USU MBB loses scheduled games as Myrtle Beach Invitational canceled due to COVID-19
Utah State’s men’s basketball out-of-conference schedule took a major hit Tuesday morning with the announcement that the Myrtle Beach Invitational has been canceled due to concerns COVID-19. The tournament would have been the first games the men played in the 2020-21 season.
— Myrtle Beach Invitational (@MyrtleInvite) October 27, 2020
Initially, the tournament was to feature eight teams — Utah State, Charlotte, Dayton, Loyola Chicago, Missouri, Nebraska, Penn and Pittsburgh — who would play 12 combined games on Nov. 19, 20 and 22 in a bracket format. Each team would play one game per day regardless if they won or lost. When the NCAA announced a revised start date to the season on Nov. 25, the start of the Invitational was moved to that date. The location was also moved from South Carolina, to Orlando with rumors that a bubble akin to what the NBA did for its playoffs would be formed. But earlier this week, cracks began to show in the planning and on Monday, The Athletic broke the news that ESPN, who owns 10 events including the Myrtle Beach Invitational, was scrapping its bubble plans.
Aside from the Invitational, USU had five non-conference games scheduled according to reports. These included BYU (Dec. 5), St. Mary’s (Dec. 12), Dixie State (Dec. 15), Weber State (Dec. 18) and Mississippi State (Dec. 21). An exhibition game is also scheduled with Maryville State on Dec. 8.
Utah State’s conference schedule has already been released, giving the Aggies 18 set games on the schedule barring any last-minute cancellations due to COVID-19.