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Kevin Willard, Maryland HC, torches B1G’s scheduling as reason for conference’s national title drought in hoops
By Paul Harvey
Published:
Kevin Willard started his Maryland tenure with an 8-game winning streak, capped off with an upset of then-No. 16 Illinois. Unfortunately, the Terrapins would go on a 3-game losing streak before rebounding with a win over St. Peter’s.
Now at 9-3 on the season, Willard has already shown his team can play with anybody this season when things are clicking. And as one of the newest head coaches in the B1G, Willard is not afraid to speak his mind.
During a recent radio show appearance, Willard went in-depth on the B1G’s scheduling model and torched the conference for a number of late-night games. He labeled the B1G as “a football conference” while claiming the B1G doesn’t “understand how to schedule a basketball game.”
The matter is so serious, Willard believes the B1G’s national title drought since 2000 is pinned on how the conference schedules the league slate:
“I just don’t think this conference gets it from the standpoint of trying to make sure that everyone’s on an equal standing, on an equal footing. Like, I think they throw the schedule open — you know, obviously, it’s a football conference — and I think they’re worried about football. I don’t think they understand how to schedule a basketball game,” said Willard.
“I mean, the Big East and Big Ten are totally different. The Big East is an all-basketball conference… You’re never on the road (for) more than two games… You know, the Big East, that’s why Villanova has won two national championships and went to three Final Fours Just because the Big East understood how to take care of their teams.”
Willard went on to say he thinks Maryland’s schedule is a by-product of being predicted to finish 10th in the league. “It’s just kind of like well, here you go. Just, ‘They’re 10th, we’ll just give them the hardest schedule possible’,” he said.
He also said he now understands why the B1G has experienced such a long title drought:
“I started from an outsider looking in, now being in the conference, I can understand why there’s been such a long national championship drought in the B1G,” said Willard. “Because I just don’t think they know how to schedule.”
Willard took over Maryland’s head coaching job after 15 years as a head coach with stops at Iona and Seton Hall along the way. The 2022-23 season is Willard’s first experience as a coach in the B1G after stops as an assistant with the Boston Celtics and collegiately at Louisville.
We’ll see how these comments are received moving forward.
(H/T 247 Sports)
Paul is a lifelong fan and student of all things college football. He has been covering college football since 2017 and the B1G since 2018.