College basketball: Talk of shorter season circulating

RALEIGH, N.C. — The Men's Basketball Enhancement Group wants the NCAA to shorten the rigors of the basketball season by eliminating a regular-season game.

But Mike Krzyzewski and Roy Williams, rival coaches at Duke and North Carolina, may have a better idea: Just push back the start date.

"I would not be against — and in fact, would favor — starting practice Nov. 1, and not playing the first game until the Friday after Thanksgiving," said Williams, whose team opens the college basketball season the earliest it ever has — on Monday.

Said Krzyzewski: "We started (practice) Oct. 16. (If) we started Nov. 1 but have a little more of a buildup — you might work out three times a week, and they get weekends (off) and stuff like that — they're not as tired, they can keep up with their studies. But I would not eliminate any games."

Now, teams can play 29 regular-season games, or 27 if they play in an exempt tournament in which up to four games are "counted" as two. Including league and NCAA tournaments, that means a team playing in the national title game could compete in up to 41 games (UNC, the reigning national champion, played 38 last season and 39 in 2007-08, when the Tar Heels were the national runners-up).

The NCAA's Legislative Council in January will consider a proposal that trims that by one. It's meant to "reduce missed class time during the playing season and promote better academic performance for men's basketball student-athletes," according to the rationale submitted by the Academic Enhancement Group.

The proposal also includes a staggered practice schedule that would allow teams to work out with their coaches eight hours during the first week of October and 12 hours the second week before the usual 20-hour practice weeks commence on Oct. 15. That mandate could particularly help freshman acclimate to the court and the classroom, and the three Triangle coaches seem to like the idea of a buildup.

But in some respects, that lengthens the season by two more weeks.

And when it comes to cutting a game, N.C. State coach Sidney Lowe asked, "Will it really make that big of a difference?"

One fewer game might mean one fewer road trip — which translates to fewer missed classes. But as Duke guard Jon Scheyer said, student athletes learn how to balance both, and "guys want to play in games — especially players who want to get to the next level, where the regular season is 82 games. Speaking for myself, I'd add more games to the season, if I could."