For the first time in 14 seasons, the men’s basketball team here at the University of North Carolina Wilmington will play their first two Colonial Athletic Association games on their home court. This is a great opportunity for the Seahawks as they come off one of the most thrilling and successful seasons to date.
The schedule for the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) games are all arranged and selected within a computer. All 10 teams are entered into the computer and with 18 different play dates to work with, the schedule is created by the computer. The CAA works directly with Bortz Media Group, the leader in providing planning and advisory services to clients in media, sports and entertainment.
“We work hand in hand with Bortz Media Group when creating the schedule for the season,” said Deputy Commissioner for Basketball of the CAA, Ron Bertovich. “They work with a variety of different leagues consisting of the National Basketball Association, the Big East, the Atlantic Coast Conference, and the National Hockey League to name a few.”
After the data is inputted into the system, there are a few options and different versions of the schedule that are created. The schedule that is the most equal and fair will be the one to be released.
While making the schedule is handled by the computer, there are several different factors that must be taken into consideration.
“We are faced with venue restrictions that we must work around, “said Bertovich. “There are certain buildings and places that are not open during specific times so there are games that cannot be scheduled during that time. There are a lot of things that go into planning these games.”
Along with venue restrictions there are also certain rules that must be followed. One rule pertains to the amount of games that can be play consecutively. No school can have three consecutive home games or away games. Things are required to be balanced.
Since the release of this year’s schedule, Head Basketball Coach Kevin Keatts is nothing but eager about this upcoming season.
“I’m excited about the conference schedule being released,” said Keatts to UNCW Athletics. “There are no advantages and no disadvantages to it. We just know that we’ll be going up against some very good CAA competition and we’re excited about showing everybody what we can do.”
With a strong schedule and an even strong mindset, the men’s basketball team is looking forward to a strong and thrilling season. They will kick off the season in an exhibition game on Nov. 8th in Trask Coliseum.
