Flashes celebrate after clinching MAC East co-championship with win over Ohio last season. There will be no divisional championships for anyone this year. The MACwill play as a single 12-team league this season. It had been the last Division I conference with divisions,
Updated with revised date.
Circle the date: Nov. 21.
That’s could be the opening day of the 2020-21 basketball season.
Reports from several national outlets Monday said the NCAA Division I committee is poised to approve at that date, which is the Saturday before Thanksgiving. The council is scheduled to vote on the idea Wednesday. Here’s Monday story from cbssports.com.
The Nov. 21 date, four days earlier than an earlier proposal, is about two-and-a-half weeks later the first game in previous (pre-COVID-19) seasons. The delay allows schools to start games after most universities have emptied campuses for the fall.
As at many other schools, Kent State classes and exams will be completely online after Thanksgiving. With classes online, student athletes can study from anywhere.
With almost no other students in town, athletes would be less likely to interact with others who might be infected.
NCAA officials thought the earlier date could allow more multi-team events in an NBA-like “bubble” format, CBS reported. In those, multiple teams — perhaps as many as 20 — could play at a single site with a controlled environment and heavy COVID testing.
The later start leaves about five weeks for non-conference games.
Because of the uncertainly, Kent State hasn’t announced a non-conference schedule for either men’s or women’s basketball.
With the MAC going to a 20-game schedule (see below), the Flashes likely will have up to eight non-conference games. We’re likely to know a lot more in a few days.
All this, of course, assumes there is not another COVID-related shutdown of some kind.
The MAC schedule
Kent State starts the Mid-American Conference season at Toledo on Wednesday, Dec. 30.
The 20-game MAC season is up from 18 in past years. That’s a home-and-home series with all but two other teams.
There will be no divisions. The top eight teams will advance to the conference tournament in Cleveland in March. There will be no first-round tournament games on conferences sites.
The new conference schedule is designed to cut down on travel costs and virus exposure in commercial travel.
The schedule has no bye weeks. All teams play every Wednesday and Saturday for 10 weeks.
After the opener with Toledo, the Flashes play at Eastern Michigan on Saturday, Jan. 2. The team is likely to stay on the road. Toledo and Eastern are less than an hour apart, and KSU will still be on winter break.
Home opener is Wednesday, Jan. 6, against Northern Illinois, followed by a home game against Ball State on Saturday, Jan. 10.
The Ball State game is the only meeting of the season with the Cardinals, which finished second in the MAC last season. Kent State also play defending MAC champion Central Michigan only once. That game is Saturday, Feb. 13, in Mount Pleasant.
The Flashes end with a home game against Akron on Saturday, March 6. It will be the first time KSU has ended the regular season against the Zips since 2011. The league tournament will start the next Wednesday.
Kent State’s conference schedule
(Times to be announced)
- Wednesday, Dec. 30. At Toledo.
- Saturday, Jan. 2. At Eastern Michigan.
- Wednesday, Jan. 6. Northern Illinois.
- Saturday, Jan. 9. Ball State.
- Wednesday Jan. 13. At Akron.
- Saturday, Jan. 16. Western Michigan.
- Wednesday Jan. 20. Toledo.
- Saturday, Jan 23. At Northern Illinois.
- Wednesday Jan. 27. At Buffalo.
- Saturday, Jan 30. Eastern Michigan.
- Wednesday, Feb. 3. At Ohio.
- Saturday, Feb. 6. Miami
- Wednesday, Feb. 10. Bowling Green.
- Saturday, Feb. 13. At Central Michigan.
- Wednesday, Feb. 17. At Western Michigan.
- Saturday, Feb 20. Ohio.
- Wednesday, Feb. 24. Buffalo.
- Saturday, Feb. 27. At Miami.
- Wednesday, March 3. At Bowling Green.
- Saturday, March 6. Akron.