GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) -- When
the Southeastern Conference signed a 15-year contract with ESPN,
basketball coaches applauded the deal because it provided more coverage,
more exposure and more money.
Nearly four years later, several of the league's most tenured coaches have found a problem.
Florida's
Billy Donovan, Vanderbilt's Kevin Stallings and others are questioning
the league's unbalanced schedule involving Thursday-Saturday games.
The
league added the short turnarounds under the new contract, giving it
another night to showcase its teams. Coaches figured those games would
be divvied equally between everyone. Instead, it appears top-ranked
Kentucky is getting a favorable draw.
The Wildcats don't have a
Thursday-Saturday setup this season, but they play four Saturday games
against teams coming off Thursday night tips.
Donovan says the league needs to have a "level of balance."
