[81alum]

And remember we get Arizona 2 days later on Monday.   The game plans for both games are worked on in advance and the team practices some of what they need for each team in the week leading up.  So we not only need our players back to prepare for ASU, but to also get ready for Arizona, which will be a substantial test.  And, frankly, ASU does not look nearly as bad as I thought if would before I did my deep dive.  We can learn a lot about BOTH of our upcoming games by watching the ASU/Arizona game Thursday.

And that might be the answer to the scheduling question.  ASU is already playing on Thursday, so it is not as if their Saturday game could be moved back.

---

My opinion is that the NCAA allows too many games to be scheduled, disrupting the school year more than really necessary.  The playing field needs to be level, and I would favor a NCAA-wide limit on the number of games to be less than it is now.

I've thought this about football for a long time--ever since they started constantly expanding the number of games and the number of bowls.  I had not thought about this for basketball, but would favor a lower limit if it helped protect the student-athletes.

In Tara's first year, we played 28 games--all regular season games.  Last year, we played 28 games before the Pac-12 tournament.  Then the Pac 12 tournament added 3 games and the NCAAs added 5 games.  So all the "inflation" in number of games played has been through tournaments, and of course as the success of the team grows the number of games played also grows.

You may remember that Tara opposed the Pac 12 tournament--perhaps for the reasons you suggest, but it has now become a fixture.  The easiest way to reduce games played would be to go back to the prior model and eliminate conference tournaments.

[81alum]

And remember we get Arizona 2 days later on Monday.   The game plans for both games are worked on in advance and the team practices some of what they need for each team in the week leading up.  So we not only need our players back to prepare for ASU, but to also get ready for Arizona, which will be a substantial test.  And, frankly, ASU does not look nearly as bad as I thought if would before I did my deep dive.  We can learn a lot about BOTH of our upcoming games by watching the ASU/Arizona game Thursday.

And that might be the answer to the scheduling question.  ASU is already playing on Thursday, so it is not as if their Saturday game could be moved back.

---

My opinion is that the NCAA allows too many games to be scheduled, disrupting the school year more than really necessary.  The playing field needs to be level, and I would favor a NCAA-wide limit on the number of games to be less than it is now.

I've thought this about football for a long time--ever since they started constantly expanding the number of games and the number of bowls.  I had not thought about this for basketball, but would favor a lower limit if it helped protect the student-athletes.

In Tara's first year, we played 28 games--all regular season games.  Last year, we played 28 games before the Pac-12 tournament.  Then the Pac 12 tournament added 3 games and the NCAAs added 5 games.  So all the "inflation" in number of games played has been through tournaments, and of course as the success of the team grows the number of games played also grows.

You may remember that Tara opposed the Pac 12 tournament--perhaps for the reasons you suggest, but it has now become a fixture.  The easiest way to reduce games played would be to go back to the prior model and eliminate conference tournaments.