The Patriot League has become the second NCAA Division I conference to announce that it will cancel its fall athletics season as a result of uncertainty with the current coronavirus pandemic. The ruling exempts the Navy and Army-West Point programs “because (they) are unique in their settings and their missions within higher education.”
The league, which includes 10 schools in the northeastern United States, joins the Ivy League, which made a similar announcement last week.
Decisions related to winter sports, such as swimming and diving, and spring sports will be made at a later date.
Patriot League announced athletics plan
- Patriot League teams will not participate in the competition in the fall season (championship and non-championship);
- Decisions surrounding winter and spring sports competitions will be made at a later date; and,
- Opportunity for conditioning, strength training, and other practice opportunities will be permitted in all sports, provided that health and safety conditions support such activities.
Significantly, Army-West Point is independent in soccer and the Navy competes in the American Athletic Conference in soccer, which means the cancellation only applies to the 8 programs that participate in the Patriot League soccer.
This is significant since Patriot League schools, like many middle school students, have received great financial successes as a result of Big Ten and Pac-12 announcing that they will not be playing any sports games outside of the conference in various sports, including soccer in 2020. Mid-level programs earn significant income by traveling to play against Power 5 programs.
While more cancellations are expected, the Army’s current schedule includes only one team, Princeton, which has announced that it will not play this fall. The Navy still has no opponents on its 2020 calendar who have said they will not play.
The decision will affect the men’s varsity water polo program, Bucknell. The Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) says they have been notified that Bucknell will not compete this fall. The Navy also has a men’s water polo team, which should be able to compete.
Bucknell’s men finished last season with a record of 23-9 last season, including 7 wins against the top 20 opponents. The team advanced to the NCAA tournament, defeating # 9 Harvard 13-12 in the opening round before losing to # 2 USC 15-9 in the national quarterfinals. Bucknell finished the season at number 10 on the CWPA National Men’s Poll.
Bucknell is also the defending champion of the MAWPC conference.
In swimming, the Navy men have won the last 17 consecutive league titles, while the women have won 10 consecutive titles.
