I love not only the UConn Huskies, but men’s college basketball as a whole. I treasure the rivalries between programs, the rich histories and traditions the game has, the fascinating storylines and players fans get to watch every season, and of course, March Madness. I was heartbroken when the conference and NCAA tournaments were cancelled last season and very excited for the return of basketball, especially with UConn back in the Big East and on the upswing.
My love for UConn and the sport doesn’t change my opinion however: Men’s and women’s college basketball should not be going on right now.
Coronavirus infections are going up throughout the United States, with many hot spots spread throughout communities and states. The nation surpassed 3000,000 deaths a week ago, and is now at nearly 304,000 as of late Tuesday night according to the New York Times. The Times also stated that between the 8th and 15th,there was an average of 206,557 cases per day. People lost their jobs and have been unable to find employment again, including yours truly. A new recovery package has still not yet been passed by Congress.
Here in Connecticut, the increasing rate of COVID-19 cases and its effect on not only both individuals but institutions like schools and restaurants has been on the forethront of every citizen’s mind. Connecticut’s seven-day positivite rate as of Tuesday night was 6.5%, down only slightly from the previous week. The state’s current surge of infections is expected to reach its peak between late December and mid-January, just in time for Christmas and New Year’s. Hospitalizations in CT have been slightly up the last two days.
Even as the country and world is being ravaged by COVID-19, the NCAA continues to insist on playing basketball, with the Ivy League being the only Division 1 conference that stepped up and restricted or cancelled competition for its member schools. When it decided to not delay seasons and kick off right before Thanksgiving, the NCAA showed that money, particularly that coming from television revenue, was more important than player’s health as well as the ramifications positive tests would have on schedules and the level of competition.
The decision to not delay the start the season has bit the NCAA, and by extension UConn (3-0), in the ass. Twenty Division 1 teams have not played a game yet this season as of Tuesday. In the Big East, only 7 of its 15 members have played at least one conference game, while DePaul has not played a game and Butler just one. Starting Sunday the 13th and through Wednesday, 46 Division I games were either cancelled or postponed. Left to right, there are cancellations and postponements due to either players, coaches or other associated team personal testing positive for COVID-19 and programs having to put team activities on hold.
The Huskies practice and game schedule has been thrown completely out of wack. They were unable to practice for almost two weeks right before the season started, and had games cancelled against Vanderbilt and NCT State while in the Mohegan Sun “bubble” due to positive tests with those programs. Following their win against USC at Mohegan, UConn again immediately got back positive test results that caused practices to again be shut down for more than a week and postponements of games against St. John’s, Georgetown and Providence, which are tentavily scheduled to be maide up in February. The team returned to pracice only on Sunday, and as a reward they get to face Creighton, which is currently 4-2 and ranked No. 9 in the country. There is very little chance it will play any more nonconference games.
The effect COVID-19 has had on the Huskies could be very detrimental to both individual players and the entire team competititively and mentally along with the ever-present threat of infection. The roster has a number of players who are either freshman or first-year transfers, and that limited practice and game experience they have together will make it harder for the whole group to gel even with its depth. Fans saw this against both Central Connecticut and Hartford as well as in the impressive win over USC, especially on the offensive end. (Just look at the offense’s striggles against zone defenses). This inexperience could especially be a limitation initially against strong conference opponents.
It is a virtual gurantee that UConn will have a few more games postponed in the coming weeks. Its contest on the 23rd against DePaul will very likely be postponed, as the Demon Deacons are currently not practicing due to infections and have had to already postpone two more games before then.
I give the UConn athletic program and Danny Hurley, a lot of credit for the caution they have shown when dealing with cases and the soppage of play as well as scheduling games. The department and Hurley decided not to rush back into practicing after this latest suspension of play, and instead listened to the state’s Department of Public Health and is maintaining its modified quarantine for 14 days before hopefully competing against Creighton on Sunday. Hurley and the administration recognized that following protocols mitigazes the chance of infections, and hopefully the postponement or cancellation of games for UConn. In addition, Hurley has been able to provide his players with much-needed practice time by not trying to constantly schedule games. He used the time off between the Hartford and USC games to work the players hard and address the issues that were seen in the first two games, and it paid off with a signature win.
At the same time, I also give Commissioner Val Ackerman and other leaders of the Big East credit for releasing game schedules for the remainder of the conference season, and leaving two weeks in February available to reschedule postponed games. Whie it is not enough, at least the conference is being realistic and considering a controlled-environment model for the Big East schedule in January and February, in which UConn would face the other conference members on the East Coast at likely either Mohegan or a site in Washington D.C. Unfortunately, it is too late to be thinking of tinkering with the schedule now when teams should not even be currently competing.
Pausing the Division 1 men’s basketball season now and waiting until roughly the beginning of February to resume it is a step the NCAA should immediately take after this week of games. There are a huge number of benefits to doing so. The number one benefit is that not holding games and having teams travel to play away or neutral-site games, while having players and team personal continue to test at the rate they have been doing so, can hopefully ensure that these individuals have few if any positive tests. If teams do have members who test positive, then no games will make quarantining easier and not cause changes to game schedules. Players and teams can isolate themselves during such a break in the season from others, and will have almost no interaction with student and staff since it will be winter break.
By the beginning of February, the positivity rate and deaths for COVID-19 will ideally be going down in much of the country. Individuals who traveled for the holidays will hopefully have been home a few weeks by then, and many states and communities will have tighter restrictions to keep rates down. And of course, certain groups will be in the process of getting vaccinated.
One argument I don’t see being talked about enough for pausing the season is that by doing so, the quality of play and competitiveness of teams will be higher when it resumes. While it may take a couple of games for teams to get back in the swing of things, the possibility of having a steady schedule of games and practices without delays or cancellations will allow many teams to improve their level of play and mature on court and off. For fans, this will mean more exciting games. Similarily, moving conference tournaments and the NCAA tournament back to roughly the start of May from its normal dates in March can make for more entertaining and memorable tournaments.
As annoying as it is to agree with Rick Pitino, I feel he was right on the money when he stated the NCAA should restart the season when it is safer for coaches and players and have “May Madness”. Dan Hurley and other prominent coaches like Mike Krzyzewski have questioned the safety of playing right now and the affect COVID-19 has had on players, and coaches of women’s teams have echoed their concerns, including Geno Auriemma. While it may be frustrating for fans to see the season put on hold, I feel loyal ones will embrace a “May Madness” concept after the wait. The NCAA tournament will likely not have to compete with any playoffs in other major sports, helping to draw attention and viewers. If UConn is competing in the tournament I will be just as excited as ever, even if it is in May.
If the season was put on hold for a few weeks, I would feel bad for the players throughout the game. They have already sacrified so much individually and as team members since the pandemic started, and I would argue they have not gotten the appreciation they deserve (as well as the play or similar benefits). The players want to compete, and you just know not being able to play games would make them extremely frustrated. In the end however, a pause in the season would protect the health of themselves and coaches, the programs, and the sport as a whole. Better to not have games temporarily then for the virus to cause the entire rest of the season to be cancelled.
In the end, I have little confidence that the NCAA will pause the season until roughly the beginning of February, despite all the marquee games that have postponed or cancelled and the large number of teams that have played very few or no games. The conferences value the money they are getting from TV deals and other resources too much, and obviously think continuing to play is worth the risk. The only way I could see a pause happening is if positive COVID-19 cases spiked exponentially over the holidays, or enough prominent coaches and players demanded this. A man can dream though, can’t he?
HUSKY NATION 