As ACC basketball teams prepare to dive into conference play after the Christmas holiday break, the conference is announcing amended rules regarding COVID rescheduling policies for winter sports. This comes amid a nationwide spike in cases due to the omicron variant of the virus. Already, a game between Boston College and Wake Forest, scheduled for Wednesday night, was cancelled due to COVID protocols within the Eagles’ program. Under the ACC rules adopted before the season, BC forfeited the game and received a loss.

Now, though, the ACC has adjusted its forfeit rules for the remainder of the season. According to a release from the conference Wednesday afternoon, if a team has at least seven players and one coach available, they will be allowed to play the scheduled game. If not, the programs can attempt to reschedule the game. Should a reschedule date not be finalized, the game would be considered a no-contest, rather than a forfeit. In that case, the game does not count toward either team’s record.

A forfeit only comes into play when a team has the necessary players and coach available to play and decides not to compete. These new rules will be retroactively enforced. Therefore, Boston College’s cancelled game with Wake Forest does not count for a loss on the Eagles’ record.

“The decision was unanimously supported by the league’s athletics directors as a result of the current rise in COVID cases and its impact on winter sport programs,” the ACC said in a statement.

Aside from men’s and women’s basketball, the other UNC winter sports affected by this change are wrestling, gymnastics, swimming & diving and fencing.

For a look at UNC’s COVID protocols regarding spectators at winter sports events in Chapel Hill, click here.

 

Featured image via Atlantic Coast Conference

Chapelboro.com does not charge subscription fees. You can support local journalism and our mission to serve the community. Contribute today – every single dollar matters.

Related Stories
‹
ACC Returning to 18-Game Schedule for Men's Basketball Beginning in 2025-26 Season
The ACC announced it would be returning to an 18-game conference schedule model for men’s basketball Wednesday afternoon. The change will go into effect immediately. The league had been using a 20-game format since the 2019-20 season (with the exception of the 2020-21 season). “As a league, we have been transparent about the importance of […]
Chansky's Notebook: Dour Dancing
The ACC needs more than one team to advance into the second round, or it would underscore criticism of the underperforming conference.
Chansky's Notebook: Out of the Box
Right now, everyone in the Atlantic Coast Conference seems trapped in their own Rubik's Cube with no way to solve the puzzle.
Chansky's Notebook: 4 Out of 5 Ain't Bad
The ACC was relegated to “medium” space during the regular season and received five NCAA bids, when two or three more should have made it.
ACC Unveils New Football Schedules Through 2030; UNC Making 1st Trip West in 2025
The ACC has announced its new football schedule – including new conference entrants Cal, Stanford and SMU – for the 2024 through 2030 seasons. Though the league will expand to 17 teams next season, all conference members still play only eight ACC games each year. UNC’s first trip out west will be in 2025, when […]
Despite UNC Opposition, ACC to Add Cal, Stanford and SMU to League
The Atlantic Coast Conference will add Cal, Stanford and Southern Methodist University to the league starting next season. The conference was able to obtain the required 12 of 15 votes in favor from member universities’ presidents on Friday morning after failing to do so last month. Cal and Stanford will join from the Pac-12 Conference, […]
Chansky's Notebook: Hanging In There
Art Chansky’s Sports Notebook is presented by The Casual Pint. YOUR place for delicious pub food paired with local beer. Choose among 35 rotating taps and 200+ beers in the cooler. The ACC looks to be sitting solidly third among the Power 5 conferences. It hasn’t been a great week for ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips, […]
Glenn's Notebook: Party Like It's 2016!
When the Atlantic Coast Conference places five teams in the men’s basketball Top 25, it’s expected. Heck, in some years, it’s even viewed as a disappointment. The ACC putting five teams in the football Top 25 is much less common, and when two of those teams are ranked in the national top 10, the league […]
Glenn's Notebook: ACC Arms Aplenty
The first full week of National Football League preseason games, which concluded Sunday night, offered a reminder of the professional league’s heavy Atlantic Coast Conference flavor, especially at the most important position on the field. While the NFL’s regular season won’t begin until Sept. 8, current projections have eight former ACC quarterbacks as the likely […]
UNC Football Picked 3rd in Coastal Division in ACC Preseason Poll
The ACC football preseason polls are out, and in the last season of divisional play in the conference, Coastal Chaos continues to do its thing. Carolina was picked third in the Coastal Division, behind first-place Miami and second-place Pittsburgh, the reigning conference champions. But there wasn’t quite a consensus as to a Coastal champion, as […]
›