UCLA officials are not optimistic about their chances of
gathering enough support to win a vote next June that would shorten
the Pac-10 men’s basketball schedule by two games in time for
the 2005-06 season.
For such a change to be made, representatives from eight of the
10 schools in the conference will have to cast their vote in favor
of decreasing the conference season from 18 to 16 games at the
Pac-10’s annual president’s meeting in June. Only six
of the league’s 10 athletic directors, including UCLA’s
Dan Guerrero, were in favor of the change when all of them convened
last fall.
It is likely that the presidents and chancellors will vote based
on the recommendation of their athletic directors when they convene
in June.
“At this point, it doesn’t look like the votes are
there,” Guerrero said. “Certainly some of the teams in
the conference like seeing UCLA, Arizona and Stanford on their home
schedule every year. They would not like to forfeit a home game if
they believe it is difficult to replace it with another
national-caliber team.”
The most ardent supporters of the proposed 16-game schedule have
been the league’s coaches, who voted unanimously in favor of
it at a meeting last May, and will likely vote in favor of it again
before the Pac-10 media day next month.
By replacing two Pac-10 games with match-ups against
non-conference opponents, UCLA coach Ben Howland believes the
conference’s RPI will escalate. The switch also could help
the conference get more teams into the NCAA Tournament each year or
improve the seeding of those that would have been selected
already.
“We’re the only major conference in the country that
plays 18 league games,” Howland said. “There is a
diminishing return if you keep beating up on each other. I’ve
been a proponent of going to 16 league games so that we can have a
couple more non-conference games. What’s good for the
conference is to get more teams into the tournament.”
UCLA, however, has less to lose financially than some of the
other conference teams. The Bruins historically haven’t had
any trouble finding big-name teams that are willing to come to
Pauley Pavilion for a glamorous made-for-TV match up. But for
Washington State or Oregon State, scheduling quality teams at home
is much more difficult.
Aside from the potential loss in revenue by not playing a
conference power at home, opponents to the abridged schedule also
point out that it could tamper with the competitive balance of the
league. For example, if one team had not played Pac-10 champion
Stanford and runner-up Washington a year ago, the team clearly
would have had a decided advantage.
Though both Howland and Guerrero have pointed out that none of
the nation’s other major conferences play an 18-game
schedule, they feel that some of the other Pac-10 schools may not
be ready for the change.
“The presidents and the chancellors will discuss this in
June,” Guerrero said. “Whether they take action on it
is another question.”