Probably though teams like New Mexico State and Stanford have had to play games and practice not at home because of local restrictions
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Thanks. I forgot about them.
The big question is why were they allowed to go out of country during a pandemic? That shouldnāt have happen in the first place.
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Hopefully thereās some clarity tomorrow about the teams plan to return to practice. Seems they should start this weekend
Was wondering the same thing regarding the Illinois game. This is different than what Norlander reported Martelli said about not being able to enter facilities until Monday.
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There wouldnāt be more gamesmanship would there or maybe the B1G is saying the Ill game must be played?
Iād be in favor of playing the Illinois game if they started team activities with at least 4 days lead time AND not back-loading the schedule to cram in those missed conference games.
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Iām surprised the league doesnāt just cancel the BTT and use that week to reschedule games.
Everyone keeps saying this but I donāt really understand why. If you want to argue that teams should take the week off and quarantine for the NCAA Tournament, fine that makes a lot of sense.
If you are going to play that week, then the conference tournament is the far more appealing event to run. People would much rather watch a conference tournament with an NCAA bid on the line than watch teams go back and play Nebraska.
What is the logic behind going back and playing old games?
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You can finish the regular season with everyone playing 20 games (or close to it) without having to overburden the remaining schedule and potentially cause teams to wear down.
And from a Covid standpoint having 14 teams in one location is tricky. I donāt think itās worth it.
My point is that this isnāt really the goal or and thereās no incentive for that. The lost revenue from 5-10 lost league games pales in comparison to the lost revenue from the conference tournament.
Most āmake up gamesā that week would feel more like Weds night Big Ten Tournament games. Just over and over again. Do you want to put Michigan-Northwestern on TV on Selection Sunday? Or do you want to put Michigan-Illinois on TV?
Even if you were going to replay games, wouldnāt it still make sense to do it at one place? Otherwise you are asking for a ton of travel.
Either way, it is a ton of logistical hassle to solve something that isnāt really the end goal .
Michigan ought to be highly incentivized to see everyone finish the season with 20 games. And every team that has a shot at the outright conference title ā the more-coveted banner ā wants a piece of Michigan. Enough marquee matchups are on the table, so this is just a matter of finding the right marketing language to label it something other than the usual event, and make it appealing. You could have a week of great teams playing each other and weaker teams on the undercard, and that would be more marketable than what the conference tournament normally is anyways.
What are the teams that played 20 games going to do? It just makes less and less sense the more you think about it.
The Big Ten Tournament provides the conferenceās auto-bid, provides bubble teams with a chance to get quality wins and is in a massive TV spot with national games that lead into Selection Sunday.
If games are played that week, they will be in Indianapolis at the Big Ten Tournament, even if that means Michigan-Northwestern or Nebraska-Maryland doesnāt happen.
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From what Iāve seen, just about every proponent of cancelling the BTT in favor of Michigan catching back up on their back games are Michigan fans who are prioritizing the regular season championship. A few salty Illinois fans are the exceptions that prove the rule.
While Michigan playing 20 games does get conference brass out of a sticky judgement call, itās not worth the money and eyes lost to trade a definitive regular season champion for the cash cow that is their conference tournament.
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If you follow the money it will be clear.
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I flipped in favor of the tournament (versus finishing the scheduled games) once it moved to Indy.
If doing so had an impact on who wins the regular season conference title, donāt you think the teams in contention would want those old games to be played?
Those teams are going to complain regardless. If you play some but not all, people will say they got a raw deal. If you donāt play them, some teams will complain. If you do play them, some teams will complain.
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I think itās pretty obvious that the fans who want to cancel the BTT in favor of finishing the regular season are those of us who value the regular season more, especially given the additional risk that the BTT entails. Why would anyone here, in voicing their preference, care what the revenue implications are for the Big Ten and its members?
In reality, the revenue is an obstacle, so I wouldnāt advocate for making up Michigan v Northwestern, but you can prioritize making up games between teams still in contention for the conference title, say your theoretical Michigan v Illinois matchup. Weāre just making up stuff on the fly anyway, and Iād imagine some kind of setup like that if marketed correctly could be a revenue draw if not quite at the level of holding a full BTT (which is just moronic in my humble opinion).
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