Not too long ago, the Big 12 Conference’s spring meetings were all about conference realignment, athletic directors and presidents ducking out of back exits and reporters stalking the halls of some hotels near the Plaza in Kansas City, Missouri, hoping to discover some sort of breaking news.
Times have changed since then, of course, and with the spring meetings back in Dallas, some pretty interesting breaking news was dropped into the laps of the laptop jockeys in attendance.
Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby on Wednesday announced that the conference had passed a measure regarding potentially serious penalties for court-storming following men’s and women’s basketball games. This, no doubt, was a reaction to the scene that unfolded last winter in Manhattan after a K-State victory over KU in which Bill Self was pinned against the scorer’s table and Jamari Traylor was trucked by a wild KSU fan.
Although there are not specific consequences laid out for court-storming incidents the way there are in the SEC — where the schools are fined increasing amounts of money depending on the number of the offense — Bowlsby said he has been given “broad authority” to implement penalties against programs who can’t keep their fans off the floor.
Now, obviously this never has been and likely won’t be an issue at Allen Fieldhouse, where court-storming just doesn’t happen these days. But it’s definitely an issue that the rest of the conference should and will take note of, especially when KU comes to town. It’s been an all-too familiar scene in recent years to see home fans storm the floor after their squad pulls off the upset over Kansas. Heck, some of those schools have even been ranked in the Top 20 and still seen their fans storm the floor after the emotional win over the conference king.
So be it. But when things boiled over to the point of physical harm and/or danger for the visiting players, something had to be done and the Big 12 has done it.
Bowlsby said the penalties could range from fines to the loss of future home games, both of which surely will get the attention of administrators, coaches and even fans throughout the league.
According to Big 12 rules, it’s the responsibility of the home team, not the league, to protect players and team personnel in the event of a court storming.
Bowlsby having the power to hand out such severe punishments should future incidents occur, should create an environment free of rushing the floor throughout the Big 12 in years to come.
