New Mexico State's first WAC game postponed due to COVID-19 protocols in Seattle program
Editor's note: A few hours after the story on WAC COVID-19 protocols was published online, the New Mexico State men's team announced its Dec. 30 WAC opener against Seattle was being postponed due to COVID-19. The story was updated a second time on Wednesday, Dec. 29, after the women's program also announced its WAC opener was being postponed.
As long as there are seven players and one coach, Western Athletic Conference basketball teams can play, according to a new policy released by the league to navigate through this COVID-19 surge.
Hours after this policy came to light Tuesday, the New Mexico State men's program (11-2) announced its Dec. 30 WAC opener at Seattle was being postponed due to COVID-19 protocols within the Redhawks program. Until then, the Aggies' schedule had not been affected by the pandemic this season.
NM State announced administrators from Aggies and Redhawks men's teams "will work together to find a mutually agreeable dates to reschedule."
On Wednesday, the New Mexico State women's program (4-6) also announced it's WAC opener, which had been scheduled for Dec. 30 against Seattle at the Pan American Center, was being postponed.
The NM State women had already had one game canceled (Dec. 21 vs. Houston Baptist) and another game postponed (UTEP moved from Dec. 1 to Dec. 15) due to outbreaks on the opposing teams.
In a news release, the university announced the the NMSU-Seattle women's basketball game was being rescheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 8 with a tentative tip-off time set for 2 p.m. in Las Cruces. The university did not specify the reason for the postponement.
The men's and women's teams will now begin WAC play Saturday. The men will host Chicago State. Tip-off is 4 p.m. at the Pan American Center. The women will travel to Chicago State for a noon (MST) game.
WAC COVID policy
If a team can't put seven players on the court with at least one coach available, then that game will be rescheduled, not canceled, according to the WAC.
This policy came following a vote of athletic directors to avoid canceling games this season and to balance the health and safety of the coaches, athletes, staff and officials, as well as to protect the integrity of the conference schedule, the WAC announcement read.
The release said the WAC has determined that if a game is canceled for COVID-related reasons, administrators from the impacted institutions will work collaboratively to find a mutually agreeable date to reschedule. If they are unable to find a date, the game will be considered a no-contest, the release said.
"Ultimately, we wanted to maintain some flexibility as the COVID landscape continues to change," WAC commissioner Brian Thornton said in the release. "Our biggest goals are to protect the health and safety of our student-athletes and coaches as well as put our programs in the best position to compete in our conference tournament."
The WAC expanded this year to include Texas schools Stephen F Austen, Abilene Christian, Lamar and Sam Houston State.
Grand Canyon Coach Bryce Drew, who led GCU to its first WAC Tournament title last season, likes the new policy
"I'm glad the league is working on changing the rules," he said. "If not, there might be a very limited number of games this year."
The conference said it will continue to work with institutional leadership regarding any changes to seeding procedures for the 2022 Hercules Tires WAC Basketball Tournament.
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: New Mexico State's first WAC game postponed due to COVID-19 protocols in Seattle program
