NCAA Delays Decision on Fall Championships Until August

The NCAA Board of Governors made the decision on Friday to postpone any decision on the fate of fall sports championships until August

STILLWATER -- College sports fans are going to have to wait a little while longer to find out the fate of the fall sports championships.

The NCAA Board of Governors decided on Friday they're going to wait until August 4 to meet again to continue discussions on any major decisions regarding fall sports championships.

The Board of Governors, which includes Oklahoma State president Burns Hargis and other university presidents from all three divisions of NCAA athletics, will now make a decision in August regarding the cancellation or postponement of fall championships for soccer, women's volleyball and FCS football. 

On Friday, NCAA president Mark Emmert released a statement regarding the decision.

"The health and well-being of college athletes is the highest priority in deciding whether to proceed with our 22 NCAA championships beginning in late November," Emmert said. "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."

The decision to postpone or cancel fall sports championships doesn't directly affect FBS football or the College Football Playoff, but there's certainly concern about the effects it could have. If we go back to March when everything was set in motion, the Ivy League was the first to cancel its conference basketball tournament and a week later, nearly everything was cancelled.

The decision to postpone talks until August, which include cancelling fall sports championships due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, should make a majority of athletic directors and departments happy for the time being as a majority of schools are still reeling from the cancellation of entire spring sports seasons and winter championships this past March.

Many athletic departments would most likely appreciate a decision made as close to the start of the season as possible as they feel it's too early to make a decision on something taking place in November, December and into January.

"I continue to believe that we lose very little by waiting and we gain a great deal," Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby said. "I would like to see us get to the middle of August and see a little of preseason camp. That is really going to tell us what the regular season will look like."

Pokes Report's Robert Allen spoke with Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby earlier this week and this excerpt is certainly pertinent to the Board of Governors decision.

Throughout the pandemic, he has been consistent and steadfast, relying on information from various sources that he talks about owning high trust in. The man does not panic and you rarely see him sweat. While the coronavirus has put the public through a roller coaster ride of ups and downs with positive cases spiking in different regions, deaths, hospitalizations, and the pursuit of a vaccine or better treatment; Bowlsby has remained very middle of the road and much more analytical like his advisors.

Bowlsby listens as much, if not more than he speaks. I can't say a share that same quality, but over the years, I sure have wished on numerous occasions that I had it. Bowlsby emphasized that waiting doesn't bother anything. 

"It doesn't upset any apple cart that I know of, although things could change and our scientists could come to us and tell us, 'you guys have two wheels off the track and a bad wreck is coming.' You know we're going to listen to those kinds of things. So far we are being told that is not the case and that we are not risking student-athlete's health. You know you hear a lot about people (teams) that have five positive tests or 15 positive tests, but on a football team you will also have 120 players that are not testing positive, that are doing the right things, and moving forward. As long as we can we are going to keep doing that and as you said there is not a down side to that."

As of right now, Oklahoma State is still looking for a season opening opponent as the game against Oregon State in Stillwater has been cancelled due to the Pac-12 cancelling all non-conference games. It's also possible we could see the Big 12 make a similar move and play only conference games, but the Pokes are still scheduled to play Tulsa in Stillwater on Sept. 12.