One-third of the college basketball season is in the past, and it's almost reached its midpoint.
Yes, you read that right. The guess here is that the average American sports fan isn't aware of that, or that some of the most crucial pieces of many teams' postseason résumés already have been determined.
But college basketball's too-quiet annual return to the court doesn't have to be that way. There is a solution to help it capture more attention, and it doesn't involve confining it to one semester.
College basketball already has the undisputed best tournament in all of sports. What it needs is another one.
The proposal
College basketball season begins after the World Series is complete, but otherwise the sports calendar couldn't be busier. At the same time the sport tips off, the best pro and college football teams are separating themselves from the pack. NBA and NHL teams are in their first month.
Even the most popular sport would have trouble carving a fan niche in that landscape, and college basketball doesn't do a great job with its array of games at overseas venues and intersectional doubleheaders.
But what if the people who stage a 68-team tournament at the end of every season staged a 16-team tournament at the beginning? What if it happened in December at a rare, relatively quiet time for college football? And what if the winner was guaranteed an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament?
How it works
When it would happen: College basketball season annually begins on a Friday night in November — on the eve of huge college football games. Under this proposal, the season would begin on the night before the Heisman trophy presentation and Army-Navy Game with a full national schedule and the round of 16 in an NCAA-sanctioned and operated tip-off tournament.
There would be three days of competition: the Round of 16 on the Wednesday following college football's conference championship weekend, the Round of 8 two days later on a Friday, the Round of 4 the following Thursday, and the final game two days later on the first Saturday of college football's bowl season. This year, for example, that would have meant Dec. 9, 11, 17 and 19.
When would all of this begin? In the year 2020. Many programs already have their early season exempt tournaments booked through the 2019-20 season.
Where it would happen: The Round of 16 would be made up of doubleheaders at four sites, just like the NCAA tournament's Sweet 16. Those same sites would host the Round of 8 two days later.
Because this tournament is partly meant to build interest and awareness that college basketball is back in play, it would be held in arenas and cities with histories of supporting college basketball and the NCAA tournament. For at least the first year, that would mean the Palestra in Philadelphia, UD Arena in Dayton, Ohio, the Sprint Center in Kansas City, and the Pit in Albuquerque.
Many college teams schedule games in New York in the early season, and with that in mind, the semifinal and final rounds would be played at Madison Square Garden or Barclays Center.
In the future, the NCAA could consider placing this event at upcoming NCAA tournament host sites, something that could provide operational test runs for the organization and venue.
How it would happen: The 16-team field is made up of the 16 teams that make the Sweet 16 each March. Win on that first Saturday or Sunday of the NCAA tournament, and you have earned a spot in the next season's Starting 16.
That guarantees you at least two games the next December against what should be two Ratings Percentage Index-friendly opponents, because every team in the Starting 16 will play twice at each site (the first night's losing teams will play each other two nights later, a nod to the NCAA tournament's third-place game that went away after the 1980-81 season. And don't question the relevancy of a third-place game in this instance. Every team's strength of schedule would be bolstered in this case.)
The team that goes 4-0 in this event is guaranteed one of the 68 bids to the NCAA tournament the following March, no matter how it performs from that point on during the season. The team is placed into the seeding pool just like the other 67 teams that will be selected, so it could end up as a No. 1 seed, a 16 seed or a First Four entrant or anywhere in between.
Seeding and matchups for the Starting 16 would be decided by the NCAA men's basketball selection committee at a post-NCAA tournament summer meeting held following the NBA's deadline to declare for the draft. This would fit nicely with college basketball's scheduling calendar, as most teams' matchups for the following regular season are set in the late spring and early summer.
The committee would decide the seeding parameters, perhaps examining players returning or departing (and the percentage of team statistics lost), changes in coaching staff composition, injuries or surgeries and other statistical factors used to predict success from season to season.
Conclusion
The NFL has expertly adjusted its calendar to turn itself into a 12-month sport. College football is coming close, with the build to signing day in January and February, spring practices at some schools beginning in February and ending with others in May, Playoff meetings, rules meetings and a single conference — the SEC — absconding with an entire week in the month of July that fills the gap between Major League Baseball's All-Star Game and the start of NFL training camps.
If Division I men's basketball were to embrace an event like this, it would be a small but significant step in the direction of its peers, both short-term and long-term.
First, audience data shows that interest in the NCAA tournament is greatest in the days leading up to the first round when millions are filling out brackets and the first two days of full play, those Thursdays and Fridays when the ball is bouncing seemingly all day and night. If teams the next two days in the Round of 32 are playing to survive and advance not only in the spring but also to earn a berth in the next season's premier early event, the intrigue will only heighten.
Second, and most important, it gives the sport an offseason storyline it so desperately has needed, particularly since recruiting has been sliced and diced by early signing periods, late signing periods and reclassifications by top prospects.
Teams, conferences and even the NCAA can build narratives and interest around the teams that have qualified for the Starting 16. The committee's seeding announcement provides a made-for-TV moment in the late spring or early summer the sport has never had.
Once again, there would be a reason for general sports fans nationwide to talk about college basketball beyond a six-week period from late February through early April.
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