IRVINE, Calif. (December 22, 2021) – The Big West announced today a revision to the cancelation policies of conference basketball games affected by COVID-19.  

With the recent surge of the Omicron variant, which is impacting fully-vaccinated individuals, and due to the variance of local public health requirements, the Board acted on the recommendation of The Big West athletics directors to declare a canceled game as no contest, rather than a forfeit. This aligns with NCAA standards that if a team does not appear or a game is not started due to circumstances such as weather conditions, accidents, breakdown of vehicles, illness or catastrophic causes, a no contest is declared.  

Championship seeding for the 2022 Hercules Tires Big West Basketball Championships, presented by the Hawaiian Islands will be determined on Big West winning percentage, regardless of the number of games played as long as a team has met the minimum NCAA game thresholds required to declare a season of competition.  The NCAA is currently considering a request to lower the minimum game threshold from the current 25 game minimum required to compete in the NCAA Tournament.  

This new decision reverses the August 23 policy was where a forfeit would be declared for canceled Big West competition if a team chooses not to compete because they are unable to meet Big West competition minimum due to COVID-19.  

Further, The Big West continues to affirm the position previously approved to follow NCAA COVID-19 guidelines outlined in the resocialization of collegiate sport, unless local restrictions are more stringent. The NCAA recommendations and additional resources from the Sport Science Institute are available at ncaa.org.   

The Board of Directors is also in support of continuing to afford each Big West member institution to exercise institutional discretion with regard to fan attendance at sporting events.  As a result, each Big West institution will have the freedom to develop attendance policies relative to fan access, vaccination and masking requirements at venues as Federal, state, local and campus COVID-19 protocols allow.  

"This fall, we successfully welcomed back our student-athletes and fans for competition in The Big West," said chair of the Big West Board of Directors and Cal State Fullerton president Fram Virjee. "However, the risks to public health from COVID-19, and particularly the new Omicron variant coupled with Delta, remain an ever-present concern as we continue to make progress against this virus. Altering the policies surrounding schedule adjustments will allow programs to better respond to any issues that might arise during the season of competition, keeping the health of our student-athletes and our communities at large a top priority."  

"All 11 Big West institutions have made it their mission to protect the health, safety and welfare of our student-athletes since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, and we continue to work toward that goal across the conference landscape," Big West commissioner Dan Butterly said. "Revising our forfeiture standard is a thoughtful and prudent approach in order to continue to put our student-athletes first, and not penalize programs who might have to responsibly deal with an in-season outbreak of cases."  

As medical and scientific data rapidly evolves surrounding the pandemic, The Big West will continue to monitor developments and will consider additional actions as needed.  
  
About The Big West  
The Big West is an NCAA Division I member with 11 members with the shared goal of empowering every student-athlete in competition and in life and uniting its university communities through championship experiences. Formed in 1969, The Big West membership consists of Cal Poly, CSU Bakersfield, Cal State Fullerton, CSUN, Hawai'i, Long Beach State, UC Davis, UC Irvine, UC Riverside, UC San Diego and UC Santa Barbara. The Big West is united in the pursuit of boundless opportunities, enduring integrity, bold activism, fearless innovation and the pacific spirit of freedom, exploration and progress.  

The Big West sponsors 18 sports at the NCAA Division I level: baseball, softball, men's and women's basketball, men's and women's volleyball, women's beach volleyball, men's and women's cross country, men's and women's golf, men's and women's soccer, men's and women's tennis, men's and women's track and field and women's water polo.  

For more information, visit BigWest.org or follow The Big West on Twitter @BigWestSports.  

For more information, please contact:  
Jessica Lantz  
949.570.9565  
jlantz@bigwest.org