Decision on start date for college basketball will come in September

As of now, the 2020-21 college basketball season opens November 10th. However, the coronavirus could lead to the start of the season being delayed.

We’ve already seen the Pac-12 postpone the start of its hoops season until early 2021. Will the rest of college hoops follow suit?

On Monday, the NCAA announced that a decision on the start of the hoops season will come by mid-September.

“As we prepare for the 2020-21 college basketball season, we have exercised patience and discipline in monitoring the effects of COVID-19 and making decisions regarding the season,” said NCAA Senior Vice President of Basketball Dan Gavitt. “We have learned a great deal over the course of the summer, and with health and safety being our priority, we have developed and studied contingency plans for alternatives to the scheduled Nov. 10 start date.

“In the coming weeks, the NCAA Division I Men’s and Women’s Basketball Oversight Committees will take the lead with me in a collaborative process of finalizing any recommendations for consideration by the NCAA Division I Council for the start of the college basketball season. By mid-September, we will provide direction about whether the season and practice start on time or a short-term delay is necessitated by the ongoing pandemic.

“We recognize that we are living and operating in an uncertain time, and it is likely that mid-September will be just the first milestone for many important decisions pertaining to the regular season and the NCAA basketball championships. While circumstances may warrant flexibility resulting in a different and perhaps imperfect season, the ultimate goal is to safely provide student-athletes and teams with a great college basketball experience.”

The Kentucky Wildcats and Kansas Jayhawks are set to face off in the Champions Classic on November 10th. But as of now, my guess is the season gets pushed back to a later date, which could mean there is no Champions Classic this year.