Arizona's road games against Illinois and Gonzaga that had previously been scheduled for December will not be played this year. Instead, the teams agreed Friday to postpone the nonconference contests until next season.
The COVID-19 pandemic has certainly changed a lot about college athletics and up until last week teams in the Pac-12 weren't even sure they would be able to play when the rest of the country tipped off Nov. 25.
That is no longer the case and programs like Arizona now know they will be able to play this fall, but the new problem has become scheduling.
Most programs are looking to have schedules that feature more regional opponents, so making a trip to Champaign to play the Illini in a return game after last season's meeting at McKale Center simply doesn't fit into that plan.
Teams are looking to be more cautious at this stage and the Pac-12 has some of the most stringent testing policies in the country when it comes to the coronavirus. Since the idea of playing in a bubble is not something the conference wants to explore too much, it has put a program like Arizona in the spot to figure out how to safely piece together the nonconference portion of the schedule.
There is also the issue of fans not being allowed to fill arenas this season that has come into play as well. Gonzaga head coach Mark Few said last month that his team's marquee games would be delayed until next season when the hope is fans will be allowed to attend with the matchups. Playing against top competition with limited or no fans is not appealing to programs.
Most teams in regions of the country where fans will be limited or not permitted at all have started to move marquee games to later seasons. The Pac-12 does not expect to allow fans until at least 2021 and Arizona athletic director Dave Heeke said last week that could last into the new year.
In addition to announcing the two changes to the upcoming nonconference schedule Friday, the Wildcats have also reportedly backed out of a trip to Brooklyn to play in the NIT Season Tip-Off that that was previously scheduled for the week of Thanksgiving. That event is likely to move to Orlando and was set to feature UA, Texas Tech, Cincinnati and St. John's. St. John's has reportedly also backed out of the event.
CBS Sports' Matt Norlander reported Friday morning that Arizona is expected to remain in Tucson for the duration of the nonconference season with the possibility of a multi-team event at McKale Center expected to happen at this stage in the process.
The NCAA's 27-game cap on regular season games has certainly made scheduling a difficult process for college basketball programs. The Pac-12 had been set to move from an 18-game conference slate to 20 league games this season and that is expected to remain the case despite the challenges brought on by the coronavirus pandemic.
What it means is UA is likely going to have a nonconference slate that consists of teams from mid-major conferences, which will be particularly helpful for a Wildcats squad that will feature plenty of new faces this year. That would help ease the team into the conference portion of the season.
Arizona's 90-69 win over the Illini last season marked one of the most impressive victories for the Wildcats. This year's trip to Champaign would have been the first meeting against the Illini in Illinois since 1987.
UA has lost three consecutive games to Gonzaga, but its last win came in a road meeting with the Bulldogs in 2015.
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