Top-ranked Gonzaga, No. 3 Villanova and No. 5 Houston all had changes made to their upcoming schedules on Wednesday.
The Bulldogs reportedly made overtures to both Villanova and Houston as opponents and came up empty. Instead, Gonzaga will visit Pacific on Thursday in Stockton, Calif., in West Coast Conference play.
Gonzaga (17-0, 8-0 WCC) had its initially scheduled Thursday game at Loyola Marymount postponed due to COVID-19 issues in the Lions’ program. Meanwhile, the Tigers (5-4, 2-3) lost their scheduled Thursday home game against San Francisco due to COVID-19 in the Dons’ program.
So with Gonzaga and Pacific both sporting an open date, the WCC rearranged the scheduled and moved the Feb. 25 contest between the teams to Thursday.
–Villanova will be playing Georgetown on Sunday in Philadelphia after the Wildcats’ Big East game against Xavier was postponed earlier this week due to COVID-19 issues with the Musketeers.
The Big East also scheduled Villanova (11-1, 6-0 Big East) to play Marquette on Feb. 10 to replace the Wildcats’ game against DePaul, called off due to COVID-19 protocols witinh that program. That reschedules a Jan. 8 game called off between Villanova and Marquette.
Villanova, winners of nine in a row, defeated Georgetown (4-8, 2-5) on Dec. 11 as part of its winning streak. Sunday’s game with the Hoyas was initially slated for Feb. 17.
–Houston filled an opening by adding a home game against NAIA program Our Lady of the Lake for Saturday. The Cougars (15-1, 10-1) added the school from San Antonio after discussions with Gonzaga and other schools broke down.
Our Lady of the Lake (1-3) has had eight games postponed or canceled this season.
–In Atlantic Coast Conference scheduling developments, the scheduled Wednesday game between Louisville (11-4, 6-3 ACC) and Syracuse (10-5, 4-4) was postponed hours before tipoff due to COVID-19 issues in Louisville’s program.
Louisville’s scheduled Saturday game at No. 14 Virginia also was postponed.
Instead, Virginia (11-3, 7-1) will host Pittsburgh (8-5, 4-4) on Saturday as the ACC moved up their slated Feb. 24 matchup.
Pitt was initially scheduled to play Florida State (10-3, 6-2) on Saturday but that contest is one of three Seminoles’ games postponed due to COVID-19 issues.
–Field Level Media
