College Basketball Season 2020: ESPN to Move Eight Events to Orlando
The NBA bubble has shown the possibility to play through a number of basketball games and playoffs during the COVID-19 pandemic. Now based on a new report, it appears ESPN may follow suit with events for the college basketball season. The network hosts 10 nonconference events each November and December and is set to move eight of them to Orlando, Florida, similar to the NBA.
ESPN to move college basketball events to Orlando
It’s been quite a 2020, with the coronavirus pandemic bringing a halt to many sporting events. That included a historic move to do away with college basketball tournaments including the NCAA Tournaments for men’s and women’s basketball. That means there were no official champions for the past college season.
Many sports have returned with limited or no fans and safety procedures in place. That included the NBA restart several months ago and the NFL season which just kicked off over a week ago. We recently reported that Big Ten Conference football will return, while other conferences have already had games going on.
Per ESPN’s report, the sports media company will move eight college basketball events to ESPN’s Wide World of Sports complex at Walt Disney World in Orlando. Those events would include The Champions Classic, Charleston Classic, Myrtle Beach Invitational, NIT Season Tip-Off, Wooden Legacy, Orlando Invitational, Jimmy V Classic, and Diamond Head Classic.
There’s also a possibility that teams not scheduled to play one another in certain events could have a “crossover” game, although this is yet to be confirmed. ESPN mentioned Baylor vs. Gonzaga as a possibility for that sort of game as both teams are in the Jimmy V Classic, but not scheduled to play one another.
ESPN reports that events would start as of Wednesday, November 25, which is the expected start date for the 2020-21 NCAA basketball season. It’s also reported that the NCAA events in Orlando would have a different set of procedures as compared to the NBA. As of right now, the NBA still has four teams remaining in their playoffs with the Lakers vs. Nuggets and Celtics vs. Heat.
Which teams are in the nonconference events?
The tournaments feature a number of teams that currently appear in the preseason college basketball rankings. The Gonzaga and Baylor teams are No. 1, and No. 2, respectively in Andy Katz’s Power 36 rankings below.
Current No. 7 team Virginia is part of the Wooden Legacy event, while the No. 8 Kansas Jayhawks will participate in the Champions Classic along with Duke, Michigan State, and Kentucky. See below for the full listing of teams involved in each event.
- Champions Classic: Duke, Michigan State, Kansas, Kentucky
- Charleston Classic: Charleston, Florida State, Houston, Oklahoma State, Penn State, Seton Hall, Tennessee, VCU
- Myrtle Beach Invitational: Charlotte, Dayton, Loyola Chicago, Missouri, Nebraska, Furman, Pitt, Utah State
- NIT Season Tip-Off: Arizona, Cincinnati, St. John’s, Texas Tech
- Wooden Legacy: Georgetown, Kansas, UCLA, Virginia
- Orlando Invitational: Auburn, Belmont, Boise State, Gonzaga, Michigan State, Siena, Saint Louis, Xavier
- Jimmy V Classic: Gonzaga, Tennessee, Baylor, Rutgers
- Diamond Head Classic: Arizona State, Hawaii, North Texas, Oklahoma, San Diego State, Saint Mary’s, Seattle, Temple
What about the rest of the college basketball season in 2020 and beyond? As far as other conference games and seasons go, stay tuned as we await any specific details on where games may take place and under what conditions.
However, it appears the NCAA Tournament could take place in 2021 but may involve a lot of pre-scheduling and planning, with one event site involved. That could be Las Vegas, but it’s still months away, so we’ll wait to see what happens there.
