Mocs not ready to make call yet
For now, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football program is giving it a go — even as the Mocs don’t necessarily know the landscape that lies in front of them.
On Wednesday, the NCAA announced that no fall sports championships would take place unless 50% of the teams within that given level would be eligible to participate in the postseason. As of Saturday afternoon, only four of 13 Football Championship Subdivision leagues — the Big South, Ohio Valley, Southern and Southland conferences — hadn’t given up on playing in the fall, with others either opting not to play at all this school year or to consider a spring 2021 season.
In addition, the Mid-American Conference announced
Saturday it would not play sports this fall, making it the first league at college football’s highest level — Division I’s Bowl Subdivision — to call off its fall season after similar decisions recently for the NCAA’s Division II and Division III and the NAIA.
On Friday, announcements by the Big Sky Conference and Pioneer Football League all but ended any chance of FCS playoffs this calendar year, with more than half of the 127 programs at that level now indicating they will not play fall sports, which also include cross country, soccer and volleyball.
The SoCon, in which UTC competes, plans to meet this week to figure out a plan, with a number of fall scenarios still in place.
“We have been monitoring the daily changes in the FCS football landscape and continue to communicate with the Southern Conference Council of Presidents and other Directors of Athletics in our league as a part of the ongoing and comprehensive review of the COVID-19 environment and plans for fall sports,” UTC athletic director Mark Wharton said in a statement released Saturday. “As has been the case from the beginning, the overall health and safety of student-athletes and all participants are our foremost priorities. UTC’s plans for fall sports will be greatly impacted by the SoCon’s decision that comes out of next week’s discussions. Once we know what the league is planning to do, we will be able to make our final decision.”