Big Ten basketball and COVID-19: Tracking all of this season’s postponed and canceled games
The Big Ten hoped to have a smooth 2020-21 basketball season in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The conference almost immediately learned it was not immune to the effects of the virus as it had a few cancellations in nonconference play to start the season. But the Big Ten made it into conference play Dec. 13 without many major hiccups. Yet COVID-19 still has affected Big Ten competition, forcing teams to postpone and cancel games over the last few months.
We’re keeping track of all of the postponements here.
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Week 8: Jan. 18-24
Nebraska remains on pause for another week: Nebraska announced Jan. 17 that it will continue to pause team activities for at least seven more days because of additional positive COVID-19 tests among Tier 1 personnel, meaning games against Minnesota on Jan. 20 and at Iowa on Jan. 24 are postponed. Twelve members of the program — including seven players and head coach Fred Hoiberg — are in isolation or quarantine due to positive tests, putting the Cornhuskers in the Big Ten’s red/red threshold for team and population positivity rates. As of Jan. 16 testing results, at least 30% of Nebraska’s Tier 1 personnel (players, coaches and staff members in regular close contact) had been confirmed positive in the last seven days.
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Week 7: Jan. 11-17
Nebraska’s rough January continues with Illinois cancellation: Nebraska started the season 0-5 in conference play and with one postponement against Purdue. On Jan. 11, the Cornhuskers paused team activities because of positive COVID-19 test results within their Tier 1 personnel. As a result, their game against No. 12 Illinois was canceled — as well as the Maryland game.
Michigan State postpones games against Iowa and Indiana: Michigan State postponed games against Iowa and Indiana as it worked to contain a COVID-19 outbreak. The games, which originally were scheduled for Jan. 14 and 17, will be played at a later date after center Mady Sissoko and guard Steven Izzo, who are roommates, tested positive. Spartans coach Tom Izzo also tested positive in November. Steven Izzo is his son.
Maryland finds a replacement after Nebraska postponement: On Tuesday, Maryland and Nebraska postponed their Saturday matchup after positive tests in the Cornhuskers program. Nebraska already had planned to reschedule its Wednesday game against No. 12 Illinois after pausing team activities on Monday. The Terrapins — coming off a win against the Illini — scheduled a game against D-II Wingate for Friday.
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Week 6: Jan. 6-10
Penn State postpones four games to contain outbreak: Penn State postponed its Dec. 3 game against Wisconsin “out of an abundance of caution” and later confirmed that it was working to contain a COVID-19 outbreak. The team announced its positive tests in a Dec. 5 statement and three postponements followed as the Nittany Lions worked to control the outbreak and decided to go two weeks without playing. In addition to Wisconsin, games against Ohio State, Michigan and Rutgers were expected to be made up at a later date.
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Week 5: Dec. 28-Jan. 5
Nebraska misses its first conference game: Nebraska was supposed to travel to face Purdue on Jan. 5 but the game was postponed. The teams pushed the game to a future date for the safety of coaches and players, but it was unclear which team was experiencing issues with COVID-19.
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Week 4: Dec. 21-27
No games were canceled.
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Week 3: Dec. 14-20
Northwestern swaps teams out for its Dec. 15 matchup: Northwestern was scheduled to face D-II Illinois-Springfield. The game wasn’t played but Northwestern had no issues finding a replacement. The Wildcats instead played their final nonconference game against Quincy and won by 52 points.
Wisconsin finds replacement after Northern Iowa postponement: Northern Iowa announced it would not play its two nonconference games as a precaution, forcing Wisconsin to find an opponent to replace the Dec. 16 meeting. The Badgers instead played Loyola on Dec. 15 and defeated the Ramblers 77-63 in Madison.
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Week 2: Dec. 7-13
N.C. State postpones game against Michigan: N.C. State and Michigan announced on Dec. 7 they would not play their Big Ten-ACC Challenge game scheduled for Dec. 9 because of COVID-19 concerns. As of that date, the Wolverines had remained free of COVID-19 cases but followed Big Ten protocol and pushed back the game. The Wolfpack, however, were forced to cancel an earlier scheduled game against Connecticut because of positive tests, pushing back their Dec. 5 meeting in the Mohegan Sun’s “Bubbleville.”
Michigan State postpones game against Virginia: Michigan State and Virginia canceled one of the biggest games of the season when faced with COVID-19 protocols on Dec. 9. At the time, Michigan State was ranked fourth in the nation and Virginia was No. 18. This meeting was the third ACC/Big Ten game to be postponed. Virginia then paused all team activities and pushed back a game against William & Mary.
Northwestern cancels a nonconference game against SIU-Edwardsville: The Wildcats managed to play three games before they had to temporarily stop. Northwestern’s game against SIUE-Edwardsville on Dec. 13 was canceled because of a positive test in the Cougars program. Northwestern went on to play one more nonconference game two days later.
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Week 1: Nov. 30-Dec. 6
Penn State cancels game against Drexel: Big Ten postponements and cancellations started in concert with the beginning of season. Penn State announced Nov. 24 that it planned to postpone the first game of the season — a home contest against Drexel — because of COVID-19 protocols. It was unclear whether concerns came from the Nittany Lions or Dragons, but the Nov. 25 game was later canceled.
Maryland cancels games against Towson and James Madison: Maryland’s 2020-2021 basketball season got off to a rocky start before conference play. The Terrapins’ games against Monmouth, Towson, George Mason and James Madison were canceled because of positive COVID-19 tests on the opposing teams. Maryland managed to schedule a game against Saint Peter’s on Dec. 4 in place of the George Mason game.
Nebraska cancels one nonconference game: Like other Big Ten schools, Nebraska also had a nonconference game canceled in 2020. The Cornhuskers’ Dec. 6 game against Florida A&M was canceled after a positive test by a member of Florida A&M’s support staff. Nebraska went 4-1 in its other five nonconference games.
