Morgantown, West Virginia – Moments ago, the Big 12 Conference released a statement declaring that any team unable to compete in a game this year because they don’t have enough student-athletes due to COVID will be given a loss.
The statement read: “The Big 12 Conference has set its game threshold policy for the upcoming season. In the event a Conference game is canceled due to a team not having enough student-athletes to compete (due to COVID-19 or for any reason), that team will forfeit and will be credited with a loss in the Conference standings.
The opponent will be credited with a win in the Conference standings. Both teams will be deemed to have played the game for purposes of Conference standings only. A forfeit can be declared at any point before a completed contest, and when possible would occur prior to the visiting team commencing travel. Additionally, if both teams are unable to compete, a No Contest would be declared and, if needed, an unbalanced tiebreaker would be utilized to determine Conference championship participants in football or championship seeding in other sports. The Commissioner retains discretion to declare a No Contest if extraordinary circumstances warrant.”
🚨 Game Threshold Policy Announcement 🚨
"In the event a Conference game is canceled due to a team not having enough student-athletes to compete (for any reason) that team will forfeit and will be credited with a loss in the Conference standings."
➡️ https://t.co/65p3Vcwjb9 pic.twitter.com/5u7504Girt
— Big 12 Conference (@Big12Conference) August 17, 2021
Now it will be particularly important for teams to make sure that players follow guidelines to prevent the spread among players.
Last season, West Virginia head coach Neal Brown and his staff did a tremendous job of ensuring that their players remained healthy and ready to compete.
