Pac-12 extends suspension of athletics-related activities

It just keeps getting worse as the Pac-12 announced that all spring sports and activities are suspended to a later date — football now in jeopardy

It looks as if spring football, and the ensuing spring game, is officially canceled for all Pac-12 sports. The conference announced on March 30 that all springs sports and activities have officially been suspended until May 31. 

According to the statement released, the Pac-12 has implemented certain guidelines for all programs to follow...

• No organized, in-person team activities of any type.
• No in-person voluntary workouts, film study sessions, meetings, technique drills or practices of any type.
• Virtual or online supervised voluntary workouts and skill instruction are not permitted, regardless of location.
• Virtual group activities, including film study, are permitted two hours per week for football and four hours per week for all other sports. We are appealing to the NCAA to increase the two-hour football limit in the near future.
• Coaches can recommend written, self-directed workout plans, and taped demonstration videos on workout plans are allowed in order to demonstrate proper form and technique.
• In-person, on-campus nutrition may be provided in circumstances where student-athletes are unable to leave campus, and off-campus nutrition is limited to distribution of products normally available on campus.
• It is fully permissible to provide non-athletically related support to student-athletes, including sports medicine treatments, physical therapy and rehabilitation; academic support; and mental health and wellness support.
• It is permissible for institutions to provide off-campus student-athletes with apparel and personal equipment that is regularly available to student-athletes when they are on campus for conditioning workouts. It is not permissible to rent, purchase or arrange for conditioning or strength training equipment or machines.

With no organized or in-person team activities until June 1, this tends to add to Utah football coach Kyle Whittingham's belief that the upcoming college football season could be in jeopardy.

Utah is set to kickoff the 2020 season on Sept. 3 against in-state rival BYU. That would mean that fall camp would need to begin sometime in either early August or late July, making that two-month window very tight if the COVID-19 pandemic is to be under control by then.