With a significant winter storm on the horizon, numerous NBA, NHL, and college basketball games across the country are being rescheduled.
This storm is being described by meteorologists as potentially as severe as a major hurricane, set to unleash snow, ice, and frigid conditions from New Mexico all the way to New England starting Friday. There are warnings about the possibility of extensive damage, power outages, and extreme cold.
In the NBA, the game between the Washington Wizards and Charlotte Hornets originally scheduled for Saturday will now take place at noon.
The NHL has adjusted the timing of Saturday’s match in Nashville, moving the Predators’ game against the Utah Mammoths to start two hours earlier.
In college basketball, the ACC has also shifted the starting times for three men’s games on Saturday: Wake Forest against Duke, North Carolina facing Virginia, and Virginia Tech playing Louisville. Additionally, the women’s games featuring Wake Forest against Virginia Tech and Virginia playing North Carolina State have been moved from Sunday to Saturday. The University of North Carolina has changed the time for its game versus Syracuse on Sunday to noon ET.
Xavier will begin its men’s game against St. John’s one hour earlier, and the University of Arkansas has also adjusted its game against LSU to tip off a few hours sooner.
There are two women’s basketball games involving ranked teams that have been rescheduled: the top-ranked UW will now play Seton Hall on Saturday instead of Sunday, and No. 14 Baylor’s game against Houston has been moved from Sunday to Tuesday. Cincinnati has also shifted its women’s game versus Arizona State to start at noon Saturday.
The widespread rescheduling across various states reflects the storm’s anticipated impact. This situation mirrors a year ago when a similar storm caused numerous postponements in U.S. sports.
The Sun Belt Conference proactively altered its women’s basketball schedule, pushing back some games originally set for Thursday through Saturday. Likewise, the American Athletic Conference has made adjustments for the weekend, moving games to Friday.
In Durham, North Carolina, North Carolina Central has postponed four basketball games scheduled for Thursday through Monday.
Appalachian State has advanced its men’s basketball home game against Louisiana-Lafayette to Thursday morning. Marshall has also moved its game against Louisiana-Monroe to noon on Thursday.
Middle Tennessee State has rescheduled its Conference USA game against Jacksonville State from Saturday night to Friday night. In addition, a swim meet in Georgia and a women’s basketball game at USC Upstate have both been postponed from Saturday to Friday due to the forecast.
A few women’s basketball games have also shifted to Saturday, including No. 20 Princeton versus Brown and North Florida against Eastern Kentucky, while men’s games like Towson versus North Carolina A&T and Texas State against James Madison have been affected, too.
Rice will modify the tip-off times for its weekend men’s and women’s basketball home games, moving the men’s game against Tulsa originally set for Sunday at 3 p.m. to Saturday at 3:30 p.m. The women’s game against Tulane, originally slated for Saturday at 2 p.m., has been moved to 1 p.m.
George Mason’s women’s basketball game against Richmond will now start three hours earlier at 11 a.m. on Sunday, and it will be a closed event without spectators.
In Major League Baseball, the Texas Rangers have canceled their annual Fan Fest planned for Saturday due to concerns about freezing rain in North Texas and the safety of players, fans, and employees.
