The Holiday Bowl is the latest bowl to get canceled due to COVID-19 cases. Tuesday afternoon, UCLA confirmed that it wouldn’t be able to participate in the game against N.C. State because of a lack of defensive linemen. The game was set to kick off at 8 p.m. ET.
The Holiday Bowl was set to be played at Petco Park because there is no major football stadium in San Diego. San Diego State has been playing home games in Carson, California. And Petco Park looked good ahead of kickoff.
The Holiday Bowl becomes the fifth bowl to get canceled due to COVID-19 cases. The Arizona Bowl, Fenway Bowl, Hawaii Bowl, and Military Bowl have also been canceled so far while the Gator Bowl and Sun Bowl each had to find new teams to replace teams that couldn’t play.
Here’s a rundown of the ones that have been called off so far in the 2021-22 bowl season.
Dec. 24: Hawai’i Bowl — Hawai’i vs. Memphis
Dec. 27: Military Bowl — Boston College vs. East Carolina
Dec. 29: Fenway Bowl — Virginia vs. SMU
Dec. 31: Arizona Bowl — Boise State vs. Central Michigan
The Hawaii Bowl, scheduled for Christmas Eve, became the first bowl to be canceled because of surging COVID-19 cases. The Hawaii Bowl was canceled one day before it was to kick off.
The Arizona Bowl was canceled Monday after Boise State was unable to play because of COVID-19 cases. Central Michigan then moved from the Arizona Bowl to the Sun Bowl to replace Miami after the Hurricanes backed out due to COVID cases. CMU will play Washington State on Friday.
The inaugural Fenway Bowl in Boston between the University of Virginia and Southern Methodist University — scheduled for Wednesday — was also canceled. The team was “extremely disappointed,” Virginia Athletics Director Carla Williams said.
All activities associated with the Fenway Bowl will no longer take place, Fenway Sports Management said, according to CNN.
As for the granddaddy of all the bowl games, the Tournament of Roses said it will still go ahead with the Rose Parade and Rose Bowl Game on New Year’s Day, despite the growing concern over COVID-19 cases.
However, all indoor events related to the Rose Parade and Rose Bowl Game will no longer take place because of the rising number of coronavirus cases across Los Angeles County.
