SEC Adds New Scheduling Policy for Reminder of 2020 Season
After postponing four games this weekend due to COVID-19 issues, Southeastern Conference presidents and executives added a new wrinkle into its scheduling parameters for the rest of the 2020 college football season.
According to a report from Sports Illustrated's Ross Dellenger, two teams that have their respective games postponed can now play a contest between one another instead of having a second bye week.
The new rescheduled game must be approved by the Monday before game day. However, the policy indicates that a new game cannot be created, instead, a team must be able to play another team that was already on its schedule.
So that means that the University of Alabama, whose game was postponed against LSU earlier this week, could have played Auburn had the Tigers not been dealing with a rise in new coronavirus cases.
As of now, all games on Nov. 21 are scheduled to played, the league office announced on Friday afternoon.
Dec. 19, the date of the SEC title game, will also be a weekend where non-title game participants can make up postponed games between one another.
“It has been a goal of the SEC to play a complete football schedule provided we maintain a healthy environment for student-athletes and everyone around our football programs,” SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey said in a press release. “The added flexibility of a December 19 playing date for teams that do not qualify for the SEC Football Championship and the ability to adjust opponents on five-day notification provide a greater opportunity for our schools to play a full schedule of games in 2020.”
