SEC changes forfeit rules for men’s and women’s basketball. Here’s the new policy
Following other major conferences, the Southeastern Conference announced updates to its COVID-19 forfeit policies for men’s and women’s basketball on Thursday.
Policies released by the conference in August made schools forfeit and take a loss on their season record if they were unable to participate in a game because of a COVID outbreak on their team. The new rules establish establish roster minimums for games at seven players and one coach. If a team can’t meet that threshold, the game will be rescheduled or declared a no contest at the commissioner’s discretion, though programs have the option to play if they choose to do so.
The conference will try to reschedule games that are postponed, but if it that is unable to happen, such games will be recorded as a no contest by the commissioner.
“As we have done since the onset of the pandemic, we continue to evaluate our policies and procedures related to COVID-19 based on the most current information,” SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said, per release. “Circumstances have clearly changed since our interrupted game policy was implemented in August and this updated approach is intended to support healthy, fair and equitable competition.”
Additionally, programs have the option to request postponement of a game if they have “other compelling circumstances that warrant delay,” such as a combination of players ruled out due to COVID and contact tracing along with injuries, If they choose to do so, teams will have to present all relevant data to the conference, which will then have the final say.
As of Thursday morning, around 45 men’s programs were on pause because of COVID issues, which have skyrocketed with the omicron variant. No SEC schools have been affected so far this season.
Conference play starts for Missouri men’s basketball (6-6) on Dec. 29 against Kentucky at Rupp Arena. The game airs at 6 p.m. Central time on the SEC Network.
This story was originally published December 23, 2021 at 10:42 AM.
