NCAA Announces Championship Requirements Amid Player Safety Concerns

The NCAA Board of Governors announced specific requirements Wednesday that schools and conferences must meet in order to hold fall championships. The specifications come amid increased speculation that college football is in jeopardy during the coronavirus pandemic.

On Wednesday morning, UConn became the first FBS school to cancel its 2020 football season because of coronavirus concerns. Several small conferences ruled out playing football last month, while Power Five conferences have moved to a conference-only schedule.

If at least 50% of a division’s teams cancel the season, that particular sport won’t have an NCAA champion, according to the Board of Governors. Any championship that is postponed will be rescheduled and played based on the latest scientific data regarding the coronavirus.

Those rules don’t apply to the FBS national champion. The College Football Playoff, ESPN and the FBS conferences sponsor the Division 1 football title, not the NCAA.

Addressing safety conferences of student-athletes, the NCAA said players are allowed to opt-out of the season because of coronavirus concerns. Universities must still honor that individual’s athletics scholarship. The NCAA also announced it would create a phone number and email to allow athletes and parents to report alleged failures to follow the return-to-sport guidelines from the NCAA Sport Science Institute.

Each division is given until Aug. 14 to determine eligibility accommodations in the event that athletes opt-out or a season gets canceled. Every division must decide if their respective seasons and championships should occur by Aug. 21.

A group of more than 1,000 Big Ten football players called on the conference and the NCAA to create a comprehensive plan to ensure the safety and well-being of players in The Players’ Tribune Wednesday. The Big Ten announced its revised conference-only schedule shortly before the players’ official appeal to the decision-makers.

Colorado State University president Joyce McConnell said Tuesday that she’s launching an investigation into reports that the school’s student-athletes have been intimidated and threatened to ignore coronavirus protocols. The Coloradoan first published a report detailing allegations that members of the football team were told not to report coronavirus symptoms, in addition to the program altering contract tracing reports so players could keep practicing.

McConnell told ESPN that Colorado State wouldn’t play football this year if its players didn’t feel safe.