Big 12 Athletic Directors Meeting to Discuss Remaining Basketball Schedule

Posted on February 23, 2021

NCAA Basketball: Big 12 Championship-TCU vs Oklahoma

The Big 12 basketball season is heading down the home stretch, but with so many games to be made up, there is concern over how to best do it with so many different interests and opinions at play.

This report comes from Matt Norlander of CBS Sports, who first noted that Thursday’s Baylor-West Virginia game is likely to be postponed.

Breaking: West Virginia at Baylor, which scheduled for Thursday, is highly likely to be postponed (or maybe canceled) sources told CBS Sports. This is not due to any positive COVID tests within either program. An announcement from the league will be coming this afternoon. (1/2)
— Matt Norlander (@MattNorlander) February 23, 2021

Norlander also went on to report that Big 12 athletic directors would be meeting to discuss the remaining schedule in the conference.

Norlander notes that the Big 12 athletic directors are meeting on Tuesday morning to discuss the best path forward in terms of how many games should, and can, be realistically made up with so few days left. This is especially concerning with the Big 12 Tournament set to begin on Wednesday, March 10th, and some teams could play as many as three or four games in as many days.

Big 12 ADs meeting this AM to discuss how to best tweak remainder of Big 12 the schedule to meet conflicting interests. A lot of makeup games and not many days left. But there’s health concerns about having too many games feeding right into the Big 12 conference tourney. (2/2)
— Matt Norlander (@MattNorlander) February 23, 2021

The Baylor Bears haven’t played a game in over three weeks, since winning on the road at No. 6 Texas on February 2nd. The Bears have the most games to make up.

The Big 12 Conference did create a buffer week for games to be made up the week of March 1st, before the Big 12 Tournament begins the following week. However as of now, only Bedlam, between Oklahoma and Oklahoma State, has a firm date on the schedule for that week.

Regardless, with just a few days left until the buffer week starts, there is a lot to figure out, and you know that every team and program has its own interests in mind to prepare for the Big 12 Tournament and then the NCAA Tournament.

UPDATE: 11:20 a.m. CST, Tuesday, February 23rd

The Athletic’s Dana O’Neil has confirmed Norlander’s report that the WVU-Baylor game is not going to happen this week.

Confirming the confirming of @MattNorlander report: Source says Big 12 is reconfiguring it's end of season schedule, which is why the @BaylorMBB @WestVirginiaU game is not going to happen this week. Who is playing where will all be reshuffled here soon.
— Dana O'Neil😷 (@DanaONeilWriter) February 23, 2021

UPDATE: 1:30 p.m. CST, Tuesday, February 23rd

Matt Norlander has since reported, “… a lot of people mistakenly or playfully accusing Baylor of ducking a game against a really good opponent, but this is a Big 12 decision and it’s out of Baylor and West Virginia’s hands. The Big 12 is currently trying to solve a scheduling puzzle for its final stretch of reg-season by not overloading teams (avoiding, say, playing 4 games in an 8-day span). Also: not scheduling teams with 3 or 4 straight home/road games if it can be avoided in the tinkering.”

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