Big Ten Coaches Are Considering Postseason Basketball Tournament

The Big Ten Conference is again looking into the possibility of launching a post-season basketball tournament after coaches voted in favor of the playoffs if the current 18-game league schedule is trimmed.

Conference spokesman Jeff Elliott said that was at least the third year that a study of the tourney had been undertaken and that any decision on the matter would be made by the athletic directors of the schools.

The athletic directors are slated to meet in Chicago in late July.

The Big Ten is one of the few major conferences that doesn’t hold a post-season tournament to decide its automatic qualifier for the NCAA tourney. The others are the Pac-10 and Ivy League.

If the experiences of other conferences is a gauge, a post-season tournament should be a big money-maker for the Big Ten, in terms of both gate receipts and television revenue.

In April, Big Ten basketball coaches voted 8-1 to support a tournament if the conference schedule is cut to 14 games, Michigan State Coach Jud Heathcote recently told the Des Moines Register. The vote was 6-3 if the schedule is cut to 16 games, according to Heathcote.

“This is discussed among the coaches’ group about every year,” said Elliott. “It was an informal vote to look into the possibility of a tournament.

“This isn’t the first year we looked into this. We’ve looked into it a couple of times and it was voted down. This is a fact-finding mission,” Elliott said.

Heathcote said the coaches were almost unanimous against holding a tournament if the 18-game schedule is retained.

Heathcote didn’t say who cast the dissenting vote against a tournament if there was a 14-game conference schedule. He said Indiana Coach Bob Knight didn’t take part in the voting.

Iowa Athletic Director Bump Elliott said he hasn’t talked to Hawkeye Coach George Raveling about a tournament, but added, “I’d just as soon stay with the 18-game conference schedule and not have a postseason tournament.”

Illinois Coach Lou Henson said he wouldn’t be surprised if the Big Ten had a postseason tournament in 1987.

“I think it would be a good idea and we should look into it,” Henson said. “Almost every other conference is holding a postseason tournament now and they’re highly successful.”