(Stats Perform) – It feels as though everybody in NCAA Division I is waiting for somebody else to make a decision on how college sports will operate this fall amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Ivy League is close to stepping out from the line of conferences to announce its plan.
The eight-member league of some of the nation’s elite academic schools said Wednesday it will announce on July 8 whether it will play fall sports. Decision-makers across college athletics will be paying close attention to the decision.
“With return to campus protocols still being developed and introduced by Ivy League institutions, the council of Ivy League presidents intends to announce a final decision regarding the status of intercollegiate athletic activity for the fall term 2020 on July 8,” the league said in a statement. “That decision will be communicated first to Ivy League directors of athletics, coaches and student-athletes, followed by the wider Ivy League campus community, media, alumni and the public.”
Some schools in Division III have canceled fall sports already. Should the Ivy League not have a fall season, those teams could play in the spring semester. The league reportedly is considering a seven-game football season involving only league opponents in late winter and early spring.
Winter sports teams usually begin practices in October, so the Ivy League decision could impact them as well.
In March, the Ivy League was the first D-I conference to cancel its men’s and women’s basketball conference tournaments due to the burgeoning pandemic. Other conferences followed with similar decisions, and shortly afterward, spring sports and offseason athletic activities also were brought to a halt nationwide.
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