Huge 12: Go back to 18 games exceeds injuries

Might 28, 2025, 07:52 PM ET

ORLANDO, Fla.– Another college basketball season in the books indicates another offseason to reset, hire and reassess the growing requirements of the game.Following a yearlong try out a 20-game conference schedule, the Big 12 announced its intent to go back to 18 games for the upcoming season.Vice President of Big 12 Guys’s Basketball Brian Thornton said Wednesday there were numerous factors for the modification.”The schedule got very compressed and when you’re preparing in a league as

difficult as ours, naturally our coaches desired a little bit of a chance during the course of conference play to take a deep breath, and going to 18 games allows that,”Thornton informed The Associated Press at the Big 12 spring meetings.” It permits us to have an integrated bye, and it’s something that we feel is important for the time being. “The shift to 18 games accommodates the requests of college coaches after grievances throughout the season. However the factor behind the shift exceeds rest time and injury prevention.”We wish to optimize bids, we want to maximize seeds,”Thornton stated.”The nonconference schedule is a huge component of that. We’re moving from 20 conference games to 18 conference games, therefore we invested significant time discussing the significance of changing those games with quality games that permits our conference to continue to flourish.”The Atlantic Coast Conference made the very same relocation in early May after earning simply 4 NCAA Competition quotes, its most affordable overall since 2013. The Big 12 had 7 bids in the competition,

the third-most behind the Big 10(8) and SEC(14 ). Houston coach Kelvin Sampson, whose Cougars reached the national championship game, took notification.” Among the fantastic things however also great challenges of coaching in the Big 12 is that you have actually got to keep up, “Sampson stated.”It’s competitive, you understand. The SEC got 14 groups in the NCAA Tournament this year, we just had seven.”Both the ACC and Huge 12 hope the increased strength of schedule and strategic nonconference games result in higher seeding, increased quotes and more national attention.” What our conference does during the nonconference

schedule is actually what sets the phase for how strong our conference is going to be overall,”Thornton stated. “The ballgame that we set up, the success that we have during that time,

will set the stage for if we’re viewed as the No. 1, No. 2, No. 3 conference in the nation as we decrease the stretch and head into March Madness.”