Mississippi State (and rest of SEC) to play 10-game, conference-only football schedule this fall

Season now slated to start on September 26.

It's now official. Mississippi State, and the other teams in the Southeastern Conference, will play a 10-game, league-only football schedule this fall. The SEC announced the move on Thursday. 

Also, the season will now begin on September 26th. It was originally slated to start on September 5th.

Very few specifics have been announced as pertains to the updated 2020 schedule. All that is currently known is the schedule will consist of 10 regular season SEC games, with a midseason bye week for each team. The regular season will be followed by the SEC Championship game on December 19 – two weeks later than originally scheduled and following an open date for all schools on December 12.

For MSU, this officially puts an end to the 2020 non-conference games originally scheduled against New Mexico, North Carolina State and Tulane. A game against Alabama A&M was already scrapped after the Southwestern Athletic Conference announced it was postponing fall sports. A new, revised schedule will be released at a later date.

MSU athletic director John Cohen released this statement following the SEC's announcement:

"Health and safety of our student-athletes, coaches and staff remain the first and foremost priority of both the SEC and Mississippi State. While we are disappointed that we won't be able to engage in a traditional non-conference schedule for our fall sports, we fully support today's decision and plan by the SEC, which is an important step toward providing our student-athletes with the opportunity to resume competition this fall. We appreciate the leadership of Commissioner (Greg) Sankey, SEC member institutions, public health and safety officials and numerous other individuals during this process. We will provide additional details on our adjusted schedule when they become available. Although no decisions have been made on fan attendance at this time, we will provide that information once those details are determined. We appreciate the maturity, flexibility and perseverance of our student-athletes, coaches, staff and the entire MSU family during these last five months and as we move forward."

Here is the full release from the SEC on the league's plans for 2020:

The 2020 SEC football season will be comprised of a 10-game Conference-only schedule and the SEC Football Championship Game will be played December 19 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, rescheduled from the original date of December 5.The schedule will include one mid-season open date for each school and an open date on December 12 for all schools.

“This new plan for a football schedule is consistent with the educational goals of our universities to allow for the safe and orderly return to campus of their student populations and to provide a healthy learning environment during these unique circumstances presented by the COVID-19 virus,” Sankey said. “This new schedule supports the safety measures that are being taken by each of our institutions to ensure the health of our campus communities.”

This action was taken following extensive discussions and thorough deliberation among the SEC’s Presidents and Chancellors, Athletics Directors, Conference Office staff, and medical advisors, led by the SEC’s Return to Activity and Medical Guidance Task Force.

“After careful consideration of the public health indicators in our region and following advice of our medical advisors, we have determined that this is the best course of action to prepare for a safe and healthy return to competition for SEC student-athletes, coaches and others associated with our sports programs,” said Sankey.

The decision to limit competition to Conference-only opponents and rescheduling the SEC Championship Game is based on the need for maximum flexibility in making any necessary scheduling adjustments while reacting to developments around the pandemic and continued advice from medical professionals.

“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,” Sankey said. “It is regrettable that some of our traditional non-conference rivalries cannot take place in 2020 under this plan, but these are unique, and hopefully temporary, circumstances that call for unconventional measures.”

The rescheduled start to the season will allow the SEC to continue to monitor health trends across its 11-state footprint, as well as monitor developments in technology around mitigation and treatment of the virus, including:

• Trends in public health indicators throughout the SEC’s 11-state footprint, including positive cases of COVID-19, hospitalizations and recovery statistics
• State, local and campus heath directives, including restrictions on gatherings, isolation requirements for travelers, and other health and travel restrictions
• Continued development of risk mitigation strategies
• Continued advancement in COVID-19 testing reliability and availability
• Continued evolution of time-based strategies for resuming activities after positive test results, including contact tracing, isolation and quarantine requirements
• Observation of successes and challenges presented by return to competition in other sports

A revised schedule for the 2020 SEC football season will be announced at a later date following approval by the Conference’s athletics directors.

Further decisions regarding safety standards related to athletics events, tailgating and other game day activities, including social distancing, face covering and other health measures consistent with CDC, state and local guidelines, will be announced at a later date.

Other notes related to the resumption of competition:

• The SEC announced in July that the sports of men’s and women’s cross country, soccer and volleyball would be postponed through at least August 31. Start dates and schedules for those sports, as well as sports in their non-traditional seasons during the fall, will be announced at a later date.

• The SEC announced in July that student-athletes in all sports who elect to not participate in intercollegiate athletics during the fall 2020 academic semester because of health and/or safety concerns related to COVID-19 will continue to have their scholarships honored by their university and will remain in good standing with their team.

• The SEC’s Return to Activity and Medical Guidance Task Force continues to meet on policies and procedures for the safe return of student-athletes to competition, including the development of comprehensive testing and reporting policies, building on the NCAA’s Resocialization of College Sports Guidelines.

• Each athletics program has been engaged in evaluating best practices for game operations to prepare a safe environment for student-athletes, coaches, staff, officials and other individuals necessary to conduct games.