There has been a significant rise in COVID-19 cases across the country and also the sports world as of Monday. It started with college basketball games being affected early in December, but the NFL, NHL, NBA and college football have now also altered their schedules.
After the Hawaii Bowl between Hawaii and Memphis was cancelled on Christmas Eve, two more Bowl games were cancelled the day after Christmas. The Military Bowl between Boston College and East Carolina, scheduled for December 27, has been cancelled due to a combination of COVID issues and injuries within Boston College's program. The Fenway Bowl between SMU and Virginia has also been cancelled due to COVID issues within the Cavaliers program.
The NBA and NHL have also been severely hit by COVID-19. The NHL is pausing its season until Tuesday and the NBA has also had to make adjustments to its schedule.
Check below for updated information on canceled games across all of the major sports leagues.
Ahead of the NHL resuming play on Tuesday night, it postponed three more games on Monday. The postponed games are:
- Blackhawks vs. Jets on Wednesday, Dec. 29
- Stars vs. Avalanche on Wednesday, Dec. 29
- Avalanche vs. Stars on Friday, Dec. 31
The league has not yet released information on when the three games will be rescheduled.
Following the Christmas Eve cancellation of the Hawaii Bowl, two more college football bowls were cancelled following Christmas. The Military Bowl between Boston College and East Carolina, which had been scheduled for Monday, was cancelled due to a combination of COVID cases and injuries to the Eagles. According to Yahoo Sports, Boston College was missing more than 40 players, including an entire position group.
The Fenway Bowl between SMU and Virginia has also been cancelled due to COVID cases on the Cavaliers. According to Thamel, a replacement opponent for SMU could not be arranged to due logistical issues.
The cancellation of the Fenway Bowl makes the second time that the inaugural edition of the game has been cancelled. The bowl game at Fenway Park was originally supposed to be played in 2020, but was cancelled outright due to the pandemic.
The cancellation of the Fenway Bowl means a end to the Virginia coaching career of Bronco Mendenhall will come without a postseason finale. Mendenhall, the Cavaliers' head coach since 2016, had announced that he would step down at the conclusion of the 2021 season. The bowl cancellations are also a disappointment for East Carolina, which had been slated to play in its first bowl game since 2014.
Late Thursday night, it was announced that the Hawaii Bowl would be cancelled because of a COVID outbreak with in the Hawaii Warriors football program. The announcement came less than 24 hours before the game was set for its annual Christmas Eve kickoff. Hawaii's opponent, the Memphis Tigers, were already in Hawaii when the cancellation was announced. In a statement released by the Tigers, head coach Ryan Silverfield had this to say:
"We are very disappointed to hear that Hawai'i will be unable to participate in the EasyPost Hawai'i Bowl on Friday. We hope that Hawai'i players and staff get healthy soon. I'm upset for our seniors and the rest of the team that battled this season to earn this opportunity. We've had terrific time here in Hawai'i as a program and we are sad our trip ended this way."
While the Hawaii Bowl is the first to be cancelled, the Gator Bowl was affected when Texas A&M had to withdraw from the game due to COVID concerns within its program. Rutgers was selected to replace the Aggies and will take on Wake Forest on Dec. 31 in Jacksonville.
COVID-19 continues to stall a promising season for Wisconsin's college basketball team. The Badgers cancelled Thursday's game against George Mason after receiving positive COVID-19 tests within the program.
Wisconsin (9-2) was originally slated to play Morgan State on Thursday, but the Bears pulled out Monday over COVID-19 issues of their own. The Badgers replaced Morgan State with George Mason on their schedule a day later.
It's been eight days since Wisconsin's last game, a 71-68 win over Nicholls State, and it won't return to the court until Dec. 29 against Illinois State.
The NBA has postponed Thursday's game between the Brooklyn Nets and the Portland Trail Blazers, as well as Chicago's game against the Toronto Raptors Wednesday night.
Below is a list of every NBA that has been postponed due to COVID-19 in December.
- Toronto Raptors at Chicago Bulls (Dec. 22)
- Brooklyn Nets at Portland Trail Blazers (Dec. 23)
- Washington Wizards at Brooklyn Nets (originally scheduled for Dec. 21)
- Orlando Magic at Toronto Raptors (Dec. 20)
- New Orleans Pelicans at Philadelphia 76ers (Dec. 19)
- Denver Nuggets at Brooklyn Nets (Dec. 19)
- Cleveland Cavaliers at Atlanta Hawks (Dec. 19)
- Chicago Bulls at Toronto Raptors (Dec. 16)
- Detroit Pistons at Chicago Bulls (Dec. 14)
The NHL announced Tuesday afternoon that tonight's game between the Philadelphia Flyers and Washington Capitals has been postponed due to "COVID-related issues affecting the Washington Capitals." No make-up date has been announced yet.
The league is pausing the season starting Wednesday through Christmas Day, and Flyers vs. Capitals was supposed to be one of the last games played before the break. With it being postponed, Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Vegas Golden Knights is now the lone game set to be played on Wednesday night.
As of Monday, Dec. 20, these are the NHL games that have been postponed and altered due to the league's COVID protocols:
Four Montreal Canadiens games through Dec. 23
Three Columbus Blue Jackets games through Dec. 23
Two New Jersey Devils games through Dec. 23
Four Boston Bruins games through Dec. 23
Six Calgary Flames games through Dec. 23
Four Colorado Avalanche games through Dec. 23
Three Florida Panthers games through Dec. 23
Two Detroit Red Wings games through Dec. 23
Three Nashville Predators games through Dec. 23
Four Toronto Maple Leafs games through Dec. 23
Three Seattle Kraken games through Dec. 23
As of Monday, Dec. 20, these are the NBA games that have been postponed and altered due to the league's COVID protocols:
Washington Wizards at Brooklyn Nets (Dec. 21)
Orlando Magic at Toronto Raptors (Dec. 20)
New Orleans Pelicans vs. Philadelphia 76ers (Dec. 19)
Denver Nuggets vs. Brooklyn Nets (Dec. 19)
Atlanta Hawks vs. Cleveland Cavaliers (Dec. 19)
Chicago Bulls vs. Toronto Raptors (Dec. 16)
Detroit Pistons vs. Chicago Bulls (Dec. 14)
As of Monday, Dec. 20, these are the NFL games that have been postponed and altered due to the league's COVID protocols:
Raiders at Browns - The game was scheduled to be played on Saturday, Dec. 18, but was rescheduled for Monday, Dec. 20 due to COVID-19 issues affecting the Browns
Seahawks at Rams - The game was scheduled to be played on Sunday, Dec. 19, but was rescheduled for Tuesday, Dec. 21 due to COVID-19 issues affecting the Rams
Washington Football Team at Philadelphia Eagles - The game was scheduled to be played on Sunday, Dec. 19, but was rescheduled for Tuesday, Dec. 21 due to COVID-19 issues affecting Washington
The NBA has postponed five games this upcoming Christmas week, and the league is reportedly in talks with the union about revising the COVID protocols going forward. Here are the games that have been affected for the Christmas week -- no Christmas Day games have yet been affected.
Colorado State basketball will not have a chance to continue its undefeated run against No. 6 Alabama. The 23rd-ranked Rams announced Friday they will no longer play Tuesday's C.M. Newton Classic against the Crimson Tide over COVID-19 concerns.
Earlier Friday, Colorado State announced it would not travel to Fort Worth, Texas for Saturday's game against Tulsa. Both the Tulsa and Alabama games will not be rescheduled.
The Rams (10-0) are ranked for the first time since 2014-15 and the ninth time in program history.
The NFL is postponing Saturday's Cleveland Browns vs. Las Vegas Raiders game, according to CBS Sports NFL insider Josina Anderson. The game is being moved to Monday at 5 p.m. ET, according to multiple reports.
CBS Sports NFL insider Jonathan Jones has also confirmed two other NFL postponements:
-Washington Football Team vs. Eagles, originally scheduled for Sunday, Dec. 17
-Rams vs. Seahawks, originally scheduled for Sunday, Dec. 17
As COVID issues continue to escalate, a number of college basketball games in the coming days have either been postponed or cancelled together. Here is current look at every game that has been affected:
The following games have been postponed:
Syracuse vs. Lehigh
Syracuse vs. Cornell
The following games have been cancelled outright:
Ohio State vs. Kentucky
Iona vs. Seton Hall
UCLA vs. North Carolina
Duke vs. Loyola
DePaul vs. Northwestern
UCLA vs. North Carolina, which was set for Saturday as part of the CBS Sports Classic in Las Vegas, has been canceled. UCLA made the announcement on Friday morning. UCLA added that the game will not be rescheduled and the school's "team-related activities" have been paused.
The NHL announced on Friday morning that Saturday's game in Montreal between the Canadiens and Bruins has been postponed. The league hasn't yet announced a new date for the game, but did note that the Canadiens will still, at this point, play the Islanders in New York on Dec. 20.
The Bruins, meanwhile, have been playing without two of their biggest names, Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron, and are also missing their goaltender, Jeremy Swayman, and four other players due to COVID protocols. Their next scheduled game is in Ottawa vs. the Senators on Sunday, and as of Friday morning, that game is still set to be played.
The latest postponements in the world of men's college basketball center around Syracuse. The school announced on Friday that their next two games have been postponed due to COVID protocols. Those games are:
- Saturday, Dec. 18 vs. Lehigh
- Tuesday, Dec. 21. vs. Cornell
The Montreal Canadiens will not have fans in attendance for Thursday night's game against the Philadelphia Flyers at Bell Centre out of an abundance of caution over the growing spread of COVID-19 and the Omicron variant. The club made the announcement shortly after 5 p.m. on Thursday. Montreal is scheduled to host the Boston Bruins on Saturday, but a decision about having fans in the stands has not yet been made for that game, or any others in Montreal going forward.
On Thursday, it was announced that three high-profile basketball games for this weekend would be cancelled. The CBS Sports Classic, set to be held in Las Vegas between Ohio State and Kentucky has been cancelled, the Buckeyes announced in a statement. Coming out of New York, the Iona-Seton Hall matchup has been cancelled, and Gaels coach Rick Pitino is already making mention of that on Twitter.
Also, the Penn State-VCU clash has been cancelled, due to COVID-19 issues within the Nittany Lions' program.
The NHL announced that seven additional Calgary Flames players and 10 staff members are entering the NHL's COVID-19 protocol. As a result, the Flames won't return to the ice through at least Dec. 18. Calgary's facilities will continue to remain closed to players until further notice.
The league is in the process of making alterations to the Flames' regular season schedule and an update is expected to be announced next week.
The Premier League has announced that Burnley-Watford has been postponed as a result of a COVID-19 outbreak in the Watford camp. The two teams were scheduled to face off on Wednesday. Previously, the league was forced to postpone Manchester United-Brentford on Tuesday and Tottenham-Brighton last weekend.
The NHL has also seen elevated cases of COVID-19 and some of the league's star players have been impacted.
The Calgary Flames have been forced to postpone at least their next three games after the league announced that six players and a staff member entered the NHL's COVID-19 protocol. Elias Lindholm, Andrew Mangiapane, Brad Richardson, Adam Ruzicka, Chris Tanev and Nikita Zadorov all were forced to enter protocol.
The postponed games include:
Monday, Dec. 13 vs. the Blackhawks
Tuesday, Dec. 14 vs, the Predators in Nashville
Thursday, Dec. 16 vs. the Maple Leafs
It remains to be seen what the plan is for Calgary's scheduled home game against the Blue Jackets on Saturday.
On Tuesday, four members of the Carolina Hurricanes were placed in the league's COVID-19 protocol. Andrei Svechnikov, Jordan Staal, Steven Lorentz, and Ian Cole were the players, according to The Athletic's Michael Russo. Russo and Pierre LeBrun are both reporting that all four players have also tested positive. The Hurricanes already had Sebastian Aho and Seth Jarvis in protocols after the two tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday.
As a result of the positive tests within the Hurricanes locker room, Tuesday's game between the Hurricanes and Minnesota Wild has been postponed.
On Monday, the NBA announced that two of the Chicago Bulls' upcoming games this week are being postponed.
The postponed Bulls games are:
Tuesday, Dec. 14 against the Detroit Pistons
Thursday, Dec. 16 at the Toronto Raptors
A total of 10 Bulls players, along with additional staff members, are currently in the NBA's Health and Safety Protocols. That includes star players DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine.
In recent days, Memphis Grizzlies star Ja Morant entered the protocols while he was already on the injured list due to a knee sprain. In addition, Indiana Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle and Toronto Raptors team president Masai Ujiri have also tested positive for COVID-19.
