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NCAA delaying decision on fall sports championships
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A decision on NCAA fall sports won’t come until August.
On Friday, the NCAA Board of Governors met to discuss the prospect of hosting fall sports and championships during the fall 2020. While some conferences in varying divisions have already opted to postpone athletics until at least spring, the association will not make a final decision until next month, when it has more information regarding the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
The NCAA released a statement on its decision on Friday afternoon.
“Today the Board of Governors and I agreed that we must continue to thoughtfully and aggressively monitor health conditions around the country and the implementation of the COVID-19 guidelines we issued last week,” the statement read.
“The health and well-being of college athletes is the highest priority in deciding whether to proceed with our 22 NCAA championships beginning in late November. We all remain deeply concerned about the infection trend lines we see. It is clear that the format of our championships will have to change if they are to be conducted in a safe and fair manner.
“We discussed other complexities in addition to the health and safety impacts, to include team availability, travel limitations and various local and state restrictions. We will continue our discussions in August.”
Earlier in the week, West Virginia athletic director Shane Lyons sent a letter to the Board of Governors on behalf of the Football Oversight Committee, urging the board to delay its decision on fall sports. It appears that the message got across.
“We are simply requesting that the Board of Governors not make an immediate decision on the outcome of fall championships so that conferences and schools may have ample latitude to continue to evaluate the viability of playing football this fall,” Lyons wrote.
“The Committee strongly believes that a patient approach to evaluating that a patient approach to evaluating the possibility of conducting 2020 fall championships will provide the remaining conferences and schools the best opportunity to make deliberate decisions about conducting practices and competition this fall.”
Even though some college football officials have said that a decision on the season will be made in late July, there might not be a final resolution until August.
Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB