Should Syracuse fall sports make it to championship positions, the schedule will differ.
The NCAA is planning for championships in the coming months despite the novel coronavirus pandemic, and how that could affect Syracuse fall sports is something to watch.
Let’s get real in that Orange football probably won’t reach the four-team playoffs, but if the schedule for other post-season bowl games is significantly moved up, that’s a circumstance for the ‘Cuse to monitor.
Then again, at this juncture, who knows if these bowl contests are even going to occur. It’s a lot of speculation for now. But NCAA associate director of communications Greg Johnson did post an interesting article a few days ago that we wanted to share, as it’s relevant for all of the Syracuse fall-sport squads.
Johnson noted that NCAA officials are examining fall championships, with discussions obviously focused on how to best protect the health and safety of student-athletes, coaches, administrators, team staff members, and spectators.
These talks, however, are also including how to maintain “fair and equitable selection protocol and retaining the same formats under the same timelines and at the same previously determined sites,” Johnson wrote. He added, “alterations may have to occur due to local, state, or national health and safety mandates.”
The NCAA may slot fall championships somewhere around Thanksgiving.
Infectious-disease experts have warned that another spike of the virus could come in late November or December. Should that unfortunately transpire, fall championships could get moved up, Johnson said.
“We are in early discussions right now of looking at ‘Does it make sense for us to move up the regular season and try to conclude fall championships on, around or before the week of Thanksgiving?’” Joni Comstock, NCAA senior vice president of championships, said in this story. “If we can, and it makes sense, we certainly would like to have a complete experience for the student-athletes this fall.”
Last Wednesday, the Division I Council voted to allow football and basketball student-athletes to participate in voluntary on-campus activities beginning on June 1, as long as local, state, and federal regulations are followed. Two days later, the Council voted to allow voluntary athletics activities in all sports commencing on June 1.
There is still a long way to go before actual competitions can take place on fields, courts, and elsewhere for Orange crews and others throughout the country. Hopefully, the NCAA is on top of this unprecedented situation.
One thing is pretty clear, though. If the ‘Cuse has fall squads that perform admirably and possess opportunities for post-season runs, their championship-calendar timetables won’t appear identical to years past.