Northwestern Women's Basketball: Wildcats handed two losses following team's refusal to play USC, UCLA during LA wildfires

In January, the Northwestern Wildcats did not fly to Los Angeles to play the USC Trojans and UCLA Bruins. The program forfeited two of its biggest games of the season due to concerns about the LA wildfires.

On Jan. 7, Southern California was hit by 14 huge wildfires, affecting more than 18,000 buildings and 57,000 acres of land and ending 29 lives.

The Big Ten has now penalized the Wildcats for not participating in the games, handing USC and UCLA a win.

"Per Conference rules, forfeitures will be assessed to Northwestern. As a result, the Wildcats will receive two loses in the conference standings, while UCLA and USC each will be credited with a win," Big Ten declared in its statement.

The wildfires were active when Northwestern was supposed to play the Bruins (Jan. 12) and the Trojans (Jan. 15), validating the program's concerns. While the school accepted the Big Ten's decision, athletic director Mark Jackson reiterated the genuineness of its decision not to travel in a statement.

"While we acknowledge that bylaws and rules are in place for a reason and we will abide by them, it does not diminish this team’s sound reasoning for not participating during this natural disaster. We will continue to support our Women’s Basketball student-athletes and hope for a strong recovery for the Southern California region."

How does the Big Ten's decision affect Northwestern, UCLA and USC?

Northwestern falls to (9-19, 2-15 conference) on its season with the two losses, sitting only above Penn State on the Big Ten leaderboard. The season finale against Nebraska on Sunday is the only game left on its slate.

For UCLA, the news now officially hands it its third consecutive 27-wins in a season. Its 27-1 (15-1 conference) record is also the best under Cory Close's guidance and in the school's illustrious history.

For Lindsay Gottlieb and USC, the update lifts it to a 25-2 (16-1 conference) record for the best run in the league yet. It also sets the stage for the LA-based university's season finale.

Lauren Betts' Bruins and JuJu Watkins' Trojans meet at Pauley Pavilion on Mar. 1 to conclude their season. In case UCLA wins its Feb. 26 game against Wisconsin, the matchup against USC will be for the bragging rights of the Big Ten.