More conference games not in plans as expanding Big Ten announces future schedule format
An increase in Big Ten membership will not mean an increase in regular-season league games, but it will mean some teams do not make the conference tournament.
Tuesday, the conference announced that despite the additions of Oregon, UCLA, USC and Washington, teams will still play 20 league games in men’s basketball and 18 league games in women’s basketball. In a news release, the Big Ten said this will allow for “non-conference scheduling flexibility, is consistent with peer schedule formats and maximizes opportunities for NCAA postseason berths.”
“We should always be open to every idea,” Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti said at basketball media day in October. “How many conference games do you play? Can you play neutral-site games in the middle of the season? Do you change how many teams go to the postseason in a particular sport?”
Single-play home and away matchups will rotate annually while double-play opponents will be determined “with consideration for competitive balance, geography and rivalries.”
In women’s basketball, the Big Ten played 18 league games starting with the 1982-83 season through 1993-94 and dropped to 16 games through the 2006-07 season. It then expanded back to 18 games, where it has remained since.
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On the men’s side, the number of Big Ten games has varied throughout history. The league moved to 12 games for the 1919-20 season and mostly stayed there until expanding to 14 in 1950-51 and then 18 in 1974-75. It dropped to 16 games in 1997-98, went back to 18 in 2007-08 and then jumped to 20 in 2018-19.
The conference tournament has always included all teams, but the Big Ten decided that it was too cumbersome to host a multi-day event with 18 teams. Moving forward, the league will hold a 15-team tournament and continue holding the event in a five-day span, awarding multi-day byes to the top four seeds and one-day byes to seeds 5-9.
This year’s conference tournaments will be held in Minneapolis. The Big Ten has not yet announced future sites.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Big Ten expansion won't lead to more conference basketball games
