College Basketball Could Possibly Be Starting Earlier Beginning In 2018-19

Now prepare to be massively let down if you are a college basketball fan. That headline probably gave you a lot of hope.

The start date could be three days earlier – but it’s significant and a step in the right direction. Here’s the proposed rule change:

I’m all for the college basketball season starting on a Tuesday (or any day earlier in the week) than Friday. The reason is simple. More people are willing to sit down and watch games/events during the week. More people will talk about it. The season starting will be all over radio stations/tv stations/websites such as Barstool Sports. More importantly, it gives you a little bit of a break before football dominates the headlines again. When you start the season on a Friday, you immediately lose everything because Saturday at 8am everyone is up talking college football.

We’ve seen college hoops make some smart decisions recently in terms of scheduling games. They  opened with Michigan State/Arizona and Indiana/Kansas last year. Those are four names everyone knows. Those are two games that people will pay attention to – shit, the Indiana/Kansas game was one of the five best games of the entire season last year. But, no one cared because college football kicked off less than 11 hours later. By moving it to Tuesday, you get to have a day of talking about basketball and if you’re a college hoops fan that’s a win.

As it’s laid out in this new rule change, the three days will also allow colleges to get creative with scheduling, especially those in the major conferences. There will not be flexibility to create an off day when there’s a home football game. You don’t have to squeeze in two games and put fans at a decision making process. While it’s also laid out this way, there needs to be a vote of approval from the ACC, B1G, Big 12, Pac-12 and SEC that in order to offset the earlier start date there will be a three day period during the school’s winter break that will prohibit any athletic related activities for basketball players.

The vote could go as early as January and it’s something that should pass and we see starting in 2018-19. Again, it just makes too much sense. Tuesday night. That’s where college basketball belongs to start. Please make the smart decision for me one time, NCAA.