FCS may play fall and spring
INDIANAPOLIS — The NCAA Division I Council has proposed a framework to conduct a season in the Football Championship Subdivision, with teams allowed to play up to 11 games from this fall into next spring and a playoff bracket reduced from 24 to 16 teams.
The regular season would span 13 weeks through April 17, followed by the playoffs through May 15. The recommendations, voted on Wednesday, will be forwarded to the Division I Board of Directors for approval.
None of the 13 FCS conferences are currently playing league games this fall because of the coronavirus pandemic, and nearly 800 games involving FCS teams were canceled. The Missouri Valley, Ohio Valley, Southern and Southland conferences are allowing teams to play nonconference games if they choose.
The SoCon includes the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, which is scheduled to play Oct. 24 at Football Bowl Subdivision member Western Kentucky.
NCAA spokeswoman Michelle Hosick said teams can play a maximum of 11 games over the fall and spring semesters, with no more than eight in the spring. For example, she said, if a team plays six games in the fall it can play up to five in the spring within the 13-week regular season.
Teams playing more than three games in the fall and, thus, fewer than eight in the spring can still be considered for the playoffs, which is one of the marquee features of the FCS.
There are 15 FCS teams that have at least one game scheduled this fall. Some of those teams have indicated they don’t plan to play in the spring.
The council also forwarded proposals on practice structure and said its overarching goal is to have the FCS football season return to its usual fall calendar for the 202122 academic year.
Can’t block, can’t play
Saturday’s scheduled game between the 12th-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels and Charlotte has been canceled after the 49ers announced contact tracing had depleted their offensive line.
Charlotte announced the decision Thursday, two days before the Conference USA program was to visit Chapel Hill for the first meeting between the programs. The 49ers are in their second season under coach Will Healy, a former Boyd Buchanan standout and UTC assistant.
According to a school release, there have been three positive coronavirus cases among football players discovered through regular testing during the past two weeks. Charlotte didn’t specify how many offensive linemen were affected by contract tracing, saying only it was “several.”
“We’re extremely disappointed to have to cancel our game at North Carolina,” athletic director Mike Hill said. “While I know our team is heartbroken, due to the number of players in quarantine, we could not safely play. We very much appreciate the University of North Carolina working with us to schedule this game.”
UNC and Charlotte announced Aug. 8 that they would meet six weeks later.
Fall plans discussed
Pac-12 university presidents and chancellors will meet today and be presented options for staging a fall football season, but commissioner Larry Scott said a vote by the CEO Group is not expected.
“(Friday) is a chance to get everyone caught up on what’s been a very dynamic and rapidly changing series of events over the last 24 to 48 hours,” Scott told The Associated Press on Thursday. “We’ll obviously have to decide soon, but I’m not necessarily expecting a decision (Friday).”
A day after the Big Ten changed course from its decision to postpone fall sports becaise of the pandemic and set a late October start for football, the Pac-12 appeared headed toward a similar move.
The Mountain West is trying to do the same, and there even is some movement in the Mid-American Conference toward reconsidering a fall season.
“The board has asked for a plan,” said Mountain West commissioner Craig Thompson, whose conference’s university presidents’ next meeting is next week.