The Nebraska men’s basketball game scheduled for Sunday against Florida A&M has been canceled.
The Huskers shared the news via email on Friday, saying it was canceled due to Big Ten Conference policy and out of an abundance of caution. Florida A&M reported a positive COVID-19 test among Tier 1 support staff personnel.
“We were informed of a positive test this morning by our medical staff and immediately initiated COVID-19 protocol for retesting and quarantining. We continue to take every precaution to ensure the safety of our student-athletes and staff,” said Florida A&M VP/Director of Athletics Kortne Gosha said in a release. “Our men’s basketball program will continue to prepare to compete in a safe manner and follow all CDC guidelines for practice and competition.”
News started to surface on Friday about the potential of the game being canceled. CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein tweeted that Florida A&M’s matchup with South Florida had been canceled due to COVID-19 issues within Florida A&M’s program, which prompted discussion about what it would mean for Nebraska.
The matchup was originally part of a men’s and women’s doubleheader on Sunday. The women are set to play Idaho State at 5 p.m. CT at Pinnacle Bank Arena.
With the cancelation, the men’s team could look to fill the gap on Sunday if a team is available. Matt Prehm, who covers Oregon for 247Sports, shared the possibility that the Ducks might be interested.
Dana Altman said that if an opponent in the Omaha area got a game canceled, they would try and see if they could fill in for that school. Well, less than 100m south of Omaha, Nebraska just got a game canceled. Sunday is now open for the Cornhuskers, the date Oregon wants to play. https://t.co/Y8C2EqlBQN
— Matt Prehm (@MattPrehm) December 4, 2020
If the Huskers are unable to schedule a team for Sunday, they will turn their attention to next week’s matchups with Georgia Tech and Creighton. The Huskers will be back in action on Wednesday, Dec. 9, at home to face Georgia Tech as part of the Big Ten/ACC Challenge.
Nebraska has also a gap in the schedule between the Nov. 11 matchup with Creighton and the Dec. 21 start to the Big Ten schedule against Wisconsin, and Coach Fred Hoiberg said before the season the Huskers could use that window if they need to make up a game.
