On media: ESPN looking at ways to schedule more non-conference college basketball games in the post-football window
The most anticipated college basketball game of the regular season arrives this weekend. Smack in the middle of conference play, in this golden window after playoff football, top-ranked Michigan and No. 3 Duke will duel on a neutral court in Washington, D.C.
The get-in price for their collision Saturday afternoon? A mere $383.
It’s exactly the type of inter-conference matchup the sport needs when attention is greatest. And ESPN is pondering ways to create more in future seasons.
“That’s one thing we’re kind of kicking around,“ said Nick Dawson, ESPN senior vice president for college sports acquisitions and programming.
Dawson’s comments came in December, during a discussion about the future of college basketball at the Sports Business Journal’s forum on intercollegiate athletics. And to be clear: He wasn’t addressing the Michigan-Duke game specifically — of course, the network would like more top-five showdowns between power conference teams with huge followings.
Rather, Dawson’s comments were designed to provide the industry leaders in attendance with insight into ESPN’s strategic thinking about college basketball as the sport seeks attention and eyeballs within an increasingly competitive marketplace.
And as he acknowledged, the opportunity to create more high-profile non-conference matchups in January and February comes courtesy of the leagues themselves.
For years, Dawson explained, the existence of conference networks led to an increase in the number of intra-conference games (i.e., inventory). But that trend is reversing as schools seek control over a larger percentage of their schedules.
The Big 12 plays 18 conference games this season, down from 20 last year. Same with the ACC. The SEC also plays 18. And all three have media rights agreements with ESPN. (The Big Ten, which plays 20, is not affiliated with ESPN.)
That schedule matrix leaves at least one window for non-conference matchups in the second half of the season. For example, Arizona plays two Big 12 games per week for eight weeks but has one week with one game. In the ACC, which slotted a conference game before New Year’s Day, North Carolina has two weeks in which it plays one conference game.
So yes, there are openings.
“Does that create for us an opportunity now to do more things, intersectional opportunities in January and February?” Dawson said.
“Is there more space in the calendar to organize non-conference opportunities in the middle of the conference season that in a way, for me, allow a peak of interest in the sport, something different, something that might excite fans?”
In theory, the tweak should be well received by both the NCAA Tournament selection committee and the conferences themselves.
The immense roster turnover generated by the transfer portal means more teams are taking longer to gain identity and cohesiveness. Yet the games that frame the closely watched NET rankings unfold in the first two months of the season.
Matchups like Michigan-Duke strategically scheduled throughout late January and February would allow the participants, and their conferences, to rewrite the script.
The optimal window for a series of intersectional games? After the College Football Playoff, and NFC and AFC championships, through the penultimate weekend of the regular season.
Using the 2026 calendar, ESPN could have spread the non-conference inventory over five weekends, including the Saturday before the Super Bowl.
Which conferences would participate? The sport would benefit from as many high-profile affairs as possible. Why not match the SEC against the ACC in a handful of games. Or the Big 12 against the Big Ten. Or the MAC against the Atlantic 10. (Other networks could be involved.)
If conferences are willing to get creative, they could implement a flex schedule that leans into the strategy used for the BracketBuster series ESPN operated for mid-major conferences from 2003-2013.
Dawson described inter-conference matchups late in the season as “another opportunity for the (selection) committee to take a look at sort of, ‘Hey, how’s this conference compare to this conference?’
“Narratives get set in November, December. It’s hard to dig your way out of a narrative if you don’t perform well, if all you’re doing is playing yourself for the rest of the stretch.”
Another reason for conferences to consider the idea: Starting next season, teams can play as many as 32 games (up from 31 currently).
Dan Gavitt, the NCAA’s senior vice president for basketball, participated in the panel discussion with Dawson and supported moving non-conference inventory “into January and February when you get a little further away from college football and the NFL … (We’re) hoping to continue to find those opportunities to enhance regular season college basketball, that obviously then flows well into March Madness.”
The concept would not be easy to implement.
Conferences would have to rework schedules and align their calendars to create open dates on the same weekend.
Coaches who crave routine and are focused on conference play would have to be convinced of the broad benefits.
And there are media rights agreements to consider.
In other words, it would take significant advance planning and full alignment across multiple stakeholders. Even if everyone agreed tomorrow, implementation might take 12 or 18 months.
Also, the matchups wouldn’t all be like Michigan-Duke. In fact, very few would be like Michigan-Duke. The collision Saturday afternoon is an extreme example.
But that’s no reason for the conferences to refuse to consider the idea percolating in Bristol.
Matchups strategically slotted to take advantage of the post-football calendar and show the teams at their best — once all the transfers have been fully assimilated — would benefit the sport.
“Top-end, regular-season games are big drivers,” Dawson said.
“As we think about it in terms of the future, especially from a scheduling perspective, (we) continue to try to identify ways to drive more and more interest and tentpole moments during the regular season.”
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— Dave Portnoy and Ohio State is a dangerous game for Fox
— The Big 12’s social media game is clever, proactive and undaunted
— Low ratings, NFL conflicts make it clear: CFP calendar needs to change
— Thanksgiving Eve is an open broadcast window the Big 12, Pac-12 should exploit
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