When the NCAA officially stamped Nov. 25 as the starting date for college basketball last season, I wrote a piece predicting which teams — based off recent home record — would be at the biggest disadvantage with no fans in the stands.
As we saw, Big Ten basketball was played with no fans in attendance last season. Shouting, cursing, shoes scuffing, and the ball bouncing on the hardwood echoed throughout some of the nation’s most historic basketball venues due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We’re lucky there was basketball at all, but watching it without a single fan in the stands felt like we were in the twilight zone.