With expanded Big 12 basketball schedule, teams will have to get creative in non-conference
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Baylor women's basketball has been one of the premier programs in the country in many areas. One such area is the team's usually-loaded non-conference schedule.
In her third year leading the Bears, head coach Nicki Collen hasn't shied away from that aspect. This year's pre-Big 12 schedule includes home dates with Utah and Oregon and a matchup with Miami in San Antonio. Utah is ranked fifth in the preseason Associated Press Top 25 poll. Oregon and Miami each received votes, and the Hurricanes are coming off an appearance in the Elite Eight.
Much to Collen's chagrin, high-caliber games such as these may be harder for Baylor, and the rest of the Big 12, to schedule in the future.
Commissioner Brett Yormark kicked off Big 12 media days Tuesday in the T-Mobile Center stating the conference is currently favoring a 20-game league schedule for the men and an 18-game slate for the women starting next season. This is due to the Big 12 expanding to a 16-team league with Texas and Oklahoma departing and the additions of Utah, Colorado, Arizona and Arizona State.
Yormark said those numbers were reached in conjunction with the league's heads of basketball, as well as conversation with the coaches. The women will have three opponents home and away, in addition to playing the other 12 teams once.
Opinions varied on how many conference games to include, though Collen did not favor the 18-game schedule that's been presented.
"I thought we should play 16," Collen said, "but I understand the complications with that and scheduling non-conference games. But I think the challenge to me of 18 is always competitive balance."
Collen's proposal was to have a 16-game slate where each team plays one other school both at home and on the road and the other 14 teams once. Those other 14 games would flip the next year between home and away.
"I thought that gave it the best chance over a two-year period of creating some kind of true competitive balance," Collen said.
She added, "But I certainly understand the analytics behind 18. I understand the idea of wanting to get more teams in the (NCAA) Tournament and if the numbers dictate that 18's that sweet spot for women, for our league to give the best holistic approach to getting the most teams in our league in the tournament, to create better seeds, to have more TV matchups, things like that, then I certainly will always support the league."
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For Collen, it's not just how the 18-game Big 12 schedule is structured that gives her pause. It's also how it'll affect those marquee games in the non-conference, something women's programs are lightyears ahead of the men in providing fans in November and December.
"We're all trying to find creative ways to schedule in this space," Collen said. "A buy game these days is really costly as well, so I think when you talk about cost containment or in what we do and why we do it, we want to prepare ourselves for conference play with our non-con, but I think we still have the ability."
Collen noted the Bears received a higher seed in the NCAA Tournament last year because they played four ranked opponents in non-conference play. It'll take some clever maneuvering to fit those games into an expanded league slate.
"... We're not going to shy away from playing good opponents," she said.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Big 12 basketball teams will have to get creative with non-conference
