Underwood Confirms First 2020-21 Basketball Season Details To Be Released Wednesday
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Illinois men’s basketball head coach Brad Underwood is expecting to hear details on the start of the 2020-21 men’s basketball season in a few days.
Underwood confirmed this notion Monday morning in an interview with Big Ten Network host Dave Revsine.
“We’re going to find out Sept. 16 when that comes out,” Underwood said. “I think getting league games in is the most important part. There could be some potential (COVID-19) challenges as we move into late January and early February when the normal students come back. It all depends on when we start but the consistency of trying to get league games in right away just makes sense and do that in what I call the soft bubble.”
Underwood, who is expected to be on the sidelines for his fourth season with the Illini with the most talented returning team in his tenure in Champaign, also expressed confidence in a 2020-21 college basketball season taking place. During the BTN interview, Underwood stressed his opinion on prioritizing the importance of getting conference games in before worrying about non-conference matchups.
“There’s no doubt we’re going to have a season,” Underwood said Monday on BTN. “I think we’ll have a great conference season. I think the Big Ten season is going to be better than ever. What non-conference games and timeframes look like, we’ll see.”
This statement by Underwood follows a statement from last month by NCAA Senior Vice President of Basketball Dan Gavitt saying “By mid-September, we will provide direction about whether the season and practice start on time or a short-term delay is necessitated by the ongoing pandemic”. The NCAA Division I Council is scheduled to meet Wednesday.
Stadium.com reporter Jeff Goodman reported the women's and men's basketball oversight committees met Friday and decided to move up the proposed start date for the 2020-21 season from Nov. 25 to Nov. 21.
The 2020-21 season is scheduled to tip off on Tuesday, Nov. 10 in Chicago at the State Farm Champions Classic, which will feature Duke vs. Michigan State and Kansas vs. Kentucky. However, an announcement by Gavitt (who serves as the closest version of a college sports commissioner) or the NCAA Division I Council could provide the first steps to having a plan in place months in advance before the start of a 2020-21 season.
Known Illinois non-conference matchups at this point include being selected for the Emerald Coast Classic (with Florida, Iowa State and Oregon in the field), a return game vs. Arizona (in State Farm Center), a Big Ten/ACC Challenge game on the road, a Gavitt Game matchup yet to be announced and the annual Braggin’ Rights rivalry game against Missouri in St. Louis. Illinois officials are declining requests to provide information on further non-conference matchups for the Illini in the 2020-21 season.
Illinois is a projected Top 10-15 preseason team and a contender for the program’s first Big Ten Conference regular season title since 2005 after star players Ayo Dosunmu and Kofi Cockburn elected to bypass the NBA draft in order to return to school.