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D-1 Council: Start date of college basketball season: Nov. 25; Start of practice: Oct. 14; Max number of games: 27 (reduced by 4); Minimum number of games: 13; No scrimmages/exhibitions. Recommendation for minimum 4 non-conference. Video breakdown coming w/NCAA SVP Dan Gavitt.
— Andy Katz (@TheAndyKatz) September 16, 2020
The Division I Council approved a start date for the 2020-21 college basketball season. The new date will be November 25th, the day before Thanksgiving. The date was chosen to coincide with a number of schools electing to end their semesters around that time, which creates an automatic bubble for basketball until at least January, when students would theoretically come back to campus.
With the date, there are a few guidelines and changes to the season, outlined as such:
The regular season has been reduced by four games, up to a maximum of 27, and a minimum of 13.
Structure of games played:
- 24 games plus three in multi-team tournament
- 25 games plus two in a multi-team tournament
- 25 games with no tournament participation
- Preseason practices can begin on October 14, giving teams 42 days to conduct 30 practices.
- A transition period between “out-of-season activity” and preseason practices will begin this coming Monday, September 21st. This period allows for the ramp-up of skills instruction, conditioning, and other meetings (not to exceed 12 hours a week).
Read more about the announcement in the NCAA statement.