NCAA Basketball: Impact of game cancellation between Virginia vs Florida

MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA - APRIL 08: The Virginia Cavaliers celebrate their teams 85-77 win over the Texas Tech Red Raiders to win the the 2019 NCAA men's Final Four National Championship game at U.S. Bank Stadium on April 08, 2019 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images) /

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Virginia Cavaliers NCAA Basketball (Photo by Ryan M. Kelly/Getty Images) /

Virginia and Florida were set to meet in ‘Bubbleville’. With the cancellation, both teams lose a valuable game a month out from conference play.

The 2020-21 NCAA Men’s Division I season promised to be the most unpredictable in history, yet the most predictable circumstance happened. With the tip-off just five days away, the game between Virginia and Florida was canceled due to COVID-19 concerns and protocols. With the health and safety of players and staff being the main concern, there are still implications on the court as well.

An early-season match-up between two teams that could very well be in the Top-25 come March is also an opportunity for a coach to see what his team is made of. In addition, when it comes to the NET Ranking, every quality opponent becomes more important in an unpredictable season.

The number of potentially ranked opponents fell from three to two for Virginia, and they will not be challenged until a Dec. 9, 2020 game versus a difficult Michigan State team. As for the Gators, they fall down to just one game versus a ranked opponent prior to conference play, which will be Florida State on Dec. 12, 2020. There were some big storylines going into this game, and these storylines will only get bigger without this game.

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