NCAA Basketball: Can the 2020-21 season go on as planned?

The 2020-21 NCAA Basketball is soon to start but will we get to finish it?

With the start of the 2020-21 NCAA Basketball season set to tip-off on Wednesday, it is impossible to ignore to potential hardships of COVID that will await the NCAA in the upcoming weeks and months.

The NCAA will have what seems to be an impossible task ahead of them starting this week. While focusing on trying to continue a college football season that has already seen 86 games postponed for later dates or completely canceled, they will be tasked to oversee the start of the highly-anticipated college basketball season in compliance with COVID protocols.

With the likelihood of the upcoming college basketball season starting during the darkest period of COVID, it is imperative that athletic programs, players, and staff are patient and adhere to the health protocols to avoid cancellations.

In just the last 24 hours, the NCAA has seen more coaches test positive for COVID and season openers get canceled two days prior to the start of the season.

It will be imperative for the NCAA and its athletic programs to adhere to the scientific expertise from epidemiologists over the course of the next few months.

Part of ensuring a full season of competition includes eliminating distractions or displeasure with future cancellations.

Clemson Head Football Coach Dabo Swinney fell into an unnecessary distraction rabbit hole on Sunday after making controversial comments regarding Florida State’s decision to cancel their game against his Tigers yesterday morning.

Swinney, who’s had a history of making controversial statements in the past, had this to say about Florida State’s decision to cancel Saturday’s game hours before kickoff:

"“This game was not canceled because of COVID, COVID was just an excuse to cancel the game. I have no doubt their players wanted to play and would have played. And same with the coaches. To me, the Florida State administration forfeited the game.”"

Swinney questioning Florida State’s logic behind canceling Saturday’s contest only digs a deeper grave for himself and the Clemson program. We now know that he and his coaching staff enabled a symptomatic player to practice the entire week and followed that decision by allowing him to travel to Tallahassee for the contest.

This is the type of irresponsible behavior that needs to be avoided by all college basketball programs if they want to successfully proceed with a full season during these trying times.

Luckily, managing a basketball roster requires attention to fewer players and staff when compared to a football program. Programs such as Seton Hall, Creighton, Baylor, and Iona have already seen positive cases emerge within their team, forcing an automatic 14-day quarantine for everyone.

Learning from some of the mistakes that have been made during the college football season can only benefit the way college basketball plays out. If college basketball programs prioritize student-athlete safety over profits, they can focus on getting as many games played as possible.

While this season is destined to endure bumps along the way, college basketball fans should be grateful we have some regular-season games to look forward to watching in just a few days!