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Among ideas thrown around at last week’s Big Ten meetings in Chicago was the possibility of an earlier start for conference play for Big Ten men’s basketball teams.
Currently, Big Ten teams play at least one and occasionally two games during the week between Christmas and New Year’s.
Games do get lost in the holiday crush of bowl games, one reason Big Ten officials presented the idea to coaches in meetings last week of playing one or two league games at some point in early or mid December.
It’s an idea that already plays out in the Atlantic Coast Conference and in the Colonial Athletic Association, where teams begin conference play before the holidays.
There are some issues to be worked through. Many schools do not allow competition during finals weeks and with Ohio State and Northwestern operating on a quarter system, finals schedules vary greatly from one school to another.
Big Ten women’s teams did open the past season on the first weekend of December, playing one league game approximately three weeks before the rest of their league schedules started.
Iowa coach Fran McCaffery, whose Siena teams occastionally played early- and mid-December league games, told annarbor.com at the league meetings last week that he is open to the idea if logistics can be worked out.
“You’d have to move some games and things like that, so sometimes it is more complicated than you think, but I think it would create interest in the first semester because you’d be playing conference games when the students are there,” McCaffery told the website.
The idea probably should be labeled more retro than new.
In the 1952-53 season, Iowa played Michigan, Wisconsin and Indiana in Big Ten games played on Dec. 13, 15 and 22 to open a 9-9 conference season.

Iowa released the recently-extended contract of Hawkeye women’s basketball coach Lisa Bluder on Monday and it mirrors the incentive-laden contracts that have been the norm at Iowa in the athletic department headed by Gary Barta and his predecessor, Bob Bowlsby.
Bluder will be guaranteed $443,000 in income during the 2011-12 school year, the first year of the seven-year agreement.
The guaranteed income includes salary, I-Club appearances, TV and radio shows, camps, shoes and apparel dollars.
That dollar figure rises from 17-19 percent during each year of the contract, which runs through the 2017-18 season, reaching $547,000 per year in the final year of the deal.
But there are plenty of bonus dollars to be earned.
For example, Bluder will receive $50,000-70,000 in longevity bonuses during each year of the contract.
She will also earn a $50,000 bonus if Iowa wins 65 percent of its games, wins a Big Ten regular-season title or reaches the Sweet 16 or Elite Eight of the NCAA tourney.
A Big Ten tourney title or national coach of the year honors result in a $25,000 pay day, while an NCAA tourney appearance – something Iowa has achieved in each of the last four seasons – is worth $35,000. Bluder can earn $10,000 for being named the Big Ten coach of the year or $100,000 if the Hawkeyes reach the Final Four.
Bluder’s deal also includes bonuses based on ticket sales. If Iowa reaches $175,000 in ticket revenue, Bluder earns $20,000. If those ticket revenues rise to $250,000, Bluder pockets $50,000.
Success in the classroom by her team is also rewarded. A six-year graduation rate of 70 percent results in a $25,000 bonus, while APR scores of 950-974 lead to a $15,000 bonus, a figure which doubles if the APR is between 975-999 and tops out at $50,000 if the APR reaches 1,000.
The numbers are a bit eye-popping on the surface, but are in line with what her peers earn.
Iowa State coach Bill Fennelly, for example, earns $530,000 annually under terms of his current contact with ISU.
The bonuses generally remain unchanged from Bluder’s previous contract. The exception is the ticket revenue incentive, which is designed to encourage the coach to encourage fans to attend games.

When Melsahn Basabe opted to follow Fran McCaffery from Siena to Iowa, he made his choice based on a desire to test his skills against a higher level of competition.
Basabe embraced the opportunity, becoming the first Hawkeye rookie ever to collect more than 340 points, 200 rebounds and 40 blocks.
Selected to the all-Big Ten freshman team after leading Iowa in rebounding, blocks and free throws, Basabe now finds himself with another opportunity.
He was named today as one of 17 collegiate players who will compete for spots on USA Basketball’s 19U World Championship Team.
He’ll be one of four Big Ten players competing in Colorado Springs, Colo., at the US Olympic Training Center next month for spots on the 12-player roster which will compete in Latvia in late June and early July.
Basabe said he is “honored and excited” to receive the training camp invitation.
“This is a tremendous opportunity for me to meet and practice alongside some of the country’s best young players. My goal is to work hard and be one of the 12 players selected to represent the U.S. in the World Championship.”
George Mason coach Paul Hewitt is the head coach of the team. He’ll be assisted by Randy Bennett of St. Mary’s and Cliff Warren of Jacksonville.
Basabe will be joined at the trials by Illinois center Meyers Leonard, Michigan guard Tim Hardaway Jr. and Michigan State guard Keith Appling.
Other players invited from the collegiate level are James Bell of Villanova, Anthony Brown of Stanford, Allen Crabbe of Cal, Joe Jackson of Memphis, Jeremy Lamb of Connecticut, Doug McDermott of Creighton, Travis MeKie of Wake Forest, Tony Mitchell of North Texas, Richard Solomon of Cal and Patric Young of Florida.
Three incoming freshmen, Brad Beal of Florida State, Trevor Cooney of Syracuse and Josiah Turner of Arizona, will also compete for spots on the team.
McCaffery said in a statement that he is excited about the opportunity Basabe has been selected to receive.
“He had a terrific freshman season and a fabulous spring,” McCaffery said. “Melsahn will show up in great shape and hopefully he will be participating for the U.S. in Latvia.”

Iowa women’s basketball player Jaime Printy has been given the chance to take her game to a bigger stage.
Named today as one of 35 college players invited to USA Basketball’s Women’s World University Games Team Trials, Printy will compete in Colorado Springs from May 22-25 for a spot on the U.S. team.
Iowa State’s Bill Fennelly is the head coach of the team and Printy is the first Hawkeye since Megan Skouby in 2006 to be invited to the trials.
“This will be a great learning experience for Jaime,” Iowa coach Lisa Bluder said. “She will be competing for a roster spot against the top collegiate players in the country.”
Printy is one of two returning Big Ten players to earn an opportunity to tryout for the team, joining Penn State’s Maggie Lucas.
Printy is one of 12 players invited who will be college juniors next fall. Four athletes will be sophomores, 17 will be seniors and two will be fifth-year seniors.
The 5-foot-11 guard from Marion, Iowa, is competing for spots on a roster which will be trimmed to 12 following the trials. Those 12 players will get together on July 31 to begin training for the World University Games, which are scheduled for Aug. 14-21 in Shenzehn, China.

If the NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel approves next month, a clearly-defined restricted area arc will be put in place in hopes of reducing the number of collisions near the basket on charge/block plays.
The NCAA Men’s Basketball Rules Committee recommended approval today of adding a clearly-marked arc three feet from the center of the basket.
The college game has moved slowly toward the marked arc that is used in international competition, experimenting with a two-foot arc during multi-team events which extended the previous year’s change which made it illegal for a secondary defender to take a charge underneath the basket.
“The data and feedback indicated that two feet wasn’t enough, but it helped remove some plays at the basket,” said Notre Dame coach Mike Brey, the chair of the committee in a statement issued by the NCAA.
With lanes marked at 12 feet, there was consensus that a three-foot arc was a suitable distance for the college game.
Brey said the objective of the rule is to help offensive players get to the basket and limit physical play.
He said a high percentage of coaches supported a visual mark on the floor.
The committee also proved nomenclature changes on fouls that are deemed more serious than a common foul.
What was referred to as an intentional foul will now be called Flagrant 1 and what had been called a flagrant foul will now be known as Flagrant 2.
For example, a player who swings an elbow and makes non-excessive contact with an opponent above the shoulders would be assessed a Flagrant 1 foul. The team whose player was struck would receive two free throws and possession of the ball.
Brey said the change was made to reduce confusion, saying, “The reason we used intentional last year was to increase the penalty. It didn’t have anything to do with intent.”
A Flagrant 2 foul would be if the elbow-swinging player used excessive motion as he makes contact with an opponent above the shoulders. In this case, the player would be ejected and the other team would receive two free throws and the ball.
The committee also recommended taht coaches be able to request a monitor review by officials at any time during a game. If the replay indicated that a coach was wrong, the team would be charged a timeout. If a team had no more timeouts, it would be assessed a technical foul.