SALT LAKE CITY — For over a month, it has appeared the Utah men’s and women’s basketball teams would play this winter, regardless of whether football was played, and that was made official by the announcements of the Pac-12 Conference on Thursday.
The one big question was whether the schedule would be moved up from Jan. 1, and that question was answered, as the Pac-12 has determined that it will be able to start with the rest of the country, beginning Nov. 25.
The details still haven’t been released, or perhaps not even figured out yet, but it looks like the men and women can play the NCAA-maximum of 27 games, either with 25 regular-season games and no multi-team events or fewer games with three or four additional MTE games.
Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott said Friday it hadn’t been determined whether the league would play an 18-game schedule as it has in the past or move to a 20-game schedule that it was set to move to this season.
“We can’t wait to get the season started. We will continue to work with our university and the Pac-12 to ensure the health and safety of our student-athletes as we continue to move forward together.” — Utah women’s basketball head coach Lynne Roberts
When he was asked about playing single nonconference games, MTEs and the possibility of a bunch of Western teams playing games in a bubble in Las Vegas, he answered, “Yes, all of the above is being considered.”
The Utah men’s basketball team was set to play in the Battle 4 Atlantis Tournament in the Bahamas, but that tournament is reportedly being moved to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, right at the beginning of the restart, Nov. 25-27.
The Utes had contracted games earlier in November, at home against Utah Valley and on the road at Missouri, that perhaps could be rescheduled. They also had scheduled a Dec. 12 game in Provo against BYU and home games against Fresno State and Rice later in the month. If the Pac-12 goes to a 20-game schedule, the Utes obviously wouldn’t be able to play all of those games and still fit within the 27-game maximum.
In a press conference Friday, Utah athletics director Mark Harlan said that any nonconference opponents would have to follow the same testing standards adhered to by the Pac-12 schools.
“We know within our league that anybody we play out of conference in basketball is going to have expectations of testing 24 hours before a contest, so we’re going to have to align with nonconference teams that adhere to that, whether it’s at home or on the road,” he said. “So we’ve got a lot of work to do for both men’s and women’s basketball as we finalize those decisions and see where we are with contracts. A lot of that work has been done, but now that we have some definite things to work off of, I imagine we’ll have some finalization of that hopefully by the end of next week.”
In the Pac-12 news conference, Scott said no fans would be allowed at football games or other events through the end of the year. Harlan hopes that fans will be allowed soon after the new year.
“I understand there will be a look-on close to Jan. 1 based on the evaluation the presidents and chancellors have looked at,” Harlan said. “Obviously I really hope that we can have fans join us as soon as possible, but we’ll have to see how that plays out. We lead the nation in gymnastics and they have that first meet in the early part of January, so we hope our fans can rejoin us.”
Utah’s basketball teams have been working out since August for a limited number of hours per week, but they can start full practices along with the rest of NCAA teams on Oct. 14.
Men’s coach Larry Krystkowiak wasn’t available for comment Friday, but he sounded thrilled with Thursday’s announcement in a statement that afternoon.
“It’s a big day for our basketball program, fans and league as a whole,” he said. “Our team has been working tirelessly at home during this whole pandemic and I couldn’t be more proud of the hard work they’ve put in. I know the staff and our players are thrilled and eager to hit the court full swing and get ready for the upcoming season. There is still a lot of work to be done until then, but we’re just happy as everyone else in our conference to know we’ll be playing some basketball come Nov. 25.”
Utah women’s coach Lynne Roberts is also excited to get going.
“With all of the unknowns student-athletes from around the country have faced this year, it is exciting to officially be one step closer to our team getting to compete in the sport they love,” she said. “I have been really impressed with our team and how they have managed this situation. We can’t wait to get the season started. We will continue to work with our university and the Pac-12 to ensure the health and safety of our student-athletes as we continue to move forward together.”