Fresno State has game at San Diego State rescheduled, with big travel challenge added
Fresno State has had another game that was postponed by COVID-19 issues rescheduled by the Mountain West, pushing its travel challenges front and center along with its quest for a high seed at the conference tournament.
The Bulldogs (14-6, 4-3 in the MW) will now play at San Diego State on March 3, with a final regular-season game at Wyoming already on the schedule on March 5.
The conference did move up a game against New Mexico at the Save Mart Center to Feb. 28 from March 1, creating more space between the final three games. But the final two games for Fresno State are more of an issue than the first of the final three, given the travel involved and the opponents. San Diego State is 11-5, 3-2 and fourth in the conference, Wyoming is 16-3, 5-1 and second and the Lobos are 8-13, 1-7 and 10th.
Fresno State is fifth in the Mountain West with a game on Tuesday at last-place San Jose State.
It has for the first time in coach Justin Hutson’s tenure four charter flight legs available, and three already have been used to get to and from Nevada and to get back from New Mexico. The fourth is scheduled to be used to get back from Wyoming, closing out the regular season.
A charter leg between games at San Diego State and Wyoming two days apart obviously would be useful – the Bulldogs would likely catch a commercial flight to Denver and then bus the 130 miles to Laramie, Wyo., subject to flight delays or cancellations and road conditions once on the ground. When Fresno State traveled to New Mexico last week, it flew to San Francisco and when its connecting flight to Albuquerque was canceled was stuck for more than eight hours, getting out of the airport only for a trip for food.
But a charter would have them in Laramie a few hours after playing the Aztecs and with more time to prepare for the Cowboys the following day rather than traveling.
How the Mountain West is dealing with travel
Fresno State was originally scheduled to play at San Diego State on Jan. 5, but that game was postponed due to COVID-19 concerns in the Bulldogs program.
The Bulldogs women also had a game rescheduled – they will play Nevada at the Save Mart Center on Feb. 14; it was originally on the scheduled for Jan. 12 but postponed due to COVID-19 concerns in the Wolf Pack program.
Travel has been an issue across the conference with the postponed and rescheduled games for the men and the women – there were five men’s and two women’s games rescheduled on Monday and four men’s and three women’s games moved to another date.
Some programs have added charter travel including New Mexico, which will play Air Force at home two days before it plays its rescheduled game on Feb. 28 at Fresno State.
The Lobos in early January announced its men’s and women’s basketball teams would travel by charter the remainder of the conference season, due to tight turnarounds between rescheduled games, the threat of COVID-19 and its impact on commercial air travel.