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Pac-12 Basketball: Pac-12 approves a 20-game men’s conference schedule

By Mike Regalado

LAS VEGAS, NV - MARCH 08: A Pac-12 basketball logo is displayed on the court after a quarterfinal game of the Pac-12 basketball tournament between the Stanford Cardinal and the UCLA Bruins at T-Mobile Arena on March 8, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Bruins won 88-77. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NV - MARCH 08: A Pac-12 basketball logo is displayed on the court after a quarterfinal game of the Pac-12 basketball tournament between the Stanford Cardinal and the UCLA Bruins at T-Mobile Arena on March 8, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Bruins won 88-77. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) /
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Pac-12 basketball will change for the men of the conference as the league has approved a 20-game conference schedule which will start in 2020-21.

The Pac-12 Conference has not had a good reputation as of late, but that looks like it is starting to change, especially when it comes to men’s basketball. Today, the Pac-12 announced the approval of a 20-game conference schedule which will begin in the 2020-21 season.

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Currently, every Pac-12 men’s basketball team plays an 18-game conference schedule, which includes home and road games against seven conference teams (playing these teams twice in the conference season) and four home or road games against the four remaining teams (playing these teams once in the conference season).

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The new schedule would have teams playing eight conference home and road games whilst playing the two remaining teams once. From a UCLA perspective, for example, this will help the Bruins to preserve their rivalry with Arizona and play them twice in the conference season at both Pauley Pavilion and the McKale Center. For the last two years, UCLA and Arizona only played each other once in the regular season.

Even with an 18-game schedule, this was always a questionable move for the conference that should have been trying to strengthen the league’s biggest rivalry. Not only does a one-game regular season matchup bring in less revenue to the conference, but it weakens their overall product.

In addition to the 20-game schedule, the two extra games would be set in November or December  “with [a] strong preference for weekend dates when students are on campus.” Good looking out, Pac-12!

Traditionally, Pac-12 play begins around New Year’s. This past season, UCLA started the Pac-12 portion of their schedule on January 3. Earlier conference games will not only spread out the schedule but add some intrigue with earlier games intermixed with non-conference games.

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As Oregon head coach Dana Altman stated, “changing to a 20-game conference schedule will improve the strength of schedule for all 12 teams, and that’s very important for the overall success of the league.” After the bad press the Pac-12 has received in the last few seasons, the conference needs some success and this is a good start to claiming it.