Traditionally, the college basketball schedule was split down the middle: non-conference play before New Year’s Day and conference play after the calendar flipped. The Challenge, which has been won by the Big 12 in its first two years of existence, was moved to this weekend for the first time after being played over multiple days the last two Decembers. This year all the games will be played across 10 hours on the ESPN networks.
This isn’t the first time ESPN has tried to change the schedule paradigm in college hoops. From 2003-2013 ESPN ran the BracketBusters weekend in February that matched up mid-major opponents from similar leagues. It gave smaller schools and conferences national coverage and allowed for mid-major leagues to earn big statement wins heading into the tournament.
What makes today so different is that two of sport’s power conferences, and arguably this year’s best in the Big 12, are taking part. The event is highlighted by an Oklahoma-LSU matchup that will feature two of the nation’s best players on the same floor in OU’s Buddy Hield and LSU’s Ben Simmons.
Other big matchups include Kentucky-Kansas and Iowa State-Texas A&M in games that could go a long a way in determine seeding in the bracket come March, but the biggest single game could be Vanderbilt-Texas.
The Commodores have had a helter skelter season if ever there was one. A 6-1 start and berth in the Maui Invitational title game gave way to a 3-6 stretch of basketball as the calendar turned. The Commodores have righted the ship a bit, going 4-1 in their last five games, but a win over a talented and energetic Texas team would be a positivity boost heading into the final month of conference play.
On the other side is a resurgent Texas team that has taken to Shaka Smart’s style of basketball. Wins over Iowa State, West Virginia, Washington, and North Carolina show that this team can win big games and having a streaking non-conference foe in Austin will be another fine test for the Longhorns.
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More than just the basketball, ESPN went a step further by inviting Awful Announcing as well as five other publications to a Google Hangout with broadcasters Sean Farnham and Fran Fraschilla. Frashcilla will be on the call for Vandy-Texas while Farnham will do color for Oklahoma State-Auburn.
In an experiment to allow a more open dialogue between press and broadcast, every writer was allowed to ask a few questions and banter about with everyone on the call. Farnham said that he and Fraschilla will have a contest throughout the day which will consist of each of them picking a lineup of players from each of their respective leagues, Farnham will do the SEC while Fraschilla will do the Big 12, and compare who did better at the end of the night.
A point of agreement among most of the panel was the potential trail-blazing quality that the Challenge has. Assuming it’s successful, and its placement on the off weekend before the Super Bowl was the perfect choice, it could open the door for more challenges between more conferences in the middle of winter and add some spice to the college basketball schedule.
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