On Thursday afternoon, the Conference USA Board of Directors approved a change in format for its men’s and women’s basketball scheduling that will move conference competition to Friday and Saturday. 

As previously released, C-USA will transition to an 18-game regular season conference schedule for the 2020-21 season that keeps student-athlete health and safety at the forefront. 

Schools will play two games per visit at four select C-USA campuses, and will host four teams for a two-game series. Teams will also have a home-and-home opportunity with a designated rival opponent.

The new model announced Thursday will have teams play back-to-back games on Friday and Saturday, instead of Thursday and Saturday as originally decided. C-USA also implemented a requirement of at least 21 hours in between tip offs to provide appropriate rest periods.

In addition to reducing the amount of travel, moving to this format will allow teams to play and efficiently complete their testing protocol each week.

Regular season conference play for both men’s and women’s basketball will begin on January 1 and the final week of the regular season may be utilized to reschedule any postponed games.

WKU also announced other date changes Thursday in league play related to TV selections to be announced at a later date.

The Hilltoppers’ home game against travel partner Marshall will be played on Thursday, Jan. 14, while the return game in Huntington will take place Sunday, Jan. 17.

Also, WKU’s road series at rival Middle Tennessee has been pushed back a day to Saturday, Jan. 23 and Sunday, Jan. 24.

Lady Toppers 

The Lady Toppers will be playing games on Fridays and Saturdays instead of the usual Thursdays and Saturdays, according to an update from C-USA.

Prior to this announcement, C-USA announced that this upcoming 2020-2021 season will be trimmed down to 18 games this season, with 21 hours in between games, due to health concerns for the athletes. 

This 18 game season will include games against the same opponent twice, as well as four home games and four away games.  The game times will be announced in the near future.

Charlotte, Middle Tennessee State University, Florida Atlantic and North Texas will all travel to Bowling Green to play the Lady Toppers this season. On the road the Lady Toppers will play Louisiana Tech, Old Dominion, Rice and Florida Atlantic.

Although the official schedule has not yet been completed, WKU is scheduled to tip off its season in Diddle Arena on Jan. 1 against Charlotte.

Men’s basketball beat reporter & columnist Kaden Gaylord can be reached at [email protected]. Follow Kaden on Twitter at @_KLG3.

Women’s basketball beat reporter Drew Toennies at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @drew_toennies.