Pac-12 approved 10-game conference tables for football

The Pac-12 approved a 10-game soccer fall plan on Friday, which is for conferences only and is scheduled to begin on September 26. The conference announced on Friday that “a lot of flexibility was built in”.

Each team will play five home and five street games, and the Pac-12 Championship will now be played on December 18 or 19. The conference title game will be played in a 2020 hosted model with the Pac-12 and its partners Allegiant Stadium and the Raiders, the Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority (LVCVA) and MGM Resorts International have agreed to host the championship game at Allegiant Stadium in 2021 to host a two-year run in Las Vegas.

Games that cannot be played on their scheduled date can be rescheduled during their bye-by weeks or week 12 (December 12th). The Pac-12 and the Big Ten both announced on July 10 that they would be playing a conference-only schedule, but Friday was the first time the Pac-12 had released the details.

Pac-12 approved soccer plan for 2020 and plans for fall sports.

Complete information ➡️ https://t.co/GSrX1TOFS2#Pac12FB | #BackThePac pic.twitter.com/9sUq38VwY6

– Pac-12 conference (@ pac12) July 31, 2020

While the Big Ten and Big 12 haven’t yet announced their plans, Friday was the third day in a row this week that a Power 5 conference made drastic changes to their soccer plans for the fall – all with the caveat that this may not be the case at all. The coronavirus pandemic continues to affect college athletics. The ACC announced an 11-game model that included Notre Dame on Wednesday, and the SEC followed on Thursday with the switch to a conference schedule.

Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott admitted that it may “not be possible” to even play a 10-game schedule by December 19 – or spring may be needed to end it.

“The same can happen in other markets,” he said. “… We are aware that, regardless of whether we can start on the 26th, the best plans may not be realized, and we will play a supplement to a minimum number of games that we consider necessary for a college football playoff can start but not able to finish and then we have to adjust. We have to adjust with a feather either to finish or to start. Maybe we will delay the dates for a playoff if it is still possible. There are many, many scenarios still on the table, but at that point we felt it was crucial to clarify our plan. “

When asked on Friday how confident he was this season, Scott replied, “I don’t know.” While Major League Baseball continues to struggle with outbreaks that stop the schedule, Scott said he expects the same to happen in college football this fall.

“There is no bubble and a bubble would not be suitable for university sports and our campus,” Scott told reporters in a media webinar on Friday afternoon. “These are students and they will not be able to be quarantined or isolated in a bubble like professional athletes do. … This is one of the reasons why the flexibility of the schedule is so important If there is an outbreak in the team, we assume that this is a real possibility, and if this happens, especially with 14-day quarantine times for anyone in close contact, a game will have to be rescheduled.

“So we have two options for each team to possibly reschedule or delay the start. We find that there are some markets that don’t currently have the necessary rules for a timely start. We need to make sure they are us have a safe and robust training camp to be able to play on time. If a team cannot start on time, we have to postpone the bye week … either to the bye week or this December 10th week we have. “

With its late start and the still growing geographic footprint of the coronavirus, the Pac-12 will enter the “extended summer access” phase on August 3, followed by the start of its official training camp on August 17 (The official one from the NCAA’s approved training plan for this year started on July 24th with the extended 20-hour phase, and the summer camp can officially begin on August 7th for all teams that still open on Labor Day weekend.)

USC and UCLA said in a joint statement that schools were happy with the Pac-12’s plan.

“We understand the great interest in the 90th edition of our historic football rivalry game, which is currently scheduled for September 26th at the Rose Bowl,” the joint statement said. “Although we are approaching the start of each season, we currently do not have the necessary permits to start competitions. Developing a planning model for the fall sports season that offers optimal flexibility was an important next step in the season process.

“In particular, our soccer plans give us the opportunity to postpone our season opening competition to opening dates later in the season (October 31 and December 12) if necessary. UCLA and USC are absolutely coordinated and we will stay.” in regular communication with state, local and university officials. We will continue to follow their instructions with the greatest attention to the health and safety of our student athletes. “

Dr. Doug Aukerman, Oregon Senior Associate Athletic Director, said it was difficult to identify a number of positive cases that would result in a game being canceled.

“You can’t just say,” It’s a certain number of players, “he said.” Because if you get a few infections and they come from different sources and occur a day or two before the game, you may have not really in control of the transmission of the virus and you need to take a break? Are there a few cases at the beginning of the week that are both related and you can trace contact back where they were? It is a much safer environment and situation. So it is difficult to find an easy, quick number. If it were, everyone in every conference would have had it. “

Not all Pac-12 schools have been approved for the beginning of the extended access period, which mainly consists of strength and stamina, film reviews and rounds.

“We have been talking about it for five months, so we will have a plan based on what we can do based on our local medical and government officials,” said Stanford coach David Shaw. “We’ll find a way to get it going. There are things we can do now that we couldn’t do two weeks ago, and hopefully in a few weeks there will be things we can do that we can’t can do.” now.”

The new schedule provides Arizona rivals Arizona and USC UCLA in the first week instead of the traditional end of the regular season.

“We know at the moment that these are real hot spots and that the required government agencies and permits are not yet in place,” Scott said of Arizona and California. “If they are placed in the first week and these teams are not possible in either of these markets, they can easily be rescheduled. Each of them could be postponed to the bye week in the calendar a few weeks later.” or the week of December that we left. We go with our eyes open. “