Gonzaga Pauses Basketball Activities Through Dec. 14 After Positive COVID Tests

The Gonzaga men's basketball team has suspended team activities through Dec. 14, per multiple reports on Sunday. 

That followed the Bulldogs and Baylor Bears—the Nos. 1 and 2 teams in the nation—canceling their highly anticipated matchup on Saturday for COVID-19-related reasons.  

Gonzaga has started the season 3-0, impressing in victories over No. 7 Kansas (102-90), Auburn (90-67) and No. 11 West Virginia (87-82). In Drew Timme (23.3 PPG, 6.3 RPG), Corey Kispert (22.3 PPG) and Jalen Suggs (13.3 PPG, 6.3 APG, 2.3 SPG), they have three legitimate stars. 

It doesn't seem premature to suggest a healthy Gonzaga is a clear front-runner to win the national championship this season, even if it's facing a hiatus early in the season. 

Such are the complications of holding a college basketball season when COVID-19 cases are spiking around the United States, with CNN reporting there have been a million new cases in December's first five days alone. 

"It's a fair question to ask, 'Should we be doing this?' We are going to continue to see these kind of disruptions over and over again," ESPN college basketball analyst Jay Bilas said after Gonzaga-Baylor was canceled, per Scott Gleeson of USA Today. "We felt like we knew this would be a bumpy ride throughout the winter time with programs pausing activity and games being postponed or canceled."

On Saturday, No. 10 Illinois vs. UT Martin and No. 24 Ohio State vs. Alabama A&M were also canceled. In total, over 50 college basketball games have already been postponed or canceled, per Gleeson.

"You couldn't be starting a season at a worse possible time" Yale's School of Public Health infectious disease epidemiologist Dr. Sten Vermund said before the season began. "... It would be best to delay the season until there's a better handle on the virus."