A big media party

Last year, the NCAA put severe restrictions on media guides limiting the number of pages schools could use. I would like to formally thank the NCAA for doing that. I’m just back from Big West basketball media day, and my shoulders ache from toting the men’s guides in my briefcase. The women’s guides, dutifully fetched for my colleague Chris Saur, tore through the first plastic laundry bag I tried to put them in, forcing me to double bag. Over the next five days, the daily paper will have a series of Big West basketball stories, just to try and get you ready for the season. Some observations follow, after the jump.

--UC Davis seemed to draw more interest from the media contingent than in years past. The Aggie coaches and players have gained impartial observer status. They see everyone in the league up close, but have no real stake in the outcome of the conference.

--There was no formal media meeting with league commissioner Dennis Farrell. The topic of expansion, always near the surface in today’s college sports landscape, was not discussed at length in the coaches meetings. Just about everyone knows that Cal State Bakersfield is hoping for entry into the league, although league officials have been non-committal on the Roadrunners in every conversation I’ve had them, which, admittedly, is not many.

--The coaches are concerned about the Big West’s television package, which is less than staggering. In fact, it’s almost entirely contained within Southern California, Comcast Sports Net occasionally will pick up a local broadcast on a Friday, but tape delay is far from optimal. In college basketball, the biggest player is ESPN. There are two ESPN telecasts this year, a Big Monday game between Pacific and Long Beach and the conference championship game. UC Davis, potentially, will be on ESPN twice (although one of them is ESPNU) during the first four days of the season. UCD will help the league, if only to build a presence in Northern California. At least it will increase the number of conference games that matter to multiple media markets, rather than just greater L.A.

--The sense among seemingly everyone is that the overall quality of the league has improved on both the men’s and women’s sides. That should make for an interesting seasons worth of games here, even if the Ags are ineligible for the postseason.