Eli Boettger | @boettger_eli | 08/11/20
The Pac-12 Conference announced Tuesday that it will cancel all fall sports, including football, and look into possible playing options in the spring.
In addition to the fall sports cancellations, the conference also canceled all college basketball nonconference games until at least January.
—Football cancellation may save college basketball coaches
—COVID-19 bubbles aren’t realistic for college basketball
—Winners, losers of NBA Draft deadline
“The Pac-12 CEO Group voted unanimously to postpone all sport competitions through the end of the 2020 calendar year,” the Pac-12’s release said.
“The decision was made after consultation with athletics directors and with the Pac-12 COVID-19 Medical Advisory Committee who expressed concern with moving forward with contact practice.”
Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott provided further details on the viability of using a pro-like “bubble” that has been successful for the NBA and NHL in returning to competition amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Unlike professional sports, college sports cannot operate in a bubble,” Scott said. “Our athletic programs are a part of broader campuses in communities where in many cases the prevalence of COVID-19 is significant. We will continue to monitor the situation and when conditions change we will be ready to explore all options to play the impacted sports in the new calendar year.”
Tuesday’s Pac-12 decision may cause several ripple effects on the 2020-21 college basketball schedule. The postponement will impact each of the multi-team tournament events that were scheduled to include Pac-12 teams and also significantly hurt the financials of mid- and low-major programs set to face off against Pac-12 opponents this winter.
Eli Boettger is a college basketball writer and founder of HeatCheckCBB.com. He has previously worked for Sporting News, DAZN and USA TODAY SMG.
Boettger’s content has been featured by Bleacher Report, NBC Sports, FiveThirtyEight, Yahoo Sports, Athletic Director University, Washington Post, Illinois Law Review and Notre Dame Law Review, among other publications. Boettger is also a current USBWA member and Rockin’ 25 voter.