The American Athletic Conference’s decision to hold the 2015 men’s basketball championship in Hartford is a great thing for the city, the state, the XL Center and the University of Connecticut.
But moving the conference championship game from Saturday night to Sunday, as announced by the AAC on Wednesday, is a decision no one should be cheering. It’s a bad deal, perhaps another concession to the power of the Atlantic Coast Conference, and another sign of weakness from a conference that needs to win all its publicity and marketing decisions right now.
The conference announced that all 11 AAC schools will participate in the championship with the format calling for three first-round games Thursday, March 12, followed by four quarterfinal games on March 13, two semifinals on March 14, and the championship game Sunday afternoon, March 15. The entire tournament will be available across ESPN’s national outlets.
“The move of our championship to a Thursday-Sunday format offers our traveling fans more convenience while affording us significantly better coverage on ESPN platforms and a championship window that has historically produced better ratings,” commissioner Mike Aresco said at the conference’s annual meetings in Florida.
The TV exposure is great. But threatening the ability of the conference’s potential NCAA tournament participants to receive fair and balanced seeds from the NCAA men’s selection committee is an enormous risk. Instead, Sunday conference championship games can muddle the picture and put all of that in danger. For a new conference trying to establish itself in a world dominated by the power conferences, this is another setback that could trickle down to recruiting and other image problems.
“We have no say in the matter, either as a staff or from the committee’s perspective,” said David Worlock, NCAA director of media coordination/statistics. “But yes, it would make their jobs easier if there weren’t any games on Sunday, or if the games all had early start times.”
Sunday is no longer in vogue. The NCAA has subtly discouraged conferences from playing on Sunday, stating that it complicates the tournament selection process. And it does.
“It can have an impact obviously depending on which teams are in that championship game,” committee chair Ron Wellman said in March, when asked about the Southeastern Conference, one of a few leagues that have traditionally played on Sunday. “The committee will be prepared for that eventuality if it does occur by having a number of contingency plans, whether it be selection, seeding or bracketing.
“There have been a number of years where there have been four or five brackets active very late in the game, whether it be the SEC championship or other reasons.”
Earlier this month the Atlantic Coast Conference moved its championship game to Saturday after holding the event on Sunday since 1982. The title game will tip off at 8:30 p.m. on Saturday night on ESPN, the time slot once reserved for the old Big East at Madison Square Garden.
“I think it’s a win-win all the way around,” ACC commissioner John Swofford told USA Today. “Certainly having the prime-time slot is something that I think will enhance what we believe has consistently been for many years the best conference basketball tournament in the country.”
More than likely, that left the American with no choice when it came to coverage on ESPN. UConn and Louisville met in the inaugural AAC title game on March 15 at 6 p.m. in Memphis. That Saturday night exposure on ESPN, even with the early time slot, seemed to be a bonus for a conference in the first season of existence. But when the ACC decided to move to Saturday, the American probably was told Sunday was the only available option – or move to another network.
The ACC, which has already stolen so much away from the old Big East, is staying ahead of the game and moving in the right direction – as usual.
“We talked about it last year in the meetings, and I think the Big East guys all talked about how the Friday night semifinals and the crescendo Saturday night in primetime was so good for the Big East tournament,” Notre Dame coach Mike Brey told the Orlando Sentinel. “One of the points made was that championship game on Sunday becomes somewhat of an afterthought because everybody is already focused at 6 o’clock on the [NCAA] selection show.”
That is another excellent argument for avoiding Sunday. And it comes from a past partner in the Big East who understands the importance of Saturday night.
Several ACC coaches echoed that sentiment in a story on ESPN.com:
“I love the changes. Whatever the ratings are, they will skyrocket. It’s what our conference should do. Having the championship game Saturday night allows there to be a lead-up. When it was on Sunday there was no chance to rest. The Saturday night time slot has all the coaches excited.” – Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski
The ACC has also decided to use a 30-second shot clock during exhibition games in the upcoming season. With so many complaints about the slow pace of college games, this is a great experiment. The ACC will give feedback to the men’s basketball rules committee and it is likely change is coming. A 35-second shot clock has been used in men’s games since 1993-94.
“We want to be ahead of the game,” Pitt coach Jamie Dixon told ESPN’s Andy Katz at the NBA draft combine in Chicago.
That would have been an excellent idea for the American. Again, the ACC takes the progressive approach, acting to its advantage and casting itself in a positive light.
And, once again, the old Big East – especially the American – seems to be running behind, on the sideline, and holding the leftovers. It’s not a good position and should not be applauded.
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