An NBA game and dozens of college basketball games across a wide swath of the country are being reshuffled because of an approaching major winter storm.
The storm that meteorologists say could rival the damage of a major hurricane is expected to bring snow, ice and frigid temperatures from New Mexico to New England starting Friday. Forecasters warn the weather system could bring catastrophic damage, widespread power outages and bitterly cold weather.
In the NBA, the start time of the Washington Wizards game at the Charlotte Hornets on Saturday has been moved to noon.
The ACC moved up the start times for three men’s basketball games on Saturday: Wake Forest at Duke, North Carolina at Virginia, and Virginia Tech at Louisville.
The number of states where college games were being adjusted showed the large path of the approaching storm. The forecast comes exactly a year after another storm forced postponements across U.S. sports.
The Sun Belt Conference preemptively shook up its women’s basketball schedule, moving around the start times on several games from Thursday through Saturday. The American Conference also adjusted its weekend men’s and women’s basketball schedules, moving some games up to Friday.
North Carolina Central postponed two men’s and two women’s basketball games scheduled to be played from Thursday through Monday in Durham, North Carolina.
Middle Tennessee State men’s basketball moved its Conference USA showdown with Jacksonville State from Saturday to Friday evening.
Tennessee’s swim meet at Georgia and the USC Upstate women’s basketball game at Longwood were pushed to Friday from Saturday because of the forecast.
Among other women’s basketball games moved up several hours Saturday included No. 20 Princeton at Brown and North Florida at Eastern Kentucky, along with men’s games involving Towson at North Carolina A&T and Texas State at James Madison.
George Mason’s women’s basketball game against Richmond was moved up three hours to 11 a.m. Sunday, with no fans permitted to attend the game.
Major League Baseball’s Texas Rangers canceled their annual Fan Fest event scheduled for Saturday because of the forecast for frozen precipitation in North Texas and “in the interest of safety for players, fans, and employees.”
Xavier moved up its start time for Saturday’s game against St. John’s by one hour.