Bracketology 2021: Early observations heading into 2020-21 season

Who benefits from a shorted non-conference campaign?

In the past few years, we’ve seen some conferences elect to expand the number of league games to 18 or even 20. It has diminished how important the non-conference is for the power leagues, while the mid-majors have fewer opportunities to get the marquee wins for their respective resumes.

With at least four games and several key multi-team events (non-conference tournaments) being axed, many programs are scrambling to get new agreements with each other. But similar to the advantages that bigger programs get in recruiting, Bracketology, and television spotlight, they also have the edge when it comes to scheduling.

The first notable thing we’ve seen in the past few weeks is most of the smaller non-conference tournaments having already been canceled. With the exception of the Battle 4 Atlantic (in name only), most of the big-named events and the teams still there and set to be played in either Orlando, Las Vegas, or other areas. These are filled with power conferences that can get big games to add to their resumes.

As for the others, they’re essentially at the expense of whichever bubble event they can get to. That goes for the higher-tier mid-majors, who may not be able to play power conference programs. With only five games, there’s a very good chance that the Dukes, UNCs, Kansas, and Villanovas play 2-3 elite matchups, with the rest of the non-conference being “buy” games.

One thing that may happen is that some programs not play in the bubble and face each other in an arena, without any fans. That could be the best way for needed matchups to occur, which is important for creating resumes.

The top teams won’t have any issues, the mid-tier will have to get creative, and the lower-level programs will probably have to scramble for what’s left in November. We might not get complete schedules from everyone until 1-2 weeks before the start of the season.