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MAC to make sweeping changes to conference championships, regular season schedules due to pandemic
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The ongoing coronavirus pandemic has forced the Mid-American Conference (MAC) to make sweeping changes to conference tournaments and its regular season schedules in several sports. WTOL.com reported the news on Tuesday.
MAC Commissioner Jon Steinbrecher told WTOL that eight sports will see the conference postseason tournaments eliminated beginning in 2021. Those sports include: Baseball, softball, men’s and women’s soccer, men’s and women’s tennis, women’s lacrosse and field hockey.
“The pandemic and resulting financial issues play into that,” Steinbrecher said in the report. “As the financial situation changes, it will give us a chance to re-evaluate.”
Adjustments will also be made to the men’s and women’s basketball tournaments, as the league will be eliminating first-round home games moving forward. Instead, the top eight teams from the regular season will advance directly to the tournament host site, which is located in Cleveland.
The MAC will also be increasing the number of regular-season conference games from 18 to 20.
Currently, there have been no plans to change the schedule or championship game for the MAC’s football season.
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