MWC eyes return to football
Lobos could start play as early as Oct.24
Yahoo Sports reported Monday that the Mountain West Conference is on the verge of approving an abbreviated football season this fall while an anonymous source told the Associated Press on Tuesday that the league’s presidents could vote as early as Thursday on a return to play.
The tentative plan would call for games to start as early as Oct. 24, culminating in the conference championship game in mid- to late-December. Conference leaders have privately devised a plan for rapid antigen tests that would be conducted several times a week to detect any signs of COVID-19 and ensure the safety of players, coaches and support staff.
Mountain West Commissioner Craig Thompson said last week that the conference required daily tests to be part of any plan for football’s return.
“We’re still working with the Governor’s Office and the league office so there are some things I can’t really say,” University of New Mexico athletic director Eddie Nuñez said Tuesday. “We’re continuing to look at every alternative and working closely with medical experts, Mountain West officials and observing all health guidelines to make sure we cover every possibility that exists.”
Nuñez said he’s optimistic the MWC will have a football season but was quick to rule out a fall season for cross-country, volleyball and women’s soccer. Those sports, he said, have not been discussed for a fall return and each is slated for a spring start.
“Right now the focus is on football, if that’s even possible, and getting basketball started on time in November,” Nuñez said.
UNM’s football team has continued regular workouts despite the pandemic, separating into small groups spread over several hours on most weekdays. Players often meet with position coaches in tents erected around the training facility at University Stadium, running drills and lifting weights in limited settings.
“Our football team has been working extremely hard and followed every guideline required of us,” said UNM football coach Danny Gonzales. “We are ready to compete.”
The Lobos were only a week into their annual spring practice period when the pandemic hit in mid-March. It forced the team to cut its workout short by a month, forcing Gonzales and his staff to get creative with keeping the team engaged and together.
The MWC suspended fall sports Aug. 10, one day before the Big Ten and Pac-12 announced their plans to do the same. The Big Ten announced last week it has reversed course and will start an amended football schedule featuring 10 regular season games beginning Oct. 24.
One of the main stumbling blocks is individual state health restrictions that prohibit large gatherings. Just last week, New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham eased the state’s restrictions to groups of no more than 10 with social distancing and masks still required.
California and Hawaii also had strict health guidelines, but California is now allowing communities to create their own policies that make college sports more realistic.
“Some of the local areas still have the same deal as we do but it’s all kind of changing,” Nuñez said. “San Diego [State] is good to go, and by the middle of October you could see San Francisco, San Jose, that area for San Jose State and Fresno State, even Hawaii get cleared.”
A number of states bordering New Mexico have begun competitive sports at lower levels. As of this week, Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado, Utah and Arizona all had high school football and other sports. It wasn’t until Sept. 14 that New Mexico allowed the measured return of preseason high school volleyball, cross-country, golf and powerlifting, albeit with strict health guidelines.
The prep season for those sports begins the week of Oct. 5, with a shortened regular season leading into state tournaments before the middle of December.
The question then becomes whether UNM would face a similar situation as professional soccer’s New Mexico United. The United have played every game on the road this season, leading a nomadic existence that keeps them in their own quarantine bubble when training in isolation at home but forced to travel to maintain a schedule.
“Every situation is different,” Nuñez said. “For us, we would have to generate some kind of revenue to cover the cost of travel even if we had some of those games at home with no fans. We would need those TV contracts.”