Pac-12 decides on delayed conference-only fall schedule


USC’s much-anticipated matchup with the Alabama Crimson Tide in Jerry World will have to wait. 

The Pac-12 Conference announced Friday that it will be adopting a delayed conference-only schedule for several fall sports in the 2020 season, including football, soccer and women’s volleyball. The move follows in the footsteps of the Big Ten Conference, which became the first of the Power Fives to abandon its original schedule and adopt the conference-only format for all fall sports Thursday.

The Pac-12 has also decided to delay the start of mandatory athletic activities — originally slated for Monday for teams that began their seasons Sept. 5 — to an unspecified date.

“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 Commissioner Larry Scott said in a statement announcing the decision.

Details on the conference-only schedule will come before August, the Pac-12’s statement read. According to The Athletic, the Pac-12 has considered nine- and 10-game schedules for the conference-only football season.

According to the statement, student-athletes who choose to forgo competition in the upcoming academic year due to health concerns will not lose their scholarships. The Pac-12 did not specify whether an athlete will exhaust a year of eligibility should they choose to sit out the season. 

“Competitive sports are an integral part of the educational experience for our student-athletes, and we will do everything that we can to support them in achieving their dreams while at the same time ensuring that their health and safety is at the forefront,” Pac-12 CEO group chair and president of the University of Oregon Michael Schill said in the statement.

The news of the reconfigured schedule does not yet guarantee that there will be a 2020 college football season, but the Pac-12’s statement specified that it plans to hold seasons for all sports so long as it can meet student-athletes’ health and safety needs and receives the green light from health authorities.

As is typical, USC football originally had three nonconference games on its schedule this year — Week 1 against Alabama in Arlington, Texas, Week 2 against New Mexico at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and Week 13 against Notre Dame at the Coliseum to round out the regular season. This will be the first time USC and Notre Dame do not face each other since World War II.

“We recognize how important both our historic series with Notre Dame and highly-anticipated contest with Alabama are to our student-athletes, fans and alumni,” Athletic Director Mike Bohn said in a statement posted to his Twitter Friday night.

The USC Athletic Department had not released schedules for any other fall sports prior to the announcement.

The Pac-12’s decision comes as coronavirus cases are on the uptick across the country — particularly in Arizona and California, which together host six of the conference’s 12 programs. The University of Arizona was forced to pause its student-athlete return-to-campus plan June 29 amid an influx of coronavirus infections in the state. According to ESPN, the increasing cases in Los Angeles and a worry that USC and UCLA would not be able to start on time factored into the delay. 

“In going to a conference-only schedule for fall sports in 2020 the Pac-12 Conference is acting responsibly on behalf of the health and safety of all of our student-athletes, coaches and staff, while trying to do everything possible so we can compete this year,” Bohn’s statement read.

USC began its phased student-athlete return plan June 24 and initiated phase two Wednesday to allow nonlocal continuing athletes to participate in voluntary workouts. To date, the Athletic Department has reported 126 total coronavirus tests taken among the returning athletes, two of which yielded a positive result.

This article was updated at 12:33 a.m. on Saturday, July 11 to include quotes from Athletic Director Mike Bohn’s statement.