percent (capacity) and that’s going to be increased based on the success that they have. Right now, if I had to make a guess, I’d guess the talks start at 25 percent but I’m hoping we’re going to have some students who can come to the game and maybe everybody who buys season tickets will have the ability to come to The Pavilion this year.”
Davis said his team has been grinding during the preseason, going to mostly online classes and hoping to stay healthy.
“We have rolled pretty good,” Davis said. “We have. We’re into four-on-four and some five-on-five in our four-hour weeks. We didn’t really take any time off, maybe about three days right before school. Our team was in a good place, knock on wood, with COVID.”
Davis said his team will take next week off before moving into a 12-hour week (8 hours on the court) in a week.
"We're going to have more than enough time," Davis said. "I think we're going to have to be smart with our time."