Tennessee basketball and proposed non-conference bubble

A suggestion for an NCAA bubble could potentially affect the Tennessee basketball Volunteers.

With the news of the Big Ten and Pac-12 postponing fall sports, Tennessee basketball matchups for 2020 have come into question. As of now, the Vols’ date with the Wisconsin Badgers is on, but that could change soon enough.

However, a suggested solution for such games was reportedly put on the table recently. According to a report from Jeff Borzello of ESPN, Rhossi Carron, who organized a non-conference event in 2019 and is planning two for this year, said he sent a proposal for a three-week bubble to about 50 college programs.

The idea would be to have 20 teams split into two divisions, quarantine players on campuses for seven days after the general student body left at the end of the fall semester, send them to the bubble in December and then quarantine in the bubble for three days on arrival. Here’s a bit of what Carron said.

"“Nothing is bulletproof, but based on what medical professionals are telling me, a bubble might be the only way to do it. Our goal is to create a safe, controlled and competitive environment that places priority on the safety of the student-athlete.”"

Obviously, there would be regular testing and temperature checks. NBA scouts could attend, and it would last about three weeks. This would be extremely hard to pull off, but it would make for a thrilling spectacle.

For people on Rocky Top, though, the real question if Tennessee basketball is one of the teams being considered. It would make sense given Rick Barnes’ connections and the hype behind this team with all but one starter back and a top five recruiting class to add to it.

UT has a pretty solid history of scheduling big non-conference opponents with Barnes at the helm, and such a bubble here would give them a great chance to face a few of them. Nothing is set in stone yet, and this is just a proposal, but it’s an intriguing one.

Although the NBA needed much more time to pull off its bubble, this one would not take nearly as much time. As a result, this is a great idea, and Tennessee basketball competing in it would be thrilling for all Vol fans.