Much like NCAA spring sports last semester, fall sports will not crown champions this year.
With the exception of FBS football, fall sports championships will be moved to the spring pending compliance with college, state and national guidelines, the NCAA announced Friday.
“We cannot now, at this point, have fall NCAA championships because there’s not enough schools participating,” NCAA President Mark Emmert said in an Aug. 13 announcement, adding that the organization has no control over postseason FBS football. “The board of governors also said, ‘Look, if you don’t have half of the schools playing a sport, you can’t have a legitimate championship.’”
The decision impacts Texas’ men’s and women’s cross country, soccer and volleyball programs. All four of the programs reached the postseason in 2019.
While several other conferences announced their plans to forgo the fall sports season entirely, the Big 12 announced in early August that fall sports would go on as planned with only one nonconference game. Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby outlined the changes to the upcoming season in an Aug. 12 statement.
“We believe all of this combines to create an ideal learning and training situation during this time of COVID-19,” Bowlsby said in the statement. “Ultimately, our student-athletes have indicated their desire to compete in the sports they love this season, and it is up to all of us to deliver a safe, medically sound and structured academic and athletic environment for accomplishing that outcome.”
With the Big 12 intending to continue its fall sports seasons, Texas Athletics Director Chris Del Conte told fans that both volleyball and soccer were continuing their training camps and would work with the Big 12 regarding the upcoming season in his weekly Forty Acres Insider newsletter on Aug. 18.
“I've said it many times, sports in our country have helped us through some of our most challenging times, and it's something we need as much as ever right now,” Del Conte said in the newsletter. “We're doing everything in our power to provide that opportunity for our student-athletes, staff and fans in the safest possible manner.”
In the announcement, Emmert outlined the decision to grant an additional year of eligibility for fall athletes, who will not go against the scholarship limits for the 2021-22 athletic season.
Emmert also discussed the challenges with hosting fall, winter and spring championships in the same time frame, but believes the NCAA has the resources and infrastructure to accommodate them all. Plans will focus on smaller brackets, predetermined sites and bubble options.
“If we think about what’s going on this fall, rather than thinking about it as a canceled or a lost fall, let’s instead think of it as a pivot toward winter and spring,” Emmert said. “Let’s use the fall to focus on the physical and mental health, the academic success of our student-athletes.”
