Uncertain start for college basketball
COVID issues scramble Bay Area schedules
Back in mid-September, the NCAA chose to postpone the start of the college basketball season from Nov. 10 to Nov. 25. One major reason for the delay was the fact that most campuses would be nearly empty heading into Thanksgiving weekend, providing hope that teams could begin play in relatively safe environments during the coronavirus pandemic.
Well, Nov. 25 is Wednesday, and getting the season under way has been anything but smooth. Postponements and cancellations are prevalent.
One Bay Area example: The Stanford men were set to face Utah Valley at Maples Pavilion on Wednesday, but that game was canceled Tuesday because of a positive virus test in the Utah Valley program.
Stanford joined Oregon, Arizona and Washington among Pac12 men’s teams to have their Wednesday openers either postponed or canceled. Arizona State originally was to face No. 2 Baylor in a multiteam event ( MTE) in Uncasville, Conn., but after Bears head coach Scott Drew tested positive, Rhode Island replaced Baylor as the Sun Devils’ opponent.
On Friday, the Cal men announced that they would take part in an MTE at Oregon State, with the Bears’ opener set for Wednesday against Colorado State. But later Friday, the Rams announced they had two positive tests in their program. Oregon State and Cal could not find a replacement for Colorado State, so the Bears and Beavers will face each other Wednesday in a nonconference game.
“In a year when disruption is likely the norm, we had to adjust with our own COVID19 shutdown,” Cal head coach Mark Fox said in a statement, referring to the positive test in the Bears’ program late last month.
“It was not possible to replace Colorado State on such short notice and playing Oregon State proved to be the best solution because it’s most important that we play when we can safely do so.”
The one other team in the MTE at Corvallis is Northwest, an NAIA school in Kirkland, Wash. It will play Cal on Thursday and Oregon State on Friday.
In the past week, the USF men have had scheduled openers against four teams in two MTEs. On Thursday, the Dons said they’d be facing LSU on Wednesday in an event hosted by Nebraska. On Friday, USF became one of four teams to withdraw from the Nebraska event.
Later Friday, the Dons announced they’d replaced St. Bonaventure in the Mohegan Sun “Bubbleville” event in Uncasville ( a different event than the one in which Arizona State is competing). USF then was set to begin its season against Towson. Late Monday night, the Dons announced they’d face Stephen F. Austin instead of Towson on Wednesday. On Tuesday, the Dons’ opponent was switched again; they’re now scheduled to open against UMass-Lowell.
The St. Mary’s men are playing in the Crossover Classic tournament in Sioux Falls, S. D. That eightteam event has endured its share of shuffling teams, but fortunately for the Gaels, the only switch they’ve had is their tipoff time against Memphis moved from 1: 30 p. m. PST to 11 a. m.
The Santa Clara men are hosting a fourteam event. The Broncos open against Idaho State on Wednesday afternoon.
However, the Santa Clara women are in the midst of a twoweek quarantine because of a positive test in their program. Santa Clara is the Bay Area’s only women’s team that will not begin play Wednesday.
Two games are in the Bay Area: Secondranked Stanford hosts Cal Poly, and San Jose State meets Cal at Haas Pavilion. Of course, no fans are allowed in any of the venues of the Bay Area’s six Division I schools.