NCAA Cancels Fall Championships
The fall college schedule is down to just football at select schools.
The NCAA announced on Thursday that all Division I fall championships were canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
NCAA president Mark Emmert said the cancellation is because more than 50 percent of Division I schools would not be playing fall sports.
The cancellation of fall sports by Big East schools on Thursday was the final blow.
"The board of governors also established if you don't have half of the schools playing a sport, you can't have a legitimate championship," Emmert said in a video posted on the NCAA's Twitter feed Thursday afternoon. "We can't in any Division I NCAA championship sport now ... which is everything other than FBS football that goes on in the fall.
"Sadly, tragically, that's going to be the case this fall, full stop."
The Big Ten announced on Tuesday that all fall sports would be postponed, including football.
The only sport playing is college football in the Football Bowl Subdivision conferences and schools that have not canceled fall sports — the Big 12, ACC and SEC are the only Power 5 conferences still playing.
Emmert held out hope that most or all of the championships could be rescheduled.
"My staff has been working hard on it, and talking to a lot of commissioners — all of them, all 32 of them in D-I, and there are ways to do this," Emmert said in the video. "I'm completely confident that we can figure this out. If schools and conferences want to move forward, and try and have it and more than half of them want to do it — and that's surely the indication now — then let's do it. We can use the fall and keep kids healthy, keep them engaged with their coaches and their athletic departments. Focus on their academic success. Work with them and let them practice and stay ready to play, then let's go compete at that time."
