Northwestern Forced to Forfeit Games vs USC and UCLA

[fireford]

Northwestern doesn't seem all that broken up about having to forfeit these games but I tend to wonder if a ranked team in the Big 10, like say Ohio St or Maryland, made the same decision to not travel to LA in the conditions at the time if the Big 10 would have made more of an effort to make the games up.

N'western games at UCLA, USC not rescheduled

The Northwestern women's basketball team's January games at UCLA and USC will not be rescheduled, the Big Ten announced Wednesday.

www.espn.com

Just for context, there were 7 major sporting events in LA that were halted around the same time, so would if be fair to say Northwestern was doing something unreasonable that warranted this punishment?

7 major sports events halted as LA wildfires intensify

LA sports face unprecedented disruption as wildfires force multiple game postponements across NBA, NFL, and NHL, affecting thousands of fans and athletes.

rollingout.com

 

[ochoopsfan]

Northwestern doesn't seem all that broken up about having to forfeit these games but I tend to wonder if a ranked team in the Big 10, like say Ohio St or Maryland, made the same decision to not travel to LA in the conditions at the time if the Big 10 would have made more of an effort to make the games up.

N'western games at UCLA, USC not rescheduled

The Northwestern women's basketball team's January games at UCLA and USC will not be rescheduled, the Big Ten announced Wednesday.

www.espn.com

Just for context, there were 7 major sporting events in LA that were halted around the same time, so would if be fair to say Northwestern was doing something unreasonable that warranted this punishment?

7 major sports events halted as LA wildfires intensify

LA sports face unprecedented disruption as wildfires force multiple game postponements across NBA, NFL, and NHL, affecting thousands of fans and athletes.

rollingout.com

If I remember, Northwestern decided not to come to So Cal. At the same time PSU did come to play.
PSU played at USC and then played UCLA at Long Beach State. UCLA was much closer to the fires and smoke. USC, in Downtown LA was not affected.

 

[jake0414]

If I remember, Northwestern decided not to come to So Cal. At the same time PSU did come to play.
PSU played at USC and then played UCLA at Long Beach State. UCLA was much closer to the fires and smoke. USC, in Downtown LA was not affected.

UCLA announced at the time its game with NU got postponed that it had offered NU an alternate venue away from the fires, presumably Long Beach State’s Pyramid. NU declined the offer, making the decision not to travel to Southern California.

The three teams’ conference schedules made it extremely difficult to make up the games over a single NU trip to LA. While regrettable for the NU athletes the NU team made the decision not to travel in January. The B1G did not force the forfeits on NU but rather the forfeits are a consequence of NU’s decision.

 

[packwrap]

Northwestern doesn't seem all that broken up about having to forfeit these games but I tend to wonder if a ranked team in the Big 10, like say Ohio St or Maryland, made the same decision to not travel to LA in the conditions at the time if the Big 10 would have made more of an effort to make the games up.

It was up to Northwestern to reschedule, not so much the Big10 office. Northwestern is not in contention this year, and happy to save trip cost.

tOSU and Maryland most likely:

1- would have accepted the offer to play in LA like Penn State did
or
2- did everything possible to reschedule.

Games between OSU, M, UCLA and USC not only important in standings, but also money and TV ratings drivers, so no one wants to cancel.

This was all on NU and handled fairly.