Iowa State women's basketball team adjusts to new Big 12 Tournament format
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Iowa State women’s basketball coach Bill Fennelly gave his team a choice.
The Cyclones could get up early Friday morning for their allotted shoot-around time at the T-Mobile Center at 6:45 a.m., Or they could go to another gym for a later workout.
They chose the morning.
“There was never a doubt that they wanted to do it,” Fennelly said while meeting with reporters Friday afternoon at the team’s hotel. “Because we said we could go practice at one o’clock somewhere else but it’s not where you’re going to play.”
Fennelly hopes that decision pays off when Iowa State takes on No. 17 Baylor in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tournament at the T-Mobile Center on Saturday at 11 a.m. It’ll be the first time the Cyclones play in the venue since the conference moved the tournament away from Municipal Auditorium.
“It’s a beautiful arena,” Fennelly said. “I wish we were playing next week over there (at Municipal).”
It’s a sentiment that many Iowa State fans have felt ever since the Big 12 decided to change the schedule of the women’s tournament, which previously overlapped with the men’s tournament. The men played at the T-Mobile Center while the women played at Municipal Auditorium.
The scheduling allowed fans flocking from Iowa (and other places) to bounce between tournament sites to cheer on their teams. But when the Big 12 opted to upgrade facilities and move the tournament to the T-Mobile Center, that meant a schedule change.
The biggest change: Nearly no overlap in the tournaments. The women’s tournament kicked off with first-round games on Thursday and wraps up Tuesday at 8 p.m. The men’s tournament begins with first-round games starting earlier in the day on Tuesday. It concludes with the championship game being played on March 16.
“I liked the format the way it used to be,” Fennelly said. “I think it’s more fan-friendly.”
But other schools apparently disagree. Fennelly said Iowa State was the only one to push to keep the tournament schedules the way they were. The Cyclones coach fears it may force fans to choose between picking or choosing which tournament to attend instead of being able to watch both.
“Some of my greatest memories as an Iowa State coach are here, going back and forth, walking through Power & Light District, going to men’s games and then coming back,” Fennelly said. “But that’s the way it is.”
So, his team is adapting to the new schedule and playing in a bigger facility, much bigger than most of the arenas they typically play in. That's why Friday's shootaround at the site was so important.
"I'm glad we went," Fennelly said.
Tommy Birch, the Register's sports enterprise and features reporter, has been working at the newspaper since 2008. He's the 2018, 2020 and 2023 Iowa Sportswriter of the Year. Reach him at tbirch@dmreg.com or 515-284-8468.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa State women's basketball team adjusts to Big 12 Tournament change
