The Division I college basketball season could begin Nov. 25, according to a report Wednesday from CBS Sports.
The plan was approved by the men's and women's basketball oversight committees and must be approved by the Division I Council, a group comprised primarily of ADs. The Council is set to meet again Sept. 16.
The news is significant because all but six Division I conferences canceled their fall football seasons.
The Pac-12 in particular announced back on Aug. 11 it was shutting down all athletic activity until Jan. 1, but the CBS report indicates that league would be on board with starting basketball season the day before Thanksgiving. "One source said if Nov. 25 was to be the date, the Pac-12 'could probably work with that,'" Norlander wrote.
A Nov. 25 start date would mean a mid-October opening of training camps.
Obviously, any conference playing basketball on Nov. 25 would have a hard time explaining why it's not playing football as well. While basketball obviously involves far fewer people than football, the game cannot be played outdoors, which scientists have said is safer than indoor activity during the pandemic.
The NCAA has been laser-focused on protecting the basketball season and the 2021 NCAA Tournament -- the organization's biggest money-making event, by a factor of about 10,000 -- after losing the 2020 event. NCAA president Mark Emmert has even mused about playing the 2021 Big Dance in a bubble, should conditions require it.
Rather than pit one sport against each other, college football should welcome the return of college basketball. The quicker one sport comes back, the quicker they all come back.