Shift in schedule fine with coaches

The Southwestern Athletic Conference introduced a new basketball scheduling format this season, and teams have now had a month to adjust to it.

In previous seasons, the men’s and women’s teams played doubleheaders on Saturdays and Mondays. Both teams played the same schedule, with the women playing first and the men following.

This season, the Saturday doubleheaders remained, but Mondays are typically reserved for the men. The women’s matchups that had been played on Mondays are now usually played on the preceding Thursdays.

UAPB men’s Coach Solomon Bozeman said he likes the new system.

“Especially on the Monday, we kind of have our own day, and then on Thursday, the ladies have their own day,” Bozeman said. “We still have the (Saturday) doubleheader where we can still bring everybody, bring our fans together to support both teams. I haven’t noticed a big difference, but I definitely like the new format. I think it’s easier for both men and women.”

So far, UAPB has experienced this new format three times. Winter weather disrupted it when Prairie A&M and Texas Southern were scheduled to come to Pine Bluff. The Prairie View games were eventually played as a doubleheader later that weekend with the TSU games rescheduled as a doubleheader for Tuesday.

UAPB has played three home doubleheaders with each team playing one standalone home game, each coming last weekend against Grambling State.

First-year UAPB women’s Coach Erica Leak is new to the SWAC and didn’t experience the previous format. She said she can’t compare it to how it was before, but she noticed the crowd during the Saturday doubleheader against Southern.

“It was a lot of people at the Saturday game,” Leak said. “It was Greek Night. Looked like people were enjoying themselves, having a good time. The crowd was really into the game, so I love that energy. On the Saturday doubleheaders, I feel like people are more susceptible to come out because they get a chance to watch the girls and the boys play, whereas on Thursday, a smaller crowd.”

Both teams’ best reported attendance came against Southern. UAPB reported a crowd of 843 for the women’s game and 2,674 for the men’s. Comparing the attendance numbers from the Lady Lions’ four SWAC home games thus far show no apparent correlation between whether the game is a standalone or part of a doubleheader, though both Saturday games have outdrawn both weeknight games.

The men had their lowest reported attendance at home during SWAC play in their lone standalone game, the Jan. 27 contest with Grambling. The 1,428 fans were well behind not only the Southern attendance, but also the Prairie View doubleheader attendance of 2,175 and Saturday’s 2,147 for the Mississippi Valley State doubleheader. Both the GSU and PVAMU games were on Mondays.

For the coaches and players, the new format doesn’t change much. Each team still plays two games across three days most weeks like before. The biggest adjustment is for people involved with both teams.

Besides fans being asked to come out to arenas three times during a home weekend rather than two, the support staff has a more rigorous travel schedule during road trips.

When UAPB opened SWAC play in Alabama, some support staff members had to travel to Montgomery, Alabama, for the women’s game at Alabama State on Thursday, then travel to Huntsville for the Saturday doubleheader against Alabama A&M, then return to Montgomery for the men’s game on Monday before returning home. The same was true two weeks later for the games at Florida A&M and Bethune-Cookman.

That extra travel isn’t free with extra hotel stays and travel costs to cover. UAPB has, thus far, declined to send its radio play-by-play crew on these extended SWAC road trips despite having done so under the prior format. This leaves fans reliant on the host school’s broadcasts, some of which aren’t free.

Alabama A&M, for example, streams its home games through their Bulldog All Access service, which charges $20 per month with no single game or 24-hour access options for fans of the visiting teams.

Florida A&M’s Rattlers+ service offers a 24-hour pass for $6.99, but if a school’s women’s team plays at FAMU on a Thursday with the men’s team playing there on Monday, fans would have to purchase two separate 24-hour passes to watch both games.

Some schools, such as Bethune-Cookman or Alcorn State, stream their games on YouTube for free. But with not every school doing so, keeping up with UAPB or any SWAC team on the road can start to get pricey if the school can’t afford to send its radio crew.

UAPB has two more road weekends which feature Thursday and Monday games, starting this Thursday with a road trip to Mississippi. Fortunately for UAPB fans, Jackson State is the only remaining road opponent which streams through a subscription service.