SEC moves to conference only schedule

The powerhouse Southeastern Conference reconfigured its schedule Thursday to include only league games in 2020, a pandemic-forced decision that pushes major college football closer to a siloed regular season in which none of the power conferences cross paths.

The SEC’s university presidents agreed on a 10game schedule that eliminates all nonconference opponents and is set to begin Sept. 26. The SEC championship game, originally scheduled for Dec. 5, will be pushed back to Dec. 19.

Each SEC team will have a midseason off week and Dec. 12 will be an off week for the entire conference. The delayed start for the Southeastern Conference is two weeks later than what the Atlantic Coast Conference set for itself Wednesday and creates 12 weeks to get in 10 games and determine participants for the SEC title game in Atlanta.

The regular season was originally scheduled to begin Labor Day weekend, but there was concern among SEC officials the return of students to campus in the coming weeks will spike COVID-19 cases. Conference officials believe delaying the start of the season improves the SEC’s chances to launch.

“We believe these schedule adjustments offer the best opportunity to complete a full season by giving us the ability to adapt to the fluid nature of the virus and the flexibility to adjust schedules as necessary if disruptions occur,” Commissioner Greg Sankey said.

A schedule with new matchups still must be approved by athletic directors and will be announced later, the SEC said. The 14 SEC teams normally play eight conference games and four nonconference games, with seven teams in each division. The SEC is expected to keep its divisional format, with each team adding two cross-divisional games.

Hockey

AHL SETS ANTICIPATED

START DATE TO DECEMBER 4» Monsters Hockey will return in 2020, as the AHL announced July 30 it anticipates the 2020-21 season will start December 4. The league has yet to announce any further details on changes to the scheduling for the 31 member clubs. After suspending its season on March 12 due to the novel coronavirus, the league cancelled the remainder of its season and the Calder Cup Playoffs on May 11.