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SEC releases revised COVID-19 policies for men’s and women’s basketball
By Adam Spencer
Published:
As COVID-19 continues to force the postponement and cancellation of numerous college basketball games around the country, conferences are reexamining their policies.
On Thursday, the SEC released its revised policies on interrupted games.
As you can see below, the guidelines set forth how many players and coaches are required to be healthy in order for a game to go on:
An SEC men’s or women’s basketball team will be required to play if it has at least seven (7) scholarship student-athletes and one (1) countable coaching staff member available to participate. The impacted institution has the option to play the game with fewer than the seven players and/or one countable coach, if it elects to do so. Otherwise, upon approval by the Commissioner, the game will be rescheduled or declared a no contest.
In addition, if the institution believes there are other compelling circumstances that warrant delay, the institution may request postponement of the contest. The institution shall be required to present the reasons it believes the game should be postponed, including all relevant data (specifying the total number of players not available to participate due to isolation, quarantine and injury) to the Conference office as soon as practicable in advance of the contest. The final determination to postpone a contest shall be made by the Commissioner, or his/her designee.
If a contest is postponed, efforts will be made to reschedule the game. If a contest cannot be rescheduled, the Commissioner shall cancel the contest and it will be recorded as a no contest.
Commissioner Greg Sankey said the policies are fluid and will be updated and evaluated as needed:
“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,” said SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey. “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.”
We’ll see if any games are impacted by COVID moving forward. League play for the men’s hoops squads starts on Wednesday.
Adam is a daily fantasy sports (DFS) and sports betting expert. A 2012 graduate of the University of Missouri, Adam now covers all 16 SEC football teams. He is the director of DFS, evergreen and newsletter content across all Saturday Football brands.
