Updated: Basketball, men’s hockey schedules are drafts that need approval
UPDATED: Wednesday, Oct. 14 at 7:23 p.m.
New information that has been released by the SUNYAC is now reflected in the story.
The State University of New York Athletic Conference announced Tuesday, Oct. 6, that men’s hockey, as well as men’s and women’s basketball, will start the 2020-2021 schedules in abbreviated form in February.
However, the original schedules that were released were taken down during the week. It was announced on Wednesday, Oct. 14, that the schedules were drafts that still needed to be voted on by conference leadership.
The decision made to return to intercollegiate athletics in the spring semester will “be expected to conform with the approved reopening plan established at each university,” the press release states.
A final decision will be impacted by state and SUNY guidelines that were put out in the Reopening New York documents, plus any additional NCAA protocols on testing and social distancing.
“At a future date, the leadership of the SUNYAC will discuss making the final decision on the basketball and men’s ice hockey schedules with health and safety of the student-athletes being the priority,” said Tom DiCamillo, commissioner of the SUNYAC.
Oswego State women’s hockey, which falls under the Northeast Women’s Hockey League (NEWHL), has not yet been determined but should be announced soon, according to J.J. O’Connell, athletics communications assistant at Oswego State. Interim Director of Athletics Eric Summers said the conference schedule is still being finalized for the NEWHL.
“We are happy to have conference schedules for our winter sports that will hopefully allow our talented student-athletes the opportunity to get back to competition,” Summers said.
In-person attendance of fans and media members is still unknown, according to O’Connell, who added it is “way above [his] pay grade,” and has not heard what the league is thinking on the situation.
In the original drafts and announcement, it said all athletic contests for the three teams will be conference-only in February. Non-conference contests before February will be determined at a later date, according to the press release sent out by the SUNYAC.
If the schedules are approved, the SUNYAC will split both sports into a western and eastern division to promote health and safety with limited travel to different schools, as well as cutting travel costs and hotel accommodations.
The smaller schedule also preserves the eligibility of the student-athletes within the NCAA since teams are playing less than “50% of the allowable contests,” according to the original press release.
“The schedules are designed to provide a meaningful student-athlete experience while at the same time prioritizing the health and safety of the student-athletes and staff,” DiCamillo said. “We know full well that the pandemic environment is ever-changing; however, it is important to establish our intent to begin conference play in February which will allow our member-institutions to appropriately prepare for intercollegiate athletic competition.”
Oswego State will be in the western division for men’s and women’s basketball, while men’s hockey will be in the eastern division.
Both basketball teams will face SUNY Brockport, SUNY Geneseo, SUNY Fredonia and Buffalo State in the western division. The eastern division will include: SUNY Oneonta, SUNY Cortland, SUNY New Paltz, SUNY Potsdam and Plattsburgh State. Each team will face each other twice in the abbreviated regular season.
Oswego State men’s and women’s basketball will be following the same travel schedule, which starts on Wednesday, Feb. 3. The first game of the season will be at SUNY Brockport for the Lakers.
All games will be played on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays. The conference semifinals will be on Feb. 25 with the SUNYAC championship on Feb. 28.
Since there is an odd number of teams (9) for men’s hockey, the western division will have five teams (SUNY Brockport, SUNY Geneseo, SUNY Fredonia, Buffalo State and SUNY Cortland). That division will face each other twice.
The eastern division, which has Oswego State, Plattsburgh State, SUNY Potsdam and Morrisville State, will have a nine-game schedule. Oswego State will face the Bears and Mustangs three times, but only face the Cardinals twice.
Every game will be played on a Tuesday or Friday. The Lakers will begin their schedule on Friday, Feb. 5, with a home contest against SUNY Potsdam. The conference semifinals will be on March 4, with the SUNYAC championship on March 7.
Men’s hockey head coach Ed Gosek said the team will, depending on the SUNYAC’s ruling of non-conference games, try to schedule as many games prior to February for non-league games. The team will try to also play the western division teams prior to the SUNYAC schedule starting, as well as non-conference rivals such as Nazareth College and Utica College.
“We’re going to cram in as many games as we can,” Gosek said.
Playoffs, for both sports, as expected, will consist of four teams: the top two from the western division and the top two from the eastern division. The championship will be the winner of the semifinal from both divisions and will be a “cross-over” championship.
“We’re happy that at least there’s a plan in place where we’re going to get a season and have a championship and be able to try to qualify for the NCAA tournament,” Gosek said. “Our goals and long-term plan hasn’t changed. How we go about it has changed, with working out practices and less games. But we’re making the most of the situation. We’re grateful to be playing at all.”
Cover photo:
Compiled by Patrick Higgins | The Oswegonian
Men’s hockey & men’s basketball photos: Nicole Hube | The Oswegonian
Women’s basketball photo: The Oswegonian file photo from 2019
