Winter Storm Disrupts NBA and College Sports Schedules Nationwide

A massive winter storm is barreling toward a big chunk of the United States, and the sports world isn’t taking any chances. Meteorologists are warning that this storm could rival a major hurricane, dumping snow, ice, and bitter cold from New Mexico to New England starting Friday.

Sports leagues are scrambling to shift schedules, especially in the NBA and college basketball. They’re trying to keep games going, but with safety as the top priority for players, fans, and staff.

NBA Game Rescheduling

The NBA’s already making moves. The Washington Wizards at Charlotte Hornets game, which was supposed to tip off Saturday, has been bumped up to noon.

League officials hope this tweak will help teams and fans dodge the worst of the weather.

Impact on College Basketball

College basketball is feeling the squeeze too. The ACC just moved up the start times for three men’s games on Saturday:

• Wake Forest at Duke
• North Carolina at Virginia
• Virginia Tech at Louisville

Xavier also decided to start Saturday’s game against St. John’s an hour earlier. Everyone’s just hoping to keep things safe and not leave anyone stranded.

Women’s Basketball Games Affected

Women’s basketball isn’t immune either. No. 1 UConn’s game at Seton Hall got shifted from Sunday to Saturday.

No. 14 Baylor’s home matchup with Houston moved from Sunday to Tuesday. Cincinnati changed its women’s game against Arizona State to a noon start on Saturday. The storm’s reach is honestly pretty wild.

Conference-Wide Adjustments

All these changes show just how many states are in the storm’s path. The Sun Belt Conference didn’t wait around—they moved several women’s basketball games from Thursday through Saturday.

The American Conference also shuffled its weekend men’s and women’s basketball schedules, pushing some games up to Friday.

Specific Game Changes

North Carolina Central postponed two men’s and two women’s games that were set for Thursday through Monday in Durham, North Carolina.

Appalachian State bumped up its men’s basketball home game with Louisiana-Lafayette to Thursday morning. Marshall rescheduled its home game against Louisiana-Monroe to a noon tipoff on Thursday.

Middle Tennessee State men’s basketball moved its Conference USA game with Jacksonville State from Saturday to Friday evening.

Other Sports Affected

Basketball isn’t the only sport scrambling. Tennessee’s swim meet at Georgia and the USC Upstate women’s basketball game at Longwood both got moved to Friday instead of Saturday.

Several other women’s basketball games are starting earlier on Saturday, including:

• No. 20 Princeton at Brown
• North Florida at Eastern Kentucky

Men’s games like Towson at North Carolina A&T and Texas State at James Madison also got rescheduled. Rice changed the tipoff times for its men’s and women’s basketball games this weekend.

The Rice men’s home game against Tulsa, which was going to be Sunday at 3 p.m., will now be Saturday at 3:30 p.m. The Rice women’s game against Tulane, originally set for Saturday at 2 p.m., got moved up to 1 p.m.

Fan Restrictions and Cancellations

Some games will happen without fans in the stands. George Mason’s women’s basketball game against Richmond is now set for 11 a.m. Sunday, three hours earlier, but no fans will be allowed inside.

Major League Baseball’s Texas Rangers canceled their annual Fan Fest event that was supposed to happen Saturday. With frozen precipitation in the forecast for North Texas, they figured it’s just not worth the risk for anyone involved.