Fall football
Pac-12, MW vote to play
College football is back on out West.
The Pac-12 and Mountain West conferences announced Thursday they will play football in the fall, overturning August decisions to punt on playing in the fall because of concerns about COVID-19.
The change comes a week after the Big Ten announced it was reversing its decision to hold off on fall football and would start its season in late October.
The Pac-12 is set to kick off a seven-game football season Nov. 6, while the Mountain West is targeting an Oct. 24 start for an eightgame slate.
With the conference having secured daily COVID-19 testing for its athletes and been given the green light from state and local health officials, the Pac-12 CEO Group voted unanimously Thursday to lift a Jan. 1 moratorium on athletic competition.
“The discussion among the presidents and chancellors was largely about the benefits as well as the cons of starting in the fall versus starting in January,” University of Oregon President Michael Schill said. “The consensus opinion was the benefits of starting in the fall were much greater than the benefits of starting in the … winter.
“Things changed from the first time we addressed this issue.”
Three hours after the Pac-12 announced its return, the Mountain West did the same in a tweet that said the decision was “subject to approval from state, county and local officials.”
“The Mountain West leadership has been working hard to get our young men back on the field in a safe manner,” University of Hawaii athletic director David Matlin, whose school is a football-only
member of the conference, said in a statement. “The health and safety of our student-athletes, coaches, staff and community has been our top priority. There are more challenges ahead but creating a safe path for our Warriors to return to the gridiron is a big step forward. We will continue to be diligent in our efforts and work with governmental agencies to pursue approvals.”
Mountain West Commissioner Craig Thompson told the AP last week the conference would not move forward on a fall football season without its schools having the ability to test daily.
Both the conference and UH are planning to hold virtual press conferences today.
“I am elated for our players, our staff and our fans for the opportunity to compete and play the 2020 football season,” first-year Rainbow Warriors coach Todd Graham said in a statement. “I am extremely proud and honored to lead these fine men. I can’t wait to compete on the field with them.”
The Pac-12 championship game is set for Dec. 18, putting the conference in play for the College Football Playoff and New Year’s Six Bowl selection — and the multimillion dollar payouts that come with them.
The Mountain West championship is scheduled for Dec. 19.
The Mid-American Conference is now the only FBS league not scheduled to play this fall, however that could be changing soon. The MAC university presidents are scheduled to meet today and will reconsider fall football.
The Southeastern Conference begins play this weekend, joining the Big 12, Atlantic Coast Conference and three others that have been up and running since Labor Day weekend.
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 COVID19-related issues.
This week, 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 sports in the Pac-12 came Sept. 3 when it entered an agreement with diagnostic testing company Quidel that will give each school the capacity to conduct daily antigen tests on their athletes.
Still, it took three weeks for the conference to reverse course on fall football, leaving it starting later and scheduled to play fewer games than the other Power Five conferences.
“I don’t think we’re behind,” Schill said. “I think that we are acting deliberately. We are acting in the students best interest. We waited until we were able to if not ensure, protect their health and safety.”
Schill said state and local restrictions in California and Oregon to stem the spread of the virus made it impossible for six Pac-12 teams in those states to practice football and slowed the conference’s return to play decision.
“Those barriers came down once the daily antigen test was available,” Schill said.
In addition, 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 Maui News contributed to this story.