Could College Basketball Season Open Sooner?

Iowa hasn't officially announced its men's basketball schedule for the 2020-21 season, even though some of the games are known.

What dates those games will be played, though, could change.

Sports Illustrated reported on Monday night that senior vice president of basketball Dan Gavitt has proposed moving season-opening games from Nov. 10 to Oct. 27, with possibly an earlier beginning for practice from the currently scheduled start date of Sept. 29.

The goal is for schools to play something closer to a full schedule of regular-season games during what could be an uncertain school year, both with academics and sports, as campuses attempt to reopen during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Gavitt told SI:

“At this point it’s just a concept. But we have presented it to the conference commissioners and the oversight committees. The ball is in their court. It has some utility, adds some flexibility and options with the (academic) calendar changing, which could affect the break period.”

Iowa's current academic plan for the fall semester is to have classes on campus until Thanksgiving break, and then online classes for the final three weeks of the semester.

There are some things that are known about the schedule for the first two months of the season:

• The Hawkeyes are the host of a multi-team event to start the season that will include Southern, North Carolina Central and South Dakota.

• Iowa has home games with Chattanooga (Nov. 24), Kansas City (Nov. 27), Iowa State (Dec. 10), Northern Illinois (Dec. 19) and Alabama State (Dec. 29).

• A game against Oregon State in Sioux Falls, S.D., is reportedly set for Dec. 22.

• The Hawkeyes will play in the Gavitt Games in November against a Big East team, likely on the road. They would also get an ACC/Big Ten Challenge game, likely at home, in the week after Thanksgiving.

• The first two games of the Big Ten season are scheduled the first weekend in December.

Gavitt told SI it is “almost a certainty” that some basketball games scheduled for the window between Thanksgiving weekend and the beginning of second-semester classes in January would be canceled. Iowa would likely have seven games after Thanksgiving.

The optics of leaving winter sports teams on campus for six weeks or more while other students are home is one worry, and there are concerns about traveling for nonconference games during that time.