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No ESPN CBB Bubble Means More Scheduling Trouble As Tipoff Looms

Specific plans to move the ESPN events from various locations to Orlando were never finalizedGETTY IMAGES

ESPN tabling its plan for college basketball bubble events in Orlando has "thrown what was already a chaotic environment with regard to scheduling into further disarray just one month before the season is set to tip off on Nov. 25," according to Seth Davis of THE ATHLETIC. ESPN had "plans to set up an NBA-like bubble for its college basketball events in Orlando." But those plans have been "scuttled due to ongoing differences between the network and the participating schools regarding the health and safety protocols required for participation." The decision "impacts 10 events." The plans to move the ESPN events from a variety of locations to Orlando were "never finalized, so the network isn’t canceling anything so much as abandoning its efforts to bring it to fruition." Several teams had "indicated their desire not to participate at the outset, and as the various parties got bogged down in the details of the health protocols, ESPN faced the prospect of losing even more participants." The plans "broke down mainly because ESPN was trying to abide by guidelines handed down by the Centers for Disease Control and the NCAA, which are more restrictive than the protocols many conferences are planning to implement." Because the size of the pool of teams had "shrunk at the outset, ESPN was planning to rejigger the events so that most teams who came to Orlando to play in a tournament would be scheduled to play two games instead of the usual three" (THEATHLETIC.com, 10/26).

OMINOUS SIGN: CBSSPORTS.com's Kyle Boone wrote whether or not some of these events get rescheduled or not, the fact that multi-team events are being canceled or pushed elsewhere is "not a good sign." Schools planning to play in the events now "must scramble to fill schedules elsewhere on short notice, and there's at least some behind-the-scenes momentum to move to a conference-only schedule for this season amidst last-minute chaos" (CBSSPORTS.com, 10/26). ACC Network's Mark Packer said college basketball "will face the same issues that college football has, and that is, 'Hey, can you keep everybody under one roof and keep everybody healthy?'" Packer: "The good news, I would think, is that you're doing with smaller numbers, so in some respects it would seem on the surface that getting a basketball season underway in some respects should be easier as opposed to what you had to go through with football" (“Packer & Durham,” ACC Network, 10/27). CBSSPORTS.com's Gary Parrish wrote yesterday's news "served as a reminder that the commissioners largely in charge of trying to get this upcoming season from Point A to Point B really complicated things when they declined to significantly scale back and just commit to conference-only schedules." Parrish has "just never believed whatever is gained by trying to play non-league games this season is worth the added difficulty that comes with it." Again, the "only goal should be to start and complete a season that culminates with the 2021 NCAA Tournament" (CBSSPORTS.com, 10/26).

NEW PLAN EMERGING: In Detroit, Chris Solari reports Michigan State now could "host its own multi-team event on campus." That is something CBS Sports' Jon Rothstein said that power conference programs are "looking into so long as it is against teams which are undergoing similar testing protocols" (DETROIT FREE PRESS, 10/28).

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