USATSI
Northwestern will miss a second consecutive Big Ten game on Saturday because the program is still in COVID health and safety protocols, the school announced Thursday night. Northwestern also could not play Wednesday vs. Iowa due to the illness on the Wildcats.
The program entered protocols earlier in the week which prompted the Iowa game to be called off but it is still unclear if that game, and now the Wisconsin game, will be rescheduled or canceled outright. As with the Iowa game, the only details available for now are that both programs are working in conjunction with the Big Ten to find possible dates to reschedule.
The Big Ten has a forfeit policy it enacted during the pandemic that says, in part: “If a team is unable to participate in a scheduled conference competition due to COVID-19 and as a result the competition is unable to occur on the calendar day on which it is scheduled, the competition shall be considered a forfeit by the team unable to participate and shall not be rescheduled.” It remains unclear if that policy is still in place and rolled over to the 2022-23 season, but if it is indeed still the active policy, Northwestern would be assessed two losses and both Iowa and Wisconsin would be assessed wins.
Northwestern is 12-5 on the season and 3-3 overall in Big Ten play after losing its last two games vs. Rutgers and Michigan. It is projected as a 10 seed in the NCAA Tournament in Jerry Palm’s latest bracket.
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