How the impending snowstorm might affect the Virginia-Syracuse matchup

Virginia is scheduled to take on the Syracuse Orange at JPJ this Saturday at noon. However, Charlottesville may be close to the "bullseye" in this weekend's winter storm, with the potential for two feet (or more) of snow. (The area is currently under a Winter Storm Watch.)  Game-time will be in the heart of the storm, which should last through the day on Saturday.

What can we expect?

Under ACC policy, "The only reason a game should be cancelled and/or postponed is if the conditions affect the safety of the teams or game officials involved."   If the players and refs can make it to JPJ, guidelines dictate that the game shall be played.  The Orange played Monday against Duke, so shouldn't have a conflict if they tried to arrive in Charlottesville a day early on Thursday, though no information has been released about their travel plans.

Additionally, under ACC policy no decision to postpone a game shall be made earlier than 24 hours before game-time. So, in this case, no official decision can be made until Friday afternoon at the earliest, and no official announcements at all have been made yet.

There have been rumblings that Virginia would allow free admission or refund tickets to the game if it is played, but, according to the University, these rumors have no traction as of today.

The most recent winter weather-related ACC basketball postponement was in 2014, when Duke's bus was unable to make the trip to Chapel Hill; the game was made up the following week.

But the last time snow  affecting a UVA game was in early February, 2010. First, Charlottesville received up to two feet of snow on February 5th, with the storm still tapering off when Virginia's February 6th game against Wake Forest tipped.  The game went on as scheduled, and the lower bowl of JPJ was packed and loud for Virginia's overtime loss to the Demon Deacons.

Another storm hit the mid-Atlantic the following week, postponing UVA's game at Maryland from Wednesday, 2/10, to the following Monday, 2/15.  Skirting the ACC's official policy, that postponement was made "in the best interest of all involved," as UMD had shut down and roads, sidewalks, and parking lots were impassable.  (Virginia, however, ended up playing Saturday, Monday, Wednesday, Saturday that next week, picking up 4 losses in 8 days).

The same opportunity would exist to theoretically makeup a postponed UVA-Syracuse game. The only dates to possibly reschedule the game for, such that neither team would be forced to play games on back-to-back days, are Wednesday, 2/24, Thursday, 2/25, and Thursday, 3/3.  The first two days would work out fairly well, as Syracuse has the week off, and UVA plays Monday at Miami then is scheduled to be back in Charlottesville to take on UNC Saturday. Obviously, adding another game to an already big-time week is not what Wahoo fans would hope for, especially that late in the year.

Pushing the game back one day until Sunday doesn't appear to be a viable option, since (a) the Hoos play Monday night in Winston-Salem, and (b) the women's basketball team plays Pitt at JPJ at 1:00 p.m. If you're stuck in Charlottesville, you might as well go and cheer on the Hoos Sunday as well.

We'll keep you guys updated as this develops in the coming days, or you can check for updates from the University on VirginiaSports.com and on Twitter at @VirginiaSports.