USU’s Mountain West home opener vs Boise State postponed

13 MAR 2021: Brock Miller #22 of the Utah State Aggies is introduced prior to the 2021 Mountain West Men's and Women's Basketball Championship held at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas, NV. Justin Tafoya/Clarkson Creative Photography

COLORADO SPRINGS – The Mountain West Conference announced Saturday that Tuesday’s matchup in Logan between Utah State and Boise State is being postponed “due to COVID-19-related concerns within the Boise State men’s basketball program.”

This is the second straight conference game to be postponed for USU. The Aggies had been scheduled to face San Jose State on New Year’s Day but because of COVID-19 issues within the Spartan program the game had to be postponed. In a statement, the Mountain West announced that if the game cannot be rescheduled it will be declared a no contest.

The Aggies last played a game on Wednesday, Dec. 29 at Air Force. The next game currently on USU’s schedule is Saturday, January 8 at New Mexico, meaning the Aggies will have played only one game in the span of 18 days.

On December 22nd the Mountain West issued the following statement about its updated COVID-19 cancellation policy:

The Mountain West Board of Directors today approved an adjustment to the 2021-2022 MW COVID-19 Game Cancellation Policy.  The change was recommended by the league’s Directors of Athletics due to the current rise in COVID cases and the potential impact on winter and spring athletic programs.

Adjusted 2021-22 MW COVID-19 Game Cancellation Policy

  • If a Mountain West contest cannot be played as scheduled due to one or both teams’ inability to participate  related specifically to COVID-19 issues, an effort will be made to reschedule the game if possible. If a game cannot be played and cannot be rescheduled, it shall be canceled and considered a no contest.
  • For men’s and women’s basketball, a minimum of seven (7) student-athletes, along with one countable coach, must be available for an institution to participate in a contest.
  • If an institution falls below the established threshold and is unable to participate, the game shall be canceled and deemed a no contest. A team may choose to participate with less than the minimum threshold of participants at its discretion.
  • If a team has the requisite number of participants and chooses not to compete, the game shall be canceled and declared a forfeit.
  • Forfeited Mountain West games will be recorded as a loss for the team choosing not to compete, and as a win for the scheduled opponent, for the purposes of Conference standings, determining MW championship participants and MW championships seeding only. Per the NCAA, this does not change an institution’s official won-lost record.
  • Roster thresholds for additional Mountain West sports will be reviewed prior to their respective Conference seasons.

It is recognized that state, county, and local guidelines and virus circumstances shall always take precedence and may supersede Conference thresholds or institutional decisions. In the event governmental parameters require a game to be canceled, it shall be declared a no contest.

Situations related to participation in MW championships will be addressed on a case-by-case basis within the context of this policy and applicable MW Handbook language.  Tiebreaking and seeding procedures will be implemented consistent with these provisions and, if it becomes necessary, modified to utilize unbalanced formulas.

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