UNCASVILLE, Conn. -- All Tony Bennett wanted was a candy bar and they wouldn't let him get it.
Not without a security detail.
Welcome to a college basketball experience unlike any other. We are now nine days into this unprecedented experiment known as "Bubbleville," a bold endeavor to try and pull off nearly two weeks worth of nonconference games with the curiosity (dashed with a healthy dose of skepticism) of the college sports industry looking on from afar, across the nation. Bubbleville's appeal has extended to schools both close (UConn, Boston College, Hartford) and far (San Francisco, USC, BYU). It's been prosperous enough at this point that a handful of schools have been enticed (Villanova the poster one) to add games on a whim for the sake of scheduling insurance. Only two teams (Stephen F. Austin and Maine) have arrived and had their combined four games canceled.
Organizers are not out of the southeastern Connecticut woods yet, but the Mohegan Sun resort and casino's attempt at staging a never-done-before college sports venture to this point -- hold on, I'm going to need to grab all of the wood to knock on -- has been a genuine success.
This traces back to Virginia coach Tony Bennett wanting candy. The rules here are strict. Multiple floors have been cordoned off only to teams, officials, media and other personnel designated as "Tier 1" or "Tier 2." (Teams are Tier 1 status.) So if a coach wants to leave his floor, he needs security (and a damn good reason). USC coach Andy Enfield joked on Tuesday that normally it's the graduate assistants who are on curfew/room-check duty at the hotel. They're not needed for that at Mohegan. Security is waiting on all floors at every hour. Team itineraries read things like "TEAM MOVEMENT: 1:30 P.M." so they rove in packs at once. This is not a true bubble, but it's probably as close to one as college basketball could provide.
Greg Procino, vice president of basketball operations for the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame, is one of the event's visionaries and organizers alongside Gazelle Group CEO Rick Giles. They've spearheaded this effort for months and combined forces to make it possible. Between the two of them there are decades of involvement in putting on major college basketball events.
"There is absolutely nothing that compares to this experience," Procino said. "This experience has been a daily, round-the-clock rollercoaster that has forced all parties involved to be nimble and flexible. Add into that the layers of extra measures and plans needed from a health-and-safety protocol to carry out an event that has not existed in this type of format inside of our sport. And although we all trust our abilities to succeed, we continue to learn and adjust on a daily basis."
That means daily changes to the schedule. Schools even as late as Tuesday afternoon were still inquiring about trying to squeeze in a game; one source said Saint Louis was one of them. But the time has just about run out for any late-stage arrangements. There's a fine line between accommodating as many schools as is reasonably possible and flirting with danger. Bubbleville will come to a close on Saturday.
Here's a picture to paint for how this works. First, every team that comes here has to provide negative tests for all in the travel party within 24 hours of leaving. Then they immediately test via a nasal PCR upon arrival and quarantine until cleared.
After that, whenever teams leave their hotel floors they require a security guard to take them through the service exit to reach the service elevator, then go down to the back-of-house bay of elevators -- those huge, steel ones that could fit an overgrown cow (or a team with four 7-footers). From there, it's another 400-or-so paces of winding through halls and alleyways to get into the underground arrival bay for buses and trucks. Then a quick tuck up the cement ramp and into Mohegan Sun Arena. There's another well-learned route -- only for teams and specific staff, not for public access -- that takes them to the convention center, where testing and warm meals are provided. Those, plus one more trail that leads to the practice courts in the back of the Expo Center, are the only routes of access for teams.
I, along with most other people working inside Bubbleville, am Tier 2. We don't eat in the same area of the resort, let alone being fed by the same people or using the same eating stations, as the teams. I too had to provide a negative test before arriving and then took a PCR test immediately upon arrival, had to quarantine in my hotel room overnight and wait into the next afternoon before my test cleared. When I'm outside my hotel room, my mask is on at all times, unless I'm eating, and even then when I eat I am not within 25 feet of anyone.
There is a model in-build here, but it's not flawless and there are still five days to go. A lot of uneasiness loomed over the entire event last Tuesday when Stephen F. Austin had one member of its traveling party test positive, which forced it to leave immediately and find a flight home. Maine, in fact, tested negative upon arrival but had a backlog of tests from three days prior that finally returned from the lab with one positive. The school left in an abundance of caution.
"When Maine and Stephen F. Austin had to leave that first morning, it shocked my system," Giles said. "Candidly, it worried me about how this was going to work out. However, it reinforces how important it is to have tight protocols and we have been fortunate that our testing and security has enabled us pull this off."
Since then, every team that has entered has played. More than 2,000 tests have been completed between nasal and saliva testing -- testing happens on site every day -- and in a testament to the strength of the event, although there were a couple of instances where non-team personnel tested positive upon arrival with a nasal PCR test, everyone who cleared quarantine has remained negative as of Tuesday afternoon.
That's the key data point, and if it can remain true until the end of Bubbleville it will give college administrators real hope this can be attempted and replicated. The truth is, college hoops may have to try regardless. National health experts have for months been predicting a grim winter for the United States in regard to physical and mental health. Though multiple vaccines should soon be available to those most in need and most at risk, the reality is the majority of everyday Americans will not be able to receive a vaccine for months. For college basketball, which is trying to stage a season in the midst of a once-in-a-hundred-years pandemic, it figures to be ravaging.
California's Santa Clara County has in the past few days banned group activities, including close-contact sports. This applies to Stanford basketball just as much as it does the San Francisco 49ers. There are no exceptions. Other California counties, and even other counties in other states, could soon follow with similar edicts if coronavirus cases balloon as expected throughout December (Thanksgiving bump) and January (Christmas lag).
When that happens, college basketball's commissioners and school presidents will be forced to make decisions. Two coaches have told CBS Sports they already have contingency plans in place to relocate out of their state or area if and when local health officials ban their teams from gathering.
"This is a team effort from everyone and if there is a way to replicate this in another way later in the year, it will come down to a high level of teamwork that includes people that work closely on the sport and people that are independent, neutral parties with a medical background that can help asses protocol and risk to execute the safest event possible," Procino said. "Nobody is bulletproof from the COVID-19 pandemic. We certainly don't have all the answers and have no playbook, but we have the right team that has gotten us this far."
Which is all to say that what's happening in Uncasville is important for the survival of college basketball's season. It's the only place in college sports doing this on such a grand scale to this point. Mohegan Sun is the trial balloon. Rachel Lattner is a nurse practitioner and an independent COVID compliance officer. She spent 95 days in the WNBA bubble as that league's medical director and nurse practitioner. She's been one of the most important people in the process of planning and executing Bubbleville.
"The experience I had with the WNBA was very helpful and I applied a lot here with what we did there," Lattner said. "The NBA had a perfect bubble and they also had, let's be real, pretty much an unlimited budget. The WNBA was very much a bubble but not a perfect bubble. We were fortunate that we had access to testing every day and fortunate to have the security team and everyone on site to help support that bubble. It was a pretty secure 'bubble.' In this kind of state, when we're talking about the future of sports in any other realm, that's not possible for everyone."
Teams have to pay to play; the costs are significant, but it's the cost of holding a season. Hartford Healthcare has been the provider for coronavirus testing and lab access. Between on- and off-site guidance, nearly 10 professionals have been dedicated to the endeavor. And if you don't have those resources readily available, you don't have games. A huge benefit is the Mohegan Health Department. Mohegan Sun rests on tribal land, so it is subject to its own statutes and guidelines. Since Mohegan Sun has its own health department, which is holding to uncompromising standards (getting a casino up and running in a pandemic is a huge undertaking), that has streamlined communication for organizers.
To put it plainly: an early season college basketball bubble operation couldn't possibly expect the Connecticut Health Department (or other states' health departments) to be ready at all hours of the day to take phone calls and spend countless hours facilitating. This is a raging pandemic and state health officials are being pulled in dozens of directions at all times. A two-week basketball bubble is just one more item on the list. But for Mohegan Sun health officials, it's manageable and a top priority.
What's made this feasible to this point is the attitude and environment that surrounds the event. The messaging has been clear and consistent. Keep yourselves accountable and keep everyone around you accountable. Masks on at all times except during meals or competition, or when you're in your hotel room.
"It's not a perfect bubble," Lattner said. "There are definitely potential holes. The assurance and access of this comes with personal responsibility. That's really what we're talking about here. We can talk about different ways we're helping each other be as safe as possible but it's up to the individual teams, the contractors, ESPN, media, we all have to keep each other accountable. That's why we're reinforcing what we've been saying, 'Please, do not go out to the bars. Do not go out to the restaurants.' As much as these things are available, we need to be smart. It's not just about you, it's about making this whole thing a success. That's it. It's personal accountability."
A dedicated, mobile-friendly website built to provide information and resources has also helped. Giles said there will be just north of 1,000 people by the end of the event who will have been designated Tier 1 or Tier 2. More evidence of Bubbleville's viability: a few people who were not affiliated with teams tested positive upon arrival. Those positives were caught via PCR, meaning they never truly entered the "bubble." So as of Tuesday afternoon, no one has tested positive after being cleared via initial PCR test and quarantine, Lattner said. The casino has its temptations as well, and with the exception of one instance of two people on one team breaking the rules -- including a failed attempt at getting past security -- organizers said all others have complied.
More than two dozens teams have made their way to southeastern Connecticut and there have been 18 games days through seven days with another nine still on the schedule.
"It has been unlike anything we have ever done," Giles said. "It's not unusual to hit a few speed bumps when staging an event but we began losing teams to COVID issues an hour after we announced our schedule. And the need to be nimble and adapt on the fly has been continuous throughout this entire process."
If nothing else, a workable blueprint has been established. I spoke with almost every head coach who has checked in, and all have raved about their experiences. Jay Wright has straight up not let his team leave for fear of losing unnecessary games. Villanova opened the season with all its first four games at Mohegan Sun Arena. Mike White and Florida arrive Tuesday evening. Dan Hurley and UConn will bus in from the northern part of the state on Wednesday. Both coaches told me they're so eager to get in and to allow their teams to play some high-profile games.
Others would have relished this opportunity. It's working and they'll probably push for it to happen come January when conference play happens.
Players and coaches are looking for a little bit of normalcy, but more than that, something that feels as close to a guarantee as possible. Sort of fitting that a place that sells itself on hope and prosperity more than maybe any other industry -- a casino -- is the stage and template to tie together a season. Like any trip to the slots and tables, it's going to take gumption, discipline and, true as ever, a hell of a lot of luck.
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