NCAA Fall Championships Canceled, Doesn’t Impact FBS Football
Aug 13, 2020, 4:26 PM | Updated: 4:32 pm
SALT LAKE CITY, UT - MARCH 16: The NCAA logo is seen in the second half of the game between the Northwestern Wildcats and the Vanderbilt Commodores during the first round of the 2017 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Vivint Smart Home Arena on March 16, 2017 in Salt Lake City, Utah. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
(Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – The hits keep coming for NCAA sports. Fall championships for all NCAA sports besides FBS football are not happening this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic as announced by NCAA President Mark Emmert.
“We cannot, at this point, have fall NCAA Championships because there’s not enough schools participating,” said Emmert. “The board of Governors also said, look, if you don’t half the schools playing a sport, you can’t have a legitimate championship. We can’t in any Division I in any NCAA Championship sport now, which is everything other than FBS football that goes on in the fall.”
"We cannot, at this point, have fall NCAA championships."
NCAA President Mark Emmert discusses the latest developments in fall sports and looks ahead to winter and spring championships.
Hear more on the NCAA Social Series TONIGHT at 7 p.m. ET from @NCAA. pic.twitter.com/DpuIdqQrhj
— Inside the NCAA (@InsidetheNCAA) August 13, 2020
Last week Division II and Division III canceled their championships and now Division I officially joins them after numerous conferences have made the decision to postpone their fall sports to the spring. Highlighted by two autonomous conferences in the Big Ten and Pac-12.
NCAA Division I Fall Championships Canceled
FCS football which is considered a Division I NCAA Championship has now seen all of their conferences postpone or cancel fall sports, including football. The Big Sky Conference which is home to Weber State and Southern Utah here in the state of Utah postponed its fall sports earlier this week.
NCAA Division I championships that take place in the fall include cross country, soccer, and women’s volleyball. Last year, BYU men’s cross country won the Division I NCAA National Championship and was looking to defend its crown this upcoming year. That will now be delayed.
Emmert stated in his video one of the top priorities from him and his board of Governors is to put together championships for the winter and spring sports. Last March, the NCAA canceled winter and spring championships due to the initial outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for sports.ksl.com and host of the Cougar Tracks Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (Saturday from 12-3 pm) on KSL Newsradio. Follow him on Twitter: @Mitch_Harper.
