The current COVID-19 surge has caused schedule changes across the college basketball landscape, leaving a high-profile duel Saturday between No. 4 UCLA and North Carolina at Las Vegas as one of the bigger games taken off the board.
Other games that were called off for Saturday: Central Florida vs. Florida State, Penn State at VCU, Lehigh at Syracuse, Loyola-Maryland at Duke, and Tulsa vs. Colorado State. Hampton’s game against North Carolina Central in the HBCU Legacy Classic on Saturday also was called off.
New Orleans postponed Friday’s home game against Dillard, while its game Tuesday at Tulane was canceled. Penn State’s game against Quinnipiac on Wednesday was called off, as was Syracuse’s game Tuesday against Cornell. Binghamton and Niagara also canceled their game set for Tuesday.
Some top programs were quick to find replacement opponents. North Carolina still will make its trip to Las Vegas but will play Kentucky instead in the CBS Sports Classic. Kentucky’s game against Ohio State in the same event was called off Thursday. North Carolina Central now will face Delaware State in the Legacy Classic.
Duke’s game against Loyola-Maryland was a replacement game for a previously scheduled contest against Cleveland State. The Blue Devils found yet another replacement and now are scheduled to face Elon at home Saturday.
While Central Florida is no longer facing Florida State in the Orange Bowl Classic, the Knights still are scheduled to travel to Sunrise, Fla., in hopes of finding an alternate opponent on Saturday.
In addition to the schedule changes, a number of programs are on a COVID-19 pause. Programs reported to be waiting until COVID-19 issues subside include Akron, Cornell, Cleveland State, Colorado State, DePaul, Hampton, Loyola-Maryland, Ohio State, Penn State, Seton Hall, Syracuse, Texas Southern, Tulane and UCLA.
–Field Level Media