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Analysis: SEC reportedly going to schedule 10-game conference for soccer season
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With college football schedules across the country in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the SEC announced Thursday afternoon that it has moved to a 10-game schedule, conference-only for the 2020 season. The SEC also He is driving the start of his season until Saturday, September 26, which was originally scheduled to be Week 4 of the 2020 campaign.
With the change from the start of their season to September 26, the SEC championship game will be delayed two weeks until Saturday, December 19. This creates flexibility between teams with two opportunities for make-up games as the tight schedule will count mid-season farewell week for each school and an opening date for all programs on December 12, one week before the title game. .
At this time it is unknown how the SEC will complete the two additional games on its conference-only schedule, as the revised game will be announced by the league at a later date. SEC members traditionally play eight conference games each season: six within their respective divisions, a permanent cross-division opponent, and a rotating cross-division opponent.
SEC commissioner Greg Sankey explained the conference decision in a statement:
“This new plan for a soccer schedule is consistent with the educational goals of our universities to enable the safe and orderly return to campus of their student populations and to provide a healthy learning environment during these unique circumstances presented by the COVID-19 virus. This new schedule supports the security measures that each of our institutions is taking to guarantee the health of the communities on our campus …
“We believe that these schedule adjustments offer the best opportunity to complete an entire season by giving us the ability to adapt to the fluid nature of the virus and the flexibility to adjust schedules as necessary if disruptions occur. It is unfortunate that some of our” Conference rivalries cannot take place in 2020 under this plan, but these are unique, and hopefully temporary, circumstances that require unconventional measures. ”
The 14 SEC presidents met virtually Thursday to make this scheduling decision the day after the league’s athletic directors proposed keeping a role model only for the conference.
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The SEC joins Big Ten and Pac-12 in deciding to play a conference-only schedule in 2020. The ACC announced Wednesday that it will play an 11-game schedule with 10 in-league contests and one game without a conference.
It is unknown at this time how the SEC decision may affect ACC’s scheduling plans considering four key games of rivalry without a conference (Florida-Florida State, Clemson-South Carolina, Georgia-Georgia Tech, Kentucky-Louisville) will be lost by the SEC move. Auburn-North Carolina and Arkansas-Notre Dame were other SEC-ACC games scheduled for this season. (The Fighting Irish is operating as a full ACC member in 2020.)
Other non-conference games with SEC teams to be missed this season include LSU-Texas and Tennessee-Oklahoma. (Alabama-USC was previously canceled due to Pac-12 programming announcement.) The Big 12 has yet to announce any firm plans for its 2020 calendars, although losing those games may affect your decision-making process.
