Iowa vs. Northwestern game will not be played Wednesday due to Wildcats’ health and safety issues

Wednesday night’s Big Ten matchup between Northwestern and Iowa scheduled to take place in Iowa City, Iowa, will not be played due to health and safety protocols in place within the Northwestern program, the two schools announced Tuesday morning. It’s unclear if the game will be rescheduled at a later date, but the schools said they are working together in conjunction with the Big Ten to try to identify possible dates to play the game.

If the game can’t be rescheduled, the Big Ten has a forfeit policy it enacted during the pandemic that says, in part: “If a team is unable to participate in a scheduled conference competition due to COVID-19 and as a result the competition is unable to occur on the calendar day on which it is scheduled, the competition shall be considered a forfeit by the team unable to participate and shall not be rescheduled.” 

That policy was put in place for 2021-22, however, and it is unclear if that policy stands in 2022-23. If it does, per the policy, Northwestern would be assessed a loss, Iowa would be assessed a win and the conference standings would be adjusted accordingly.

Iowa is 12-6 on the season and 4-3 in Big Ten play after opening Big Ten action 0-3. Northwestern is 12-5 on the season with a 3-3 conference record.