Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Pac-12 season to kick off in November
The Pac-12 on Thursday seta Nov. 6 start date for a six-game football regular season, following the Big Ten in overturning its August decision to postpone until spring because of concerns about playing through the pandemic.
With the conference having secured daily COVID-19 testing for its athletes and having been given the green light from some state and local health officials in California and Oregon, the Pac12 university presidents voted unanimously to lift a Jan. 1 moratoriumon athletic competition.
The Pac-12’s men’s and women’s basketball seasons can start Nov. 25, in line with the NCAA’s recently announced opening date. The football championship game will be held on Dec. 18, putting the conference in play for College Football Playoff and New Year’s Six Bowl selection.
Amajor college football season that six weeks ago seemed to be in peril, slowly crumbling away, is reforming and has a chance to be almost whole by November. The Big Ten reversed course last week, with kickoff scheduled for the weekend of Oct. 24.
The Mountain West presidents were meeting Thursday night to discuss a possible late October start to the football the Mid-American Conference, the first FBS league to postpone, is also reconsidering playing in the fall.
The SEC begins play this weekend, joining the Big 12, ACC and three others that have been up and running forweeks.
The season is ongoing but it has been anything but normal. There have been 21 games postponed or canceled since Aug. 26 because of teams battling various levels of COVID-19-related issues.
Thisweek, four games scheduled to be played Saturday have been called off, including Notre Dame at Wake Forest because of a virus outbreak among Fighting Irish players.
The turning point for the return of fall sports for the Pac-12 came earlier this month when it entered an agreementwith a diagnostic testing company that will give each school the capability to conduct daily antigen tests on their athletes.
Daily testing should also decrease the number of athletes who end up in quarantine after coming into what would be considered a high-risk contact with someone who has tested positive.
“From the beginning of this crisis, our focus has been on following the science, data and counsel of our public health and infectious disease experts,” Pac12 Commissioner Larry Scott said in a statement. “Our agreementwith Quidel to provide daily rapid-results testing has been a game-changer in enabling us to move forward with confidence that we can create a safe environment for our student-athletes while giving them the opportunity to pursue their dreams.”
The Pac-12 said its decision to restart sports is subject to approval from state and local public health officials.
Daily testing helped the Pac12 convince state and local officials in California and Oregonto lift restrictions that have made it impossible for teams to prepare for a football season.
No fans will be permitted at Pac-12 sporting events taking place on campus, the conference said.
Pruitt gets raise, extension from Tenn.
KNOXVILLE, TENN. » No. 16 Tennessee has given coach Jeremy Pruitt a raise and a contract extension through 2025 after two seasons on the job.
Tennessee announced the two-year extension Thursday that also will increase Pruitt’s pay $400,000 from this season to $4.2million in 2021.
Pruitt is 13-12 as ahead coach heading into Saturday night’s season opener at South Carolina. The Vols start this pandemic-affected season ranked No. 16 having won six straight games, including the Gator Bowl in January. He also has had a top 10 recruiting class for 2020.