Southern Conference postpones fall sports, still leaves door open for some games
The Southern Conference has joined all other FCS leagues in postponing fall sports due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The league has decided to not play a fall conference season, with a goal to play in the spring, the SoCon announced Thursday. The decision was made during a meeting with conference presidents.
Nonconference games can be played if desired, the league announced.
The Southern Conference is comprised of 10 teams, with three of those — Wofford, Furman and The Citadel — located in South Carolina.
“This decision was made with extensive evaluation and conversation,” Southern Conference commissioner Jim Schaus said. “Ultimately, we felt it necessary to ensure the health and safety of student-athletes, coaches and staff. This decision was also supported by the conference’s medical advisory committee. I am greatly saddened to not be able to conduct our fall conference competition. We know what this means to our student-athletes, coaches, staff and loyal fans, but safety must come first.”
A Wofford spokesperson indicated that “at this time, we do not expect to play games in the fall.”
Furman athletic director Jason Donnelly said in a statement that “while we are disappointed that we will not be able to compete as a conference, we respect the league’s decision and will thoroughly evaluate all of our options moving forward.”
The Citadel football schedule originally had out-of-conference games against Elon, Charleston Southern and Clemson. However, Clemson’s schedule currently lists an opponent “to be determined” as its lone out-of-conference matchup.
“The Citadel supports the decision made by the Southern Conference Council of Presidents to postpone fall conference competitions, allowing for nonconference contests if desired,” The Citadel athletic director Mike Capaccio said in a statement. “Our primary consideration as we assess the possibility of nonconference contests will remain the well-being of our cadet athletes and our entire campus community. “
Wofford had out-of-conference games against South Carolina State, Gardner-Webb and South Carolina on the Terriers’ original schedule. The matchup with the Gamecocks has been canceled, while S.C. State hopes to play a spring season.
Furman had Charleston Southern, Tennessee and Presbyterian on its out-of-conference schedule. The game at Tennessee has already been canceled, and it remains to be seen what will happen with the other two games.
The Ohio Valley Conference joined the SoCon on Thursday in deciding to move its fall sports to the spring, according to a report from The Athletic. All 13 Football Championship Subdivision conferences have now postponed fall sports for 2020.
Other SoCon teams include East Tennessee State, Mercer, UNCG, Samford, UT Chattanooga, VMI and Western Carolina.
While the Southern Conference announced Thursday its fall season won’t proceed, there remains a split among Power 5 leagues.
As of now, the ACC, SEC and Big 12 are moving forward and planning to have a 2020 season. The Big 10 and PAC 12 have announced plans to try to play in the spring.
This story was originally published August 13, 2020 at 4:01 PM with the headline "Southern Conference postpones fall sports, still leaves door open for some games."
