The Pac-12 has officially announced that the 2020 fall football season has been cancelled. The official announcement was made by commissioner Larry Scott.
The growing safety concerns and long-term impact of the coronavirus are ultimately what led to the cancellation of the Pac-12 football season this fall. The Pac-12 had ‘an eye-opening experience’ after speaking with doctors who informed them of the link between myocarditis and COVID-19.
Myocarditis is an inflammation of the heart muscle often associated with viral infections and been linked closely to COVID-19. It is quoted to “come on suddenly and often with significant severity, resulting in an exceptionally high risk of death caused by cardiogenic shock (the heart’s inability to pump enough blood), fatal arrhythmias (abnormal heartbeats) and multi-organ failure,” according to the American Heart Association.
The Pac-12 universities all voted the same way, and all voted against athletic competition this fall. The earliest any university can resume athletic competition is January 1, 2021. New Year’s Day is usually when the Rose Bowl Championship game is played between the winners of the Pac-12 & Big Ten.
We all know why this has been done, it’s due to the worldwide coronavirus pandemic. It also came to a head this past Monday when Pac-12 presidents and chancellors had an ‘eye-opening’ experience when Pac-12 doctors informed them of the condition myocarditis. According to the doctors, Pac-12 officials were told of the linkage between the condition and COVID-19, especially in younger individuals.
The Big Ten became the first of the Power-5 Conferences to postpone the 2020 fall sports season, citing that their “primary responsibility is to make the best possible decisions in the interest of our students, faculty and staff,” according to a statement from Morton Schapiro, Chair of the Big Ten Council of Presidents/Chancellors.Their goal at the Big Ten was to play those seasons in the spring.
With the Pac-12 and Big Ten officially done for 2020, that’s now nearly the majority of the nation’s universities at the major college football level that have cancelled or postponed their seasons. The Pac-12, Big Ten, MAC and Mountain West as well as Independent Schools UConn and UMass and Conference-USA’s Old Dominion account for 52 of the 130 FBS teams.
The fate of the college football season happening in 2020 now relies on the Big 12’s decision as reportedly, the SEC is favoring a continuation of playing this fall but will need the Big 12 to come with them.
The Pac-12’s cancellation, of course, comes just a few short weeks after they announced a conference-only schedule, consisting of 10 games for each of the 12 member universities.
The Pac-12 CEO Group was unanimous. Scott claimed that the health, safety, and wellness of their student-athletes across the conference was paramount in the decision process. Scott also said that scholarships will be guaranteed through the process as well.
If all goes according to plan, the Pac-12 will resume following January 1, 2021, but nothing has been addressed yet as to when collegiate football players will be allowed to resume full team practices & scrimmages so games might not occur until spring 2021.
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