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The University of Florida men’s basketball team will not play their Dec. 2 matchup against the Oklahoma Sooners, the school announced Sunday.
Positive tests delay start of Florida’s season
This is not the first time the virus has affected the Gators. They have been dealing with COVID issues since Nov. 22, when a player and an assistant coach received positive tests. The results led the program to pull out of their Bubbleville tournament matchups against UMass Lowell and Virginia.
Despite the positives, UF did not quarantine any additional scholarship players, the Palm Beach Post reported. Thanks to contact tracing devices called SafeTags, the program was able to move forward after pausing all team activities for one week.
— Florida Gators Men’s Basketball (@GatorsMBK) November 22, 2020
With their first two games nixed, the Gators looked forward to starting their 2020-2021 campaign with a trip to Norman, Okla. However, the virus would once again spoil their plans.
Sooners shut down all activities
While the Gators were on pause, the Oklahoma Sooners dealt with COVID problems of their own. On Nov. 25, the men’s basketball program announced they would halt all team activities due to positive tests.
Subsequently, their game scheduled for that night against UTSA and Saturday’s showdown against UCF were postponed.
The Oklahoma men's basketball program has paused organized team activities due to positive COVID-19 tests and contact tracing.
OU's games against UTSA (tonight) and UCF (Saturday) have been postponed.
— Oklahoma Basketball (@OU_MBBall) November 25, 2020
Both programs hope for Dec. 2 start
With their initial home openers now nixed, both programs had looked to Dec. 2 as the day they would begin their campaigns for the 2020-2021 season. But that was not to be, as the schools announced yesterday that they had mutually agreed to cancel the game.
The game was supposed to be the beginning of a home and home series, but means the series will begin now begin in 2021.
Oklahoma and Florida have mutually agreed to cancel the men’s basketball game scheduled for Wednesday, Dec. 2.
The start of the home-and-home series between the Sooners and Gators will be pushed back to next season.
— Oklahoma Basketball (@OU_MBBall) November 29, 2020
Pending any other cancellations, both programs will open their season on Dec. 6. The Gators take on Stetson at home at 2 p.m., while the Sooners travel to TCU for a 6 p.m. tip off.
