BUYING TIME
NCAA Board of Governors kicks decision on fall sports amid COVID-19 pandemic to August
The NCAA Board of Governor selected not to make any decisions at their meeting Friday about the fate off all sports, instead pushing off further discussion into August to be able to monitor developments nationally around COVID- 1 9 and then determine whether it is possible to hold championships for several sports, including the Football Championship Subdivision.
“The health and wellbeing of college athletes is the highest priority in deciding whether to proceed with our 22 NCAA championships beginning in late November ,” NCAA president Mark Emmert said in a written statement. “We all remain deeply concerned about the infection trend lines we see. It is clear that the format of our championships will have to change if they are to be conducted in a safe and fair manner. We discussed other complexities in addition to the health and safety impacts, to include team availability, travel limitations and various local and state restrictions. We will continue our discussions in August.”
The NCAA does not have direct power over how t he Football Bowl Subdivision will conduct its season, as college presidents and conference commissioners — particularly those who run the five power conferences and the College Football Playoff — will ultimately make that call. But Friday's meeting was viewed as crucial to the fate of the football season by many administrators. Had the Board decided to cancel all fall championships (including the FCS playoffs) or move them to spring, it would have left the FBS on an island having to answer why big-time college football was moving forward with its season while it was deemed unsafe for other college sports to play.
That may ultimately be the route presidents end up taking, but Power Five officials were in favor of delaying any drastic decisions to buy time and monitor how schools were able to manage various issues around their football programs, including COVID-19 case numbers within their programs and regular students coming back to campus.
Still, nobody is denying the challenges of holding a football season will be immense regardless of whether the decisions are pushed off for another few weeks. On Friday, Michigan State announced that its entire football program was going to be quarantined for two weeks after two staff members and one football player tested positive for COVID-19.