Thursday, July 30, 2020

SEC Votes For Conference Only Schedule

The Southeastern Conference has established September 26 as the new kickoff for its 2020 football season to allow its universities to focus on the healthy return of their campus communities and the gradual re-introduction of athletics, as the 14 members of the SEC continue to monitor developments related to COVID-19, SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey announced Thursday.

The 2020 SEC football season will be comprised of a 10-game Conference-only schedule and the SEC Football Championship Game will be played December 19 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, rescheduled from the original date of December 5. The schedule will include one mid-season open date for each school and an open date on December 12 for all schools.

“This new plan for a football schedule is consistent with the educational goals of our universities to allow for the safe and orderly return to campus of their student populations and to provide a healthy learning environment during these unique circumstances presented by the COVID-19 virus,” Sankey said. “This new schedule supports the safety measures that are being taken by each of our institutions to ensure the health of our campus communities.”

This action was taken following extensive discussions and thorough deliberation among the SEC’s Presidents and Chancellors, Athletics Directors, Conference Office staff, and medical advisors, led by the SEC’s Return to Activity and Medical Guidance Task Force.

“After careful consideration of the public health indicators in our region and following advice of our medical advisors, we have determined that this is the best course of action to prepare for a safe and healthy return to competition for SEC student-athletes, coaches and others associated with our sports programs,” said Sankey.

The decision to limit competition to Conference-only opponents and rescheduling the SEC Championship Game is based on the need for maximum flexibility in making any necessary scheduling adjustments while reacting to developments around the pandemic and continued advice from medical professionals.

“We believe these schedule adjustments offer the best opportunity to complete a full season by giving us the ability to adapt to the fluid nature of the virus and the flexibility to adjust schedules as necessary if disruptions occur,” Sankey said. “It is regrettable that some of our traditional non-conference rivalries cannot take place in 2020 under this plan, but these are unique, and hopefully temporary, circumstances that call for unconventional measures.”

The rescheduled start to the season will allow the SEC to continue to monitor health trends across its 11-state footprint, as well as monitor developments in technology around mitigation and treatment of the virus, including:

  • Trends in public health indicators throughout the SEC’s 11-state footprint, including positive cases of COVID-19, hospitalizations and recovery statistics
  • State, local and campus heath directives, including restrictions on gatherings, isolation requirements for travelers, and other health and travel restrictions
  • Continued development of risk mitigation strategies
  • Continued advancement in COVID-19 testing reliability and availability
  • Continued evolution of time-based strategies for resuming activities after positive test results, including contact tracing, isolation and quarantine requirements
  • Observation of successes and challenges presented by return to competition in other sports
A revised schedule for the 2020 SEC football season will be announced at a later date following approval by the Conference’s athletics directors.

Further decisions regarding safety standards related to athletics events, tailgating and other game day activities, including social distancing, face covering and other health measures consistent with CDC, state and local guidelines, will be announced at a later date.

Other notes related to the resumption of competition:
  • The SEC announced in July that the sports of men’s and women’s cross country, soccer and volleyball would be postponed through at least August 31. Start dates and schedules for those sports, as well as sports in their non-traditional seasons during the fall, will be announced at a later date.
  • The SEC announced in July that student-athletes in all sports who elect to not participate in intercollegiate athletics during the fall 2020 academic semester because of health and/or safety concerns related to COVID-19 will continue to have their scholarships honored by their university and will remain in good standing with their team.
  • The SEC’s Return to Activity and Medical Guidance Task Force continues to meet on policies and procedures for the safe return of student-athletes to competition, including the development of comprehensive testing and reporting policies, building on the NCAA’s Resocialization of College Sports Guidelines.
  • Each athletics program has been engaged in evaluating best practices for game operations to prepare a safe environment for student-athletes, coaches, staff, officials and other individuals necessary to conduct games.

Friday, July 17, 2020

SEC Releases Statement On Scholarship Status For Fall

Southeastern Conference student-athletes who elect to not participate in intercollegiate athletics during the fall 2020 academic semester because of health and/or safety concerns related to COVID-19 will continue to have their scholarships honored by their university and will remain in good standing with their team, the Conference announced Friday.

The action is the result of a unanimous vote of the SEC’s Presidents and Chancellors following a recommendation of the Conference’s Athletics Directors.

“SEC universities are committed to full support of its student-athletes, whether or not a student-athlete decides to participate in sports during these uncertain times,” said SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey. “SEC student-athletes have frequently expressed their desire to compete, but it is important for student-athletes and their families to know the financial support committed to them by their institutions will not be at risk because of health concerns presented by the current pandemic.”

The SEC will continue to monitor developments related to COVID-19 to determine at a later date if the policy should be extended to the Spring semester of 2021 or beyond.

Thursday, July 9, 2020

Decision Upcoming On Georgia Football Season

The Big 10 Conference announced today that a conference only schedule will be played this year, if there is a season. A start date will be announced later.

According to several ACC media outlets, the conference is likely to follow suit and limit the games to conference members plus Notre Dame.

The Georgia Bulldogs are scheduled to play the Virginia Cavaliers in the Chic-fil-A Kickoff Classic on Monday night September 7th at Mercedes-Benz Stadium but the game may well become another casuality of the COVID-19 pandemic.

UGA Athletic Director Greg McGarity stated earlier this week that a decision on playing this fall will need to be made by August 1st but noted that, "Things are trending in the wrong direction."

The state of Georgia has had 25,436 new positive cases since 7/1/20, that's a 31.29% increase with a positive test rate of 13.71% and there is no reason at this point to think that the numbers will suddenly drop. Testing has only increased 22.25%. At this rate the state will double the number of cases in one month that was recorded from March to July.

The number of deaths will lag two to three weeks behind the surge in new cases.

The state is not going to shut down again so there will be no flat curve, it will take months for this to peak and begin a gradual decline, we still have not reached the 1% infection point. 

A later start with a six game SEC East schedule may be a possibility with the championship game remaining as scheduled in December. Another possibility being discussed is playing next spring but that creates another set of problems with seniors participating just before or during the NFL draft.