Yahoo News Division II and Division III fall sports championships canceled because of coronavirus pandemic
The NCAA’s two lower levels will not have fall sports championships in 2020 due to COVID-19.
Division II’s Presidents Council announced Wednesday afternoon that there would be no fall sports titles awarded. That decision came after Division III made the same announcement.
“After reviewing and discussing the Board of Governors’ directives, the Division II Presidents Council made the difficult decision that holding fall championships in any capacity was not a viable or fiscally responsible option for Division II,” South Carolina Aiken president Sandra Jordan said in an NCAA statement. “This decision was discussed very thoroughly, and I assure you, it was not made lightly. It is important to note that fall student-athletes will be given eligibility-related flexibility to allow them championship opportunities in the future. As we move forward, we will continue to focus on providing the best championships experience for our winter and spring student-athletes who were not afforded those opportunities at the beginning of this pandemic.”
The council noted that 11 of the 23 Division II conferences had previously announced they wouldn’t have fall sports this season. And the decision was made following an NCAA Board of Governors meeting on Tuesday that ultimately chose to leave the decisions about fall sports titles up to the councils that lead each division.
While some FCS conferences have canceled fall sports, you’ll note that football and other fall sports seasons are on at the FBS level. Top-level college football is the main driver of television revenue for big colleges and universities. Division II and Division III schools don’t have big-money television deals.
That TV money makes it why conferences are trying to play modified schedules in 2020 instead of canceling football and other fall sports altogether. You can expect any cancellation decision regarding FBS football and other top-level sports to be delayed as long as feasibly possible.
The College Football Playoff — an event not run by the NCAA — did announce Wednesday that it would hold its last rankings reveal on Dec. 20 as conferences like the SEC and Pac-12 have already moved their title games back to Dec. 19.
The D2 and D3 announcements mean that title events in three consecutive seasons have been canceled. There were no winter or spring sports titles because of the coronavirus pandemic.
“Looking at the health and safety challenges we face this fall during this unprecedented time, we had to make this tough decision to cancel championships for fall sports this academic year in the best interest of our student-athlete and member institutions,” Spalding president Tori Murden McClure said. “Our Championships Committee reviewed the financial and logistical ramifications if Division III fall sports championships were conducted in the spring and found it was logistically untenable and financially prohibitive. Our Management Council reached the same conclusion. Moving forward, we will try to maximize the championships experience for our winter and spring sport student-athletes, who unfortunately were short-changed last academic year.”
A July announcement allows Division II fall sports athletes will be allowed to roll over their 2020-21 eligibility as long as their teams don’t play more than 50 percent of their scheduled games.
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Nick Bromberg is a writer for Yahoo Sports.
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