Day one of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge was wrapping up, Illinois putting the finishing touches on their conference’s sixth win of the day. Bored fans in search of some escape from yet another dominant Big Ten win were scrolling through Twitter when, suddenly, feeds were bombarded with the sad news that the highly anticipated Virginia-Michigan State game had been called off.
The only explanation given was that there were “COVID-19 issues within the Cavaliers’ program,” so it’s unclear whether anybody actually has the virus. It might just be issues with contact tracing, or more likely a Gonzaga-esque situation where a couple of staff contracted the virus. Either way, the end result was the postponement of the top-20 matchup. And some 20 hours later, the news broke that the Wahoo program was suspended for the time being, meaning that the William & Mary game has been canceled as well.
With excitement brewing around the MSU game, everybody involved with the two programs—and plenty of neutrals, as well—definitely suffered a punch in the gut at the news of it being canceled. John Paul Jones arena was set to feature its first important matchup in months, with two high-caliber teams pitted against each other in the Challenge.
Now, that matchup is postponed and William & Mary’s trip to Charlottesville has been similarly scrapped.
But for a Virginia team that has looked decidedly shaky at times, this may prove to be a good thing. With Villanova just over the horizon, Virginia could very easily have gone 1-2 between Michigan State and Nova, leaving the Hoos at 4-3 with ACC play looming large.
Questions have abounded concerning this team’s defensive capability. But the worry isn’t that the Hoos will never reach acceptable Bennett-ball standards, it’s mostly that they won’t get it together quickly enough to contend with MSU and Nova. Given time, they’ll get back to the expected level, but they’re not there yet, hence the benefit of more time to continue drilling the pack line to perfection.
With the program now officially suspended, that time will be limited. All the same, the Hoos now have more time to get back to their normal ways before ranked opponents start showing up on the other side of the court.
It’s uncertain when Michigan State will come to town (if at all). But Virginia’s game against Villanova still has the potential to be played, and Tony Bennett will have more time to prepare for the first ranked opponent of the season, time that is sorely needed.
Hopefully the Nova game is able to take place, and we get to see if any progress has been made. If not, they still get some much needed time to prepare before the big games start coming thick and fast.
Image – UVA Athletics