Calipari Speaks Against 20-Game Conference Slates, Says They Are For "The Networks"

Kentucky men's basketball coach John Calipari said that conferences "moving to a 20-game league slate is for 'the networks' and will hurt flexibility and versatility in nonconference scheduling," according to Fletcher Page of the Louisville COURIER-JOURNAL. Calipari: "They need more inventory for their own network so you just play more league games and then you have more inventory for your network to put on. Hopefully in our case in this league [the SEC] we stay where we are and if we don't, we'll make it work." The ACC will go from an 18-game league schedule to 20 games in the '19-20 season. That switch was "part of an agreement between the ACC and ESPN when the ACC Network was announced to launch." Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany on Monday said that his conference was "also considering an increase to 20 league games a season." Calipari said, "What you do is, you take away some of those kind of games that have been good to us. North Carolina, for example: If they go to 20 games we won't have any more series with North Carolina, so I'm not for it." Calipari "prefers that the two games that could be added to league play remain in the nonconference portion, so each coach and program can address needs and preferences" (Louisville COURIER-JOURNAL, 6/14).

AT WHAT COST? YAHOO SPORTS' Jeff Eisenberg wrote for both the Big Ten and ACC, a move to a 20-game league schedule would "clearly be TV-driven." Men's basketball games are among both leagues' "most-watched content," and two extra league matchups in December would "please their TV partners and draw extra eyeballs to the Big Ten and ACC networks." The other advantage to two extra conference games would be "more balanced league schedules." But while additional TV revenue and more balanced league schedules "might be enough reason" for the Big Ten and ACC to add extra conference games, the "damage it would cause to non-conference scheduling is a significant drawback." It is "home-and-home series against major-conference non-league opponents that would be in the most jeopardy" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 6/13).