Pac-12 Conference Announces Conference-Only Schedules For 2020 Football, Other Fall Sports

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – The Pac-12 Conference officially announced that it will follow in the footsteps of the Big Ten Conference and play conference-only schedules for 2020 several fall sports including college football.

The conference made the news official on Friday, July 10.

The Pac-12 released a statement saying “that the fall season for several Pac-12 sports, including football, men’s and women’s soccer and women’s volleyball, would schedule Conference-only games.”

“The health and safety of our student-athletes and all those connected to Pac-12 sports continues to be our number one priority,” Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott said in a statement. “Our decisions have and will be guided by science and data, and based upon the trends and indicators over the past days, it has become clear that we need to provide ourselves with maximum flexibility to schedule, and to delay any movement to the next phase of return-to-play activities.”

Pac-12 CEO Group announces decision to schedule conference-only play for several Fall sports & to delay move toward mandatory athletics activities.

Full announcement ➡️ https://t.co/A6PNFSeZ5d

— Pac-12 Conference (@pac12) July 10, 2020

One day earlier, the Big Ten became the first Power Five conference to move to a conference-only format for fall sports.

On July 8, the Ivy League became the first conference to cancel all of its fall sports. Since then, rumors have surfaced of other conferences joining in or moving football games to the spring of 2021.

Impact On Utah Football

News of the Pac-12’s move means that Utah football will not play non-conference opponents in BYU, Montana State, and Wyoming this season.

It will be the first time since the 2014 season that Utah will not play BYU in football. The rivalry was scheduled to take a two-year break after Utah scheduled a home-and-home series with Michigan in 2014 and 2015. However, the Cougars and Utes faced each other in the postseason in the 2015 Las Vegas Bowl.

.@Utah_Football fans: Enjoy watching the #Utes score 35 points in the 1st quarter of the 2015 Las Vegas Bowl. #KSLSportsArchive https://t.co/mswkFuB8kZ https://t.co/zDLiiZdTAN

— Jeremiah Jensen (@JJSportsBeat) March 25, 2020

In addition to impacting the schedule of Pac-12 schools, BYU’s schedule is also affected by the conference’s move. The Cougars were scheduled to play against three Pac-12 programs in 2020. BYU was slated to travel to Utah, Arizona State, and Stanford during the upcoming season.

BYU was supposed to travel to Salt Lake City for a rivalry meeting with Utah in the first week of the college football season. The Cougars have lost the last nine meetings with the Utes. 2020’s game was going to be the 95th all-time meeting between the rivals. Utah owns a 59-31-4 advantage in the series. The two schools last played in 2019.

On September 19, BYU and Arizona State were scheduled to play in Tempe, Arizona. The Cougars and Sun Devils have squared off 27 times all-time. ASU owns a 20-7 edge over BYU. The two programs last played each other in 1998 when BYU won 26-6.

Do remember any plays in Utah history that "fooled" us? A moment where an athlete got pranked? I'll dig up some in the #KSLSportsArchive today. I'll start with this from @Chadlewis89 and @cutbackelite29 against Arizona State in 1994 #BYU @BYUfootball https://t.co/mswkFuB8kZ pic.twitter.com/2TBi0jiar8

— Jeremiah Jensen (@JJSportsBeat) April 1, 2020

The Cougars and Cardinal were slated to play each other in Stanford’s final non-conference game of the season on November 28. BYU and Stanford have played two previous times. The Cardinal won each of the first two matchups. BYU last played Stanford in 2004 and lost 37-10.

Impact on Utah State Football

The Utah State Aggies also have a couple of games impacted by the Pac-12’s decision. USU was scheduled to play against Washington State and Washington during the opening weeks of the college football season.

Utah State and Washington State were scheduled to begin the 2020 season in Logan on September 3. The Aggies and Cougars have played each other three times in history. Washington State owns a 2-1 edge over USU. The Aggies last faced the Cougars in 1961.

Thursday Night Football in The Mav to start the season!

➡️ vs. Washington State#AggiesAllTheWay pic.twitter.com/00fNF4It8j

— USU Football (@USUFootball) February 27, 2020

Washington was scheduled to wrap up its non-conference schedule against Utah State on September 19 in Seattle. The Aggies and Huskies have played each other twice all-time. Washington leads the series 2-0. The last meeting between the programs was in 2015 when the Huskies won 31-17.