The Mid-American Conference (MAC) is expected to officially cancel its 2020 college football season on Saturday because of concerns about the health and safety of its players amid the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Stadium's Brett McMurphy. As such, the 12-member league will become the first FBS conference to decide not to play this fall.
The MAC intends on attempting to play a football season in spring 2021. A press conference is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. ET where the MAC should make its decision public.
The school presidents representing the MAC were expected to vote on whether to play in 2020 on Saturday morning after initially planning earlier in the week to meet about finalizing a scheduling format for the season. It was reported throughout the week that Northern Illinois and its president, Lisa Freeman, had been pushing the league not to play at all with NIU reportedly suggesting it would not compete even if the MAC decided to build a schedule with the intent to compete in the fall.
NIU has been one of the MAC's best programs since it rejoined the league in 1997, competing in eight conference championships games. It is the MAC's most accomplished team over the last 10 years, winning four MAC titles out of seven title game appearances since 2010.
UConn became the first FBS team to decide against playing college football in fall 2020 on Thursday. It is an independent program unaffiliated with a conference.
While the MAC appears to have canceled its fall season largely due to health and safety, the conference was also hit hard by the Big Ten's decision to play conference-only games this season. There were 11 Big Ten vs. MAC nonconference games scheduled in 2020 with payouts to MAC schools set to approach nearly $11 million. Many athletic departments count on those big-money games against Power Five opponents to cover operating costs each season.
Though MAC commissioner Jon Steinbrecher insisted his league would play college football in 2020 despite losing those games, the coronavirus pandemic has not eased or shown significant signs of improvement over the last month.
Multiple FCS conferences have already canceled college football for the fall, and neither Division II nor Division III football will stage fall championships in any sports. Division I will make that decision for the FCS at some point, though that will not affect the FBS, which competes in the College Football Playoff outside Division I or NCAA purview.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cb...-football-season-for-the-fall-per-report/amp/
The MAC intends on attempting to play a football season in spring 2021. A press conference is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. ET where the MAC should make its decision public.
The school presidents representing the MAC were expected to vote on whether to play in 2020 on Saturday morning after initially planning earlier in the week to meet about finalizing a scheduling format for the season. It was reported throughout the week that Northern Illinois and its president, Lisa Freeman, had been pushing the league not to play at all with NIU reportedly suggesting it would not compete even if the MAC decided to build a schedule with the intent to compete in the fall.
NIU has been one of the MAC's best programs since it rejoined the league in 1997, competing in eight conference championships games. It is the MAC's most accomplished team over the last 10 years, winning four MAC titles out of seven title game appearances since 2010.
UConn became the first FBS team to decide against playing college football in fall 2020 on Thursday. It is an independent program unaffiliated with a conference.
While the MAC appears to have canceled its fall season largely due to health and safety, the conference was also hit hard by the Big Ten's decision to play conference-only games this season. There were 11 Big Ten vs. MAC nonconference games scheduled in 2020 with payouts to MAC schools set to approach nearly $11 million. Many athletic departments count on those big-money games against Power Five opponents to cover operating costs each season.
Though MAC commissioner Jon Steinbrecher insisted his league would play college football in 2020 despite losing those games, the coronavirus pandemic has not eased or shown significant signs of improvement over the last month.
Multiple FCS conferences have already canceled college football for the fall, and neither Division II nor Division III football will stage fall championships in any sports. Division I will make that decision for the FCS at some point, though that will not affect the FBS, which competes in the College Football Playoff outside Division I or NCAA purview.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cb...-football-season-for-the-fall-per-report/amp/
