Packed schedule, new rules means Pac-12 may not re-book postponed Arizona-UW game

If Arizona has a choice, its postponed game with Washington may never be made up.

There are no dates left on the Wildcats’ 2021-22 schedule where they can slip in another game without some sort of imposition, after Thursday’s game against Washington was abruptly postponed due to what the Huskies said were “COVID-19 protocols within the Washington program.”

In addition, Arizona no longer has to yield to temporary Pac-12 guidelines that called for a make-up game or rescheduling instead of a forfeit if one team can’t play because of COVID-19 protocols.

Washington’s low power rating also suggest that playing the Huskies could drop Arizona’s NET rating, too — even if the Wildcats win.

However, Pac-12 rules state that commissioner George Kliavkoff can force the Wildcats and Huskies to play instead of calling the game a forfeit. The Pac-12 this season restored its usual policy for “unusual circumstances,” which calls for teams that cannot play to forfeit. However, the new rules also give the commissioner the discretion to determine if an institution is primarily at fault — and whether or not games should be replayed.

It’s why the Nov. 13 Cal-USC football game has been rescheduled for Saturday. The Golden Bears had COVID-19 issues that also resulted in them going without seven starters and 24 players overall when they lost to Arizona 10-3 on Nov. 6.

The commissioner “shall rule on the matter with the primary goal to be the maintenance of competitive equity among all Conference members,” according to the rules, and it’s likely that the Pac-12 will want all its men’s basketball teams to play the full 20 league games so that there is not an imbalance.

Last season, Oregon — at 14-4 — was declared the conference’s regular-season champion over 15-5 USC because of winning percentage. The Ducks played two fewer games because of multiple COVID-19 pauses, while USC played all of theirs.

“They stole the Pac-12 championship from us,” USC’s Isaiah Mobley said before Oregon and USC coincidentally matched up in an NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 game, which the Trojans wound up winning 82-68.

Of course, additional postponements could make it trickier to get everyone to 20 games. It’s unknown if the Huskies will be able to play Sunday’s scheduled game at No. 5 UCLA, which could create another makeup game for the conference to squeeze in.

There are also financial implications.

The UA might have to repay ticket holders if Thursday’s game is declared a forfeit — a total of about $400,000 based on the school’s reporting of $7 million in revenues in recent pre-COVID seasons for 18 home games. The Pac-12 could also lose a share of television partner revenue, since Thursday’s game did not air as scheduled.

Efforts to reach UA officials for comment on Thursday were not successful. The Wildcats are not expected to agree to a new date unless it is advantageous for them since the postponement was a result of Washington’s issues.

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By extension, any blame also might be extended to South Dakota. Reports surfaced Thursday that Washington was one of three teams — along with Nevada and George Mason — that developed COVID-19 issues after playing in the Crossover Classic at Sioux Falls last week.

Sioux Falls’ COVID-19 transmission rate, as calculated by the CDC in new cases per 100,000 people over the last seven days, is 396 — seven times higher than it is in Washington’s King County (57), which includes Seattle.

Whatever the origin of the Huskies’ problems, local health policy likely disabled their roster. Efforts to reach a Washington spokesman about the nature of the protocols were unsuccessful but a Pac-12 spokesman said there are no conference-wide COVID-19 protocols, with teams instead subject to “local health authority guidelines.”

Washington had been proceeding earlier in the week as if the game would be played, scheduling a media Zoom press conference for Tuesday afternoon to preview the game. However, Washington guard Terrell Brown did not appear on the Zoom as scheduled for unspecified reasons; a team spokesman said the interview could not be rescheduled.

Rescheduling the game itself could be just as difficult. The Wildcats are not expected to agree to playing a second game at Washington after its scheduled Feb. 12 game there, and playing on any Monday or Tuesday between two-game Pac-12 weekends could force the Wildcats to play five times in a 10-day period.

That leaves the Wildcats’ Christmas break and two one-game weeks when they are scheduled to face only ASU. Arizona doesn’t have a game scheduled between its Dec. 22 game at Tennessee and its Dec. 30 game at UCLA, but the Huskies have to play at Washington State on Dec. 29. The Wildcats are also likely to protect their players’ Christmas breaks.

Options are also limited once January hits. The Wildcats are open between a Jan. 2 game at USC and a Jan. 8 game at ASU, but the Huskies play at Utah on Jan. 6 and the Wildcats are not likely to accept Jan. 3 or 4 as an option since they’re scheduled to return from Los Angeles late the evening of Jan. 2.

The last week of January appears the most palatable option for the Wildcats. Arizona plays at Cal on Jan. 23 and doesn’t play again until it hosts ASU six days later. Washington is scheduled to play Jan. 23 at Oregon and then host Colorado on Thursday, Jan. 27.

Rescheduling the game for Jan. 25 would give both teams the same amount of travel time and rest beforehand, even though it would force Washington to prepare for Colorado on short rest.

However, playing on Jan. 25 also means UA would not be able to take its customary day off after playing a Sunday road game.

The Wildcats became used to that sort of thing last season, when eight of their games were either canceled or rescheduled because of COVID-19 issues with their opponents.

This time, with vaccinations available and new Pac-12 rules in place, Arizona may not be so patient.