SEC Football Goes Conference Only For 2020
The decision to adjust the SEC College Football schedule for 2020 has been made. Today the Presidents of the SEC Conference schools voted to reduce the football schedule to only in-conference games, and to push back the start of the season.
SEC leaders made the decision based on their response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Their statement read:
The rescheduled start to the season will allow the SEC to continue to monitor health trends across its 11-state footprint, as well as monitor developments in technology around mitigation and treatment of the virus, including:
- Trends in public health indicators throughout the SEC's 11-state footprint, including positive cases of COVID-19, hospitalizations and recovery statistics
- State, local and campus heath directives, including restrictions on gatherings, isolation requirements for travelers, and other health and travel restrictions
- Continued development of risk mitigation strategies
- Continued advancement in COVID-19 testing reliability and availability
- Continued evolution of time-based strategies for resuming activities after positive test results, including contact tracing, isolation and quarantine requirements
- Observation of successes and challenges presented by return to competition in other sports
The conference schedules were not a part of today's vote. Right now the Presidents of the schools only moved to change the structure of the season, not to build a new one. The new schedule for teams, including LSU, will come at a later date. The Athletic Directors from the SEC schools will be able to create the new schedule as they see fit. The season will be limited to 10 games for each team.
The new date for the start of the season is September 26th.