Another Year?
NCAA to consider extra year of eligibility for fall athletes
Whether college football players play a lot in the fall, a little in the spring or not at all over the next 10 months, some athletic administrators want to give them a mulligan on the 2020-21 season.
The NCAA Division I Council meets today with two important issues on the agenda:
— What will happen with the eligibility of fall sport athletes heading into an uncertain season already impacted by the pandemic?
— Should the NCAA stage fall sports championship events in the spring now that most of Division I has punted on trying to play sports in the first portion of the school year?
The Council’s job is to make a recommendation that the Division I Board of Directors can vote on when it meets Friday.
“I think the most forgiving, flexible plan would be the best,” Oklahoma athletic director Joe Castiglione said of the first question.
The council already made one recommendation last week. A year of eligibility and an additional season of competition would be granted to fall sport athletes who opt out of this coming season because of COVID-19 concerns or if they participate in 50% or less of the maximum number of competitions allowed by NCAA rules.
For a football player, that would be half or fewer of 12 regular-season games. Most of the Division I teams still hoping to play this fall have fewer than 12 games scheduled. Meanwhile, four Bowl Subdivision conferences and all of the Championship Subdivision have said they won’t play in the fall and instead try to have a spring football season.