Katz: Conferences should revise COVID-19 forfeit rules

By Andy Katz
FOX Sports College Basketball Analyst

The COVID-19 virus has changed. So, too, should college basketball cancellation policies.

Conferences adopted a plan that made sense over the summer and into the fall. If a team had to cancel a conference game due to a lack of players, it was a forfeit and would be reflected in the standings. If both teams couldn’t field a team, they would both suffer a loss.

The goal was, essentially, to ensure that teams were vaccinated. Most of them are now, except for a few players across the country.

Booster shots are still slow to be administered for a variety of reasons, one of the main issues being that players and staff aren’t all six months out from their second shots.

The Omicron variant has changed the game, and as a result, the game's policies should be adjusted.

Instead, this week alone, the Big East has handed out a number of forfeits.

DePaul is 0-2 in the conference but hasn’t played a game yet.

St. John’s is 1-0 without a game being played.

Creighton, which beat Villanova on Friday for its first Big East victory, picked up a second when its game against DePaul was deemed a forfeit. Seton Hall was tagged with a forfeit loss to St. John’s but picked up a forfeit win against DePaul because the Pirates were apparently going to be eligible to play in time for the Dec. 23 game.

"We got penalized because we didn’t have five guys to play the game, and I don’t think that’s fair," DePaul coach Tony Stubblefield said.

He’s right.

The Blue Demons, who were having a renaissance of a season prior to the pause, now have a deep Big East hole to climb out of when they return.

There are currently more than 40 teams and counting on pause. Countless games have been lost, some more significant than others — such as Colorado State’s game against Alabama in Birmingham, Memphis’ game against rival Tennessee in Nashville and Louisville’s rivalry game against Kentucky. 

These were all lost opportunities for possible inclusion in the NCAA Tournament, not to mention games that hold regional significance in the sport.

The Pac-12 did reschedule one game, between Washington and Arizona, that was canceled due to the Huskies' early December COVID issues. But another Washington game was canceled, giving UCLA a win and the Huskies a loss.

The forfeits won’t be reflected on the NCAA’s NET ranking or any other data metric. The games didn’t happen, so they won’t be recognized. 

But where forfeits can cause an issue is in conference standings. Seton Hall certainly has the goods to win the Big East, but will that one forfeit loss affect the Pirates’ chances? Possibly. The Pirates could end up not getting the No. 1 seed in the Big East tournament, which could mean a tougher slate to get the automatic bid and could ultimately lead to a higher NCAA seed.

What can be done at this critical moment? Well, the NCAA doesn’t control the regular-season schedule of games (start date, yes; schedule of games, no), only the postseason. So it’s up to the conferences and individual teams to figure this out.

Long Beach State coach Dan Monson, whose team is on pause, would love to see a united approach across the sport. The problem is this isn’t a professional league with a union to reach a common cause. State schools and private institutions can dictate their own rules based on their state and local governments and health care officials.

"Forfeits don’t make sense with this new outbreak,’’ Monson said. "We are 100 percent vaccinated, and everyone eligible has their booster, yet we had three breakthrough cases this week."

Ohio State coach Chris Holtmann said his team is 100 percent vaccinated as well, but the Buckeyes missed out on playing Kentucky in Las Vegas because of breakthrough cases. 

"[I would] love for our medical people to consider asymptomatic players who are fully vaccinated to have the option of playing," Holtmann said, "but I think we are a ways away from our medical personnel being comfortable with that.’’ 

More cancellations are likely to come, but no schools have moved toward a full-scale shutdown for the season. 

Let’s hope none does. 

Andy Katz is a longtime college basketball writer, analyst and host. He can be seen on FOX Sports and Big Ten Network platforms, as well as March Madness and NCAA.com, and he hosts the podcast "March Madness 365." Katz worked at ESPN for nearly two decades and, prior to that, in newspapers for nine years.