Tough decision

Big East going conference-only for fall sports

In the latest domino to fall for what could be a very limited college fall sports schedule, the Big East announced on Thursday its fall sports teams will not play any non-conference games this season.

This affects men’s and women’s soccer, men’s and women’s cross country, volleyball and field hockey. It does not, as of now, have any impact on winter sports, including men’s and women’s basketball, whose non-conference schedules typically begin around the first week of November.

This also doesn’t affect the UConn football team, since the Big East doesn’t sponsor football. UConn football has already lost four games from its schedule, however, since the Big Ten has canceled all nonconference football games and the ACC reportedly is slated to do the same. The Huskies were slated to play at Illinois and host Indiana this season, as well as at

Virginia and North Carolina, as they begin life as a football independent. UConn is in the process of finding replacements for those games.

UConn, which officially returned to the Big East on July 1, fields programs in all six of the affected fall sports (men’s cross country was eliminated last month, but the team will compete for one more season). The soccer, field hockey (which has never actually left the Big East) and volleyball teams typically begin nonconference play in lateAugust, early-September. None of those teams’ 202021 schedules have been posted on the UConn athletics website.

The Big East’s decision is just the latest in a long string of cancelations for college fall sports programs. Last week, the Ivy League canceled fall sports, and the Patriot League soon followed. On Thursday, the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) became the latest to cancel its fall sports season.

The New England Small College Athletic Conference, which fields Division III programs including Trinity, Wesleyan and Connecticut College, has also canceled sports for the fall, as has the University of Bridgeport.

More cancelations are sure to follow, and the Big East will likely be no exception. The league said no decision has been made at this time regarding fall sports conference competition and championships.

Further updates will be made in the coming weeks, as the Big East monitors COVID-19 conditions across the country and in its own communities.

“All decisions regarding conference competition will continue to be guided first and foremost by the health and safety of Big East campuses and their athletics program participants and will be made in accordance with NCAA actions and polices,” the league said in a statement.

It’s conceivable the Big East could alter whatever existing league schedule it has so that teams play more regionally. That schedule could be moved back, as well. Or, at some point, canceled altogether.

The Big East is probably better equipped to deal with a basketball season, since it is not bogged down by football.

And so, the UConn men’s basketball team’s muchballyhooed return to the Big East remains on schedule. For now.

NCAA Photos / NCAA Photos via Getty Images Big East fall sports teams, such as UConn women’s soccer, will only play conference games this season in response to the coronavirus pandemic.