For Immediate Use: Wednesday, Dec. 22, 2021
Contact: Javan Hedlund, jhedlund@themw.com, (719) 488-4051
MOUNTAIN WEST ADJUSTS COVID-19 GAME CANCELLATION POLICY
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – 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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