The Big 12 will reduce men’s conference basketball schedule to 18 teams beginning next season

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Big 12 will reduce its men’s conference basketball schedule to 18 games next season, answering the concerns of numerous coaches who argued that the 20-game grind of this past season provided their teams with no time for rest.

The conference, which began its postseason tournament Tuesday, expanded to 16 teams this season with the addition of Utah, Arizona and Arizona State along with the return of Colorado from the Pac-12. With the departure of longtime members Oklahoma and Texas to the SEC, that nevertheless left the league with the largest number of members in its history.

“That is our anticipation to go to 18 games,” said Brian Thornton, the Big 12 vice president who oversees men’s basketball. “One of the impetuses for that is the balance of conference versus nonconference games. It’s extremely important for the competitive nature of our conference to have the ability to have a bye built into our schedule.”

The extra day off would be especially beneficial for schools in the East such as Cincinnati, West Virginia and UCF and those in the West, such as BYU, Utah and the Arizona schools. They often have to travel long distances for games.

“Playing 20 games post-Christmas makes that impossible to do,” Thornton explained. “We’re going to try 18 games and we’re going to see how that goes. It’s extremely important to ensure we have quality nonconference games played before Christmas, and that is something we’re discussing with our schools as well.”

Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark said the league was committed to producing schedules that put its athletes first.

“We’re very mindful of the wear and tear and that travel is one of our guiding principles when we think about scheduling,” he said. “We’re making sure we’re very sensitive to that, and that will continue.”

In other scheduling news, Yormark underscored the Big 12’s commitment to Kansas City, which has been awarded its postseason conference tournament through 2031 — despite…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/article/big-12-reduce-mens-conference-182523485.html

Author : Associated Press

Publish date : 2025-03-11 18:25:00

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