The Mid-American Conference, the first major college football league to postpone its season because of the pandemic, has become the final one to jump back in, making it 10 out of 10 conferences that will play in the fall.
As university presidents in the Big Ten, Pac-12 and Mountain West have done over the last 10 days, MAC leaders on Friday voted to reverse their August decision to kick football to spring and tee it up during its usual season.
Just like the other conferences returning to fall ball, the MAC cited advancements in COVID-19 antigen testing as key to the change of direction. The conference will begin testing athletes four times per week, starting Oct 5.
Games will start Nov. 4 – a Wednesday, of course – and the championship game will be played Dec. 18 or 19.
“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 in a statement. “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.”
The MAC, a 12-school league of mostly Midwest schools with relatively small athletic budgets, postponed all fall sports on Aug. 8. Within a few days, the Mountain West, Big Ten and Pac-12 had done the same.
Six conferences, including the Southeastern, Atlantic Coast and Big 12, held firm. The major college football season started Labor Day weekend and their have already been disruptions.
But if all goes well, by the first weekend of November, all the conferences will be playing football.
POSTPONED: Georgia State has postponed Saturday’s college football game at Charlotte because of the coronavirus.
The school says it decided not to play out of an abundance of caution because of positive COVID-19 tests and contact tracing.
It’s not known if the game will be rescheduled.
This mark’s the second straight postponement for Charlotte. The 49ers (0-1) called off last weekend’s game at North Carolina after a positive test forced nine offensive linemen into quarantine.
Georgia State (0-1) opened tits season last week with a loss to Louisiana-Lafayette.
IOWA SWIMMING: Members of the University of Iowa women’s swimming and diving team filed a legal complaint against the school Friday, arguing that a decision to eliminate their program violates a landmark gender equity law.
The complaint argues that Iowa is not offering equal opportunities for female students to participate in sports as required by Title IX, the 1972 law that bars sex-based discrimination in federally funded education programs.
The plaintiffs, including senior captain Sage Ohlensehlen and teammates Christina Kaufman, Alexa Puccini and Kelsey Drake, are asking a federal judge to reinstate their program. In addition, their lawsuit requests class-action status on behalf of all female undergraduates who they say are legally entitled to additional sports opportunities.
Iowa Athletic Director Gary Barta announced last month that men’s and women’s swimming and diving, men’s tennis and men’s gymnastics would be cut after this school year. School officials have said that because more men’s sports will be eliminated, the moves comply with Title IX.
But the lawsuit argues that Iowa was not in compliance with the law for years and should be barred from cutting any women’s programs.
Barta blamed the cuts on a financial crisis stemming from the coronavirus pandemic. Current and former athletes and donors are lobbying Iowa to reverse course.
So far, Barta and Iowa President Bruce Harreld have portrayed the decision as final and dismissed a fundraising campaign that quickly raised $1.65 million in pledges as woefully inadequate to sustain the sports.
The lawsuit argues that Barta’s 14-year tenure as athletic director has been out of step with the school’s history of leadership in women’s athletics.
MEMPHIS: Memphis has cut 19 positions and plans furloughs for all salaried employees making $40,000 starting Oct. 1.
Athletic Director Laird Veatch says COVID-19 has had a major financial impact on the Tigers’ athletics department, leading to a sad day for Memphis athletics that he had hoped would never come.
Memphis originally projected a $4.4 million deficit and made moves in July that included a 14% cut to operational budgets. That deficit has more than doubled to at least $9 million to $11.5 million. Veatch says Memphis had limited options, forcing these challenging decisions.
All full-time employees earning $40,000 or more will have furloughs equal to 10% to 20% of their salary through the end of this fiscal year. Memphis says the highest-paid employees will get the biggest cuts, with those earning $250,000 or more being cut 20%. Veatch says these moves will save more than $2 million, which will help cover unfunded scholarships for athletes.
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