The American Athletic Conference announced their first scheduling adjustment for the Fall 2020 semester today, as they are delaying the start of the Fall Olympic sports seasons until at least Sept. 1.
The sports affected by the decision at Temple are men’s and women’s cross country, men’s and women’s soccer, and volleyball.
All five of those programs have yet to release their 2020 schedules.
Due to these sports being pushed back, the AAC is allowing all of their conference schools to reschedule their games with non-conference opponents. A decision has not been made yet as to whether or not the AAC will choose to go with a conference-only schedule for the fall.
Power 5 conferences like the Big Ten and PAC-12 have already announced a conference-only schedule while the Big 12, SEC and ACC are currently considering their options, but are most likely to do something similar.
Smaller conferences like the Ivy League, Patriot League, and SWAC have cancelled Fall sports altogether and are hoping to hold them in the spring.
The decision comes as COVID-19 tests continue to rise throughout the country and school and conference administrators believe that they will not start the Fall seasons in late August and early September.
While football was not affected by this decision, an announcement could possibly come within the next week on whether or not the AAC will begin it’s football season on time.
The full statement from the AAC is below:
“The American Athletic Conference announced today that it will delay the start of 2020 Fall Olympic sports competition until at least September 1. The decision allows member institutions additional time to implement protocols for a safe return to competition for student-athletes, coaches, and staff members. The delay in competition includes exhibition and non-conference competition in the sports of men’s and women’s cross country, men’s and women’s soccer and volleyball. The rescheduling of non-conference contests due to these adjustments will be determined by each member institution.
The American’s presidents, athletic directors and senior woman administrators continue to monitor the COVID-19 pandemic. With guidance from its Medical Advisory Group, the conference has established aggressive and proactive testing protocols and guidelines that will ensure the health and well-being of student-athletes during fall sports competition. A safe and healthy return to fall competition remains the highest priority.”
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