ACC Delays Start of Fall Sports Until September 1

It was just yesterday when we talked about how the Ivy League canceled fall sports and won’t begin winter sports until at least January 1. The thought process is that, while working with an abundance of caution, that most FBS programs and conferences would take note, it was unlikely that they would follow down any kind of similar path given how financially dependent schools at that level are on college football. Of course, after remembering how things went in March with the college basketball conference tournaments, where the Ivy was at the forefront of that cancellation binge, it was something that required monitoring.

The Patriot League, another FCS conference in football, made the decision to push the start of their season back to September 4. This may have drawn more attention had Army and Navy, two teams that are part of the conference for other sports, weren’t an independent and a member of the AAC, respectively, when it came to football. On Thursday, the ACC, one of the Power Five conferences, made the decision to delay fall sports until September 1. Now, you might be thinking, what does that do for football? Well, the answer to that is absolutely nothing, at least for now.

In their statement about the delay, the conference stated that: The Atlantic Coast Conference announced today that each of its fall Olympic Sports will delay the start of competition until at least September 1. The decision allows each campus to further focus on ensuring return to competition protocols are in place to facilitate the resocialization process.

The delay in competition includes all exhibition and non-conference games in the sports of men’s and women’s cross country, field hockey, men’s and women’s soccer and volleyball.

The decision was unanimously approved by the ACC Board of Directors.

ACC institutions will continue with their respective return to competition protocols in anticipation of a fall season. Any rescheduling of contests will also be determined by each school.

The league continues to discuss the impact of COVID-19 on fall schedules and competitions with the understanding that there may be future changes, and that the priority remains the health and safety of our student-athletes.

As you can see, football was not mentioned. This was a creative move to avoid dealing with the potential pratfalls of losing the cash cow that is college football. While the delay extends to September 1, the ACC college football season gets underway the day after, when NC State takes on Louisville. Therefore, the conference is playing both sides of the fence: on one hand, giving credence in some fashion, to what the Ivy League has done, while on the other, kicking the can down the road a little ways before having to decide whether to go with business as usual or try kicking the can down the road again.

The ACC has been hit by increased COVID-19 cases of late. Clemson was buried by 47 cases themselves among athletes and staff, 37 of which came from within the football program. North Carolina shut down their voluntary workouts earlier this week after an outbreak, while Louisville planned to do the same thing given an outbreak within the basketball program. At this stage of the game, the ACC, like the rest of the FBS, is buying time, hoping that things will improve to the point where they won’t have to make the tough decisions. Whether that happens or not is anyone’s guess but the next few weeks are going to be critical for determinations to be made.

Let’s hope that things don’t continue to head in the wrong direction and we are ready to celebrate the return of college football next month.