College Basketball: The Impact of Covid-19

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The world of college basketball has been impacted by the Covid-19 virus. Some conferences have been impacted more than others. Safe to say, it does not matter if you are a Power-5 or non-Power-5, scheduling has been a difficult thing to maintain. Leagues have already had to do some shuffling of games due to postponements. Here is some idea of what some conferences have come up with.

In the Atlantic Coast Conference, six games have been rescheduled. Four will take place in January, and two for the month of February. The Boston College Eagles have three of those games to make up. In the month of January, they have one with Wake Forest that now has been set for Monday, Jan. 24th. Originally, this game was for Dec. 22nd. The other two will take place in February and the first one they will have their road game at Virginia moved up a couple of hours from an 8 PM start to a 6 PM tip-off. On the 21st they will take on Florida State at home on a game that was supposed to have been played on December 29th. North Carolina has two games to take care of. On Monday, Jan. 24th, they will be home to Virginia Tech. This game was set for Dec. 29th. Then on February 1, they will take on Louisville on the road in a game that was set for Jan. 31st. One other game to mention is Duke at Notre Dame that was set for New Year’s Day now will be played on the 31st.

In the Southeastern Conference, to date, only one game needs to be rescheduled. The Florida Gators at Ole Miss. That game was previously set for December 29th and has now been moved to January 24th. The hope is that all teams in this league will get the chance to play their full slate of conference games which is 18.

The Pac-12 returned to play on December 29th with new guidelines and policies. So far so good for this league.

In the Big-12, West Virginia at TCU scheduled for Jan. 3rd was postponed and no make-up date has been set. TCU also had a game with Kansas scheduled for Jan. 1 put on hold with no make-up date set for this game either.

In the Big-10, two games have to be taken care of. Last Saturday, Michigan State at Michigan, and this coming Tuesday night’s game between Purdue and Michigan.

In the Atlantic 10, two games need to be changed. Saint Louis at St. Bonaventure from this past Saturday with no make-up date as of yet. LaSalle at Rhode Island has been rescheduled for Jan. 19th with the time of the game to be determined.

The Missouri Valley Conference has been hit hard by the virus. Five games have already needed to be changed. Evansville will play host Illinois State on Jan. 23rd instead of the 21st. Evansville will host Indiana State. on Feb. 10th instead of the 8th. Illinois State has two more games that need to be reworked. A road game at Southern Illinois for Feb. 23rd, and a home game with Loyola for the 21st of February. Indiana State will travel to Drake on Feb. 21st.

The Mountain West Conference has been nailed by the virus as 16 games have been affected. Of those 16 games, five have been rescheduled. The rest could become canceled games which could have a major impact on the postseason tournament come March.

The Sun Belt has canceled seven college basketball games and none of these games will be made up.

The Big West Conference has announced seven games lost with UC Riverside going back to no fans in the stands. Others are declaring games as no contest.

This will give you some idea of what is happening in college basketball right now. Leagues are trying to play as many, if not, all league games. How this affects postseason conference tournaments is yet to be fully known.