With the new variant Omicron, COVID is a significant issue that deserves public attention. Displaying the impact of COVID on the Women’s game, are at least four ranked teams whose next games are canceled. UCONN has their upcoming with Marquette canceled, Stanford’s game with Washington on Friday is also canceled, Iowa’s next game is canceled, along with Maryland and Kentucky’s games being postponed. This piece will focus on COVID’s impact on NCAA seeding and a few teams experiencing significant adversity
The Impact of COVID on the Women’s Game
Iowa Hawkeyes
Despite having fantastic talent, in Caitlin Clark and Monika Czinano, the Hawkeyes are only 6-3 on the season. Iowa was on pause for two weeks before their loss to Duke on December 2nd. In addition, they missed a Cancun tournament that would have strengthened their tournament resume. Games with USC, Drake, and Penn State have all been canceled. Drake is a top 50 team that is a quality opportunity missed. Their only good win is over UCF, and recently they lost to IUPUI. This latest defeat will hurt their seeding significantly come tournament time. The committee will have a tough time figuring out where to place this team based on their non-conference schedule. They will need several big wins in conference play without many quality wins to gain a top-four seed in the tournament.
UCLA Bruins
The Bruins are 5-3 with some bad losses, including a failure against South Dakota State, who is only 5-7 on the year. Their resume needs improvement, and PAC 12 play is crucial if they want any shot at a bid. Unfortunately, UCLA has experienced various injuries, and now COVID is a significant concern. Their last game was that tough loss to UCONN on December 11th; their next game is January 7th at UTAH. As a result, there is almost a month between games for this team. In addition, UCLA lost crucial resume opportunities against Ohio State, Arizona, and Arizona State. Luckily for the Bruins, this month may become more healthy. Gina Conti is an integral piece for UCLA to succeed; if she can come back and play well, they will still have a chance to get in.
Oklahoma State Cowgirls
The Cowgirls are 5-4 and ranked 68th in the NET. However, they have not played since December 17th. Therefore, they lost an opportunity to face rival Tulsa, who is 10-1 to start this season. Their next game is January 2nd against Texas, a ranked team playing well. Typically, Oklahoma State is a threat in the Big 12, but this year doesn’t look the same. They lost to Green Bay, which is just 170th in the NET. However, their win over Missouri State was excellent and will help their resume. The Cowgirls need some incredible victories in Big 12 play to dance. Lauren Fields is their best player averaging 15.2 points per game this season. Fields is a star guard that causes issues in every game she plays. For the Cowgirls to win big games, she will need to have a monumental impact in Big 12 play.
Should the NCAA consider a stoppage in play?
These are just three teams from around the country that have had issues with COVID this season. Unfortunately, the problem is not limited to them; the virus runs rampant across the country. Every team will be affected one way or another; if this amount of cancelations continue, the NCAA might consider a stoppage of the season. COVID is also a significant issue in the Men’s game, and the stoppage would probably include both sides. Now is the time to stop the season because conference play is about to start, and stopping in the middle caused many teams last year to have longer pauses. A two or three-week break now might save March and improve the sport.
I hope that every team takes this disease seriously and we continue to see the game improve. This year has been amazing so far, and I hope that everyone can stay healthy enough to finish it the right way.
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