The hope in those wealthy Power Five conferences is frequent testing will also decrease the likelihood that large numbers of players who test negative for the virus still end up in quarantine through contact tracing. The Pac-12 and Big Ten plan to test athletes daily. The Mountain West will test its athletes, coaches and staff three times per week. “Without that we wouldn’t be here today,” said Mountain West Commissioner Craig Thompson, who added the cost to the conference will be in the millions. It announced a deal with Quest Diagnostics to provide antigen testing capabilities to its schools. The Mountain West plans to start football on Oct.
Of 130 Bowl Subdivision programs, only UConn, New Mexico State and Old Dominion remain on the sideline. 7.Įven independent Massachusetts said earlier this week it would attempt to play a small schedule this fall. There have already been plenty of disruptions to the schedule, but the SEC starts Saturday, the Big Ten is set to kickoff Oct. Six conferences, including the Southeastern, Atlantic Coast and Big 12, held firm but the major college football season started Labor Day weekend with 40% of the teams that play at the highest level of Division I having announced they would sit it out. Within a few days, the Mountain West, Big Ten and Pac-12 had done the same. The MAC, a 12-school league of mostly Midwestern schools with relatively small athletic budgets, postponed all fall sports on Aug. But, he added, the MAC’s doctors and experts “made me a believer.” “No one was more hesitant than me,” he said. Northern Illinois athletic director Sean Frazier, who along with NIU’s president pushed hard for the postponement, said he felt good about the MAC’s new protocols. “Our medical advisory group, presidents, directors of athletics, and others, have worked hard to develop a plan that provides the opportunity for student athletes to compete.” “Our decisions, in August and again today, have been guided by an overriding concern for the well-being of the student athletes, institutions, and the community at large,” Commissioner Jon Steinbrecher said.
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A full schedule will be released later, along with the conference’s full medical protocols. The MACtion will start on a Wednesday, of course, and the championship game will be played Dec. “The risk is much more for coronavirus off the field than it is on the field.”
Amesh Adalja, an infectious disease expert and senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins University Center for Health Security. “The risk of college football spreading the virus is much less than the risk of fraternity parties or off-campus parties or concerts that are happening,” said Dr. The pandemic is still not under control in many states, but college football will go on in front of empty stadiums or limited attendance.