The Green Bay basketball program made an interesting move recently by filing a new waiver in an effort to earn more offseason playing time.
Phoenix athletic director Josh Moon recently announced that the program would file a waiver with the NCAA seeking entrance into a well-known tournament. The Basketball Tournament, commonly referred to as ‘TBT’, is a winner-takes-all tournament where teams of both collegiate and professional alumni battle for $1 million. If the program were to participate, Moon stated the potential winnings would all go towards a charity the school chooses.
Moon and coach Doug Gottlieb have filed the waiver in an effort to play out of season basketball in the United States without the NCAA acting as the sanctioning body. Currently, all collegiate teams must play abroad when playing out of season, a summer trip that only occurs once every four years for each program.
While the Green Bay basketball team potentially being allowed to participate in TBT would create changes across the NCAA over time, the real question is how could the waiver impact other programs currently?
With an Accepted Waiver, Green Bay Basketball Could Set New Summer Precedent
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According to officials from TBT, including CEO Jon Mugar and director Josh Brown, have openly stated that ‘at least 11’ collegiate programs have expressed interest in joining the tournament. However, the interest have varied and no schools have been quite as adamant about participating as the Green Bay Phoenix have been.
Currently, as mentioned, collegiate teams are not allowed to enter TBT due to the event not being sanctioned by the NCAA. However, that does not mean that programs will not try to bend the rules and find ways to elevate off-season competition without requiring extensive fees in order to do so.
While the Phoenix may ruffle some feathers with the approach being taken, the concept of entering the tournament is perhaps the next logical step for college basketball programs.
Could NCAA Teams Flock to Summer Invitationals If Green Bay Phoenix are Approved?
Post-season tournaments and early in-season tip-off tournaments have grown in popularity over the past few seasons. Traveling was once something only the biggest programs were able to do each year, but now many more programs have been invited to fill out invitational rosters after exceptional seasons. The most notable example involves the historic Maui Invitational, which is hosted by Chaminade each year after the team defeated top-ranked Virginia in 1982.
Invitationals in particular have become a mainstay in college basketball with fans regularly attending and viewing such games at a higher rate. The idea of potentially adding more opportunities for teams to play against each other would be a possible avenue to capitalize on the interest.
While the NCAA giving way to Green Bay basketball joining TBT seems unlikely, the potential impact the move would have seems clear. Approval would likely result in numerous other programs coming forward to join TBT and other similar events for additional high-level game experience.
The other side of the coin involves the potential disaster that approval could usher in, much like how the extended college football field has impacted the sport. Some programs much bigger than Green Bay could feel compelled to schedule around where other major programs opt to play in hopes of matchmaking the biggest off-season games possible.
Perhaps one of the biggest keys to the waiver which has gone under the radar involves the television contracts TBT holds. Fox Sports Network is currently the owner of the media and streaming rights of TBT, and the tournament is broadcast nationally each year. The parent company is also responsible for the creation of new postseason tournament, The College Basketball Crown.
Potentially joining TBT even for just one game would result in a massive viewership influx for teams like Green Bay who do not have the same exposure as programs with major streaming contracts. Carrying over viewers is not guaranteed, but programs would have a chance to play in front of many fans who likely would not watch the program otherwise.
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