College basketball bubble off the table

The planned ESPN college basketball bubble tournaments in Orlando will not take place.

ESPN won’t pursue their planned bubble tipoff tournaments in Orlando because there were disagreements on health and safety protocols. The 10 events, which featured more than two dozen programs, will no longer take place. The teams are now under pressure to seek new scheduling options with just a month before the season starts.

The disagreements arose from a few key sticking points in negotiations about testing protocols. ESPN insisted on following CDC guidelines while the schools wanted to go by their conference guidelines, which in some cases were more relaxed.

The difference in the NCAA and CDC protocols and those of each conference also show how there are already cracks in the plan to begin the college hoops season, with each conference creating its own guidelines and trying to navigate playing an indoor sports season for the first time.

We have already seen numerous postponements and cancellations of college football games due to internal outbreaks on teams. Therefore, college basketball will surely face similar hurdles. What remains to be seen is how they handle tracing and testing. An indoor sport’s exposure risk is much greater than an outdoor sport, especially given the consistent proximity and contact of players on the basketball court.