ASU Football: Pac-12 Cancels Fall Football
The news Pac-12 football fans were desperately avoiding came to fruition today.
The Pac-12 conference officially announced it plans to forego the 2020 fall sports season today, as the announcement came via conference call with media members. On the call featured Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott, as well as Oregon president Michael Schill, Arizona State athletic director Ray Anderson and Dr. Doug Aukerman, Oregon State’s senior associate director of sports medicine.
“The Pac-12 CEO Group voted unanimously to postpone all sport competitions through the end of the 2020 calendar year,” said the conference in a press release.
The decision was made after consultation with athletics directors and with the Pac-12 COVID-19 Medical Advisory Committee, who expressed concern with moving forward with contact practice.
Stadium Network’s Brett McMurphy first broke the Pac-12 news prior to the official announcement.
“The health, safety and well-being of our student-athletes and all those connected to Pac-12 sports has been our number one priority since the start of this current crisis,” said Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott. “Our student-athletes, fans, staff and all those who love college sports would like to have seen the season played this calendar year as originally planned, and we know how disappointing this is.”
Over the weekend, rumors swirled that major conferences were set to announce cancellations, with steam picking up on Monday. Earlier today, the Big Ten announced its postponement of fall sports that included football in hopes of picking play back up in the spring. Now, the Pac-12 looks to do the same thing, but only if COVID issues improve per McMurphy’s report.
According to The Mercury News, the conference “made the decision following a report from the conference’s medical advisory committee, which outlined the health risks Covid-19 poses to players, the worrisome community spread in several areas and the testing challenges that schools would face attempting to create a safe environment.”
“Ultimately, our decision was guided by science and a deep commitment to the health and welfare of student-athletes. We certainly hope that the Pac-12 will be able to return to competition in the New Year," said Oregon president Michael Schill.
“We have made clear that all of their scholarships will be guaranteed, and that as a Conference, we are strongly encouraging the NCAA to grant them an additional year of eligibility.”
At the earliest, collegiate sports within the conference are scheduled to resume on January 1, 2021. However, many hurdles are needed to be cleared prior to a return to Pac-12 athletics. For now, schools within the conference will now prepare for a new deadline for their athletes to return.