A couple months have passed since March Madness was felled by the Coronavirus. At least for now, our lives have been changed in so many ways. More changes, it seems, are in the offing, even as we struggle to collectively get back on our feet.
Sports -- both professional and amateur -- are a part of the changing landscape, and MAC officials this week announced a plan designed to help member schools navigate the tumultuous waters churned up by our pandemic environment. Days later, Akron announced it is dropping three sports.
Health and/or finance issues are . . .
The California State University system has just announced that all 23 state universities in the system will not -- with a few exceptions -- have students on campus this fall. Given a widely-held belief that no students on campus means no football on campus. Three Mountain West schools -- San Jose State, San Diego State and Fresno State -- are among the schools in this system.
The MAC plan does not take such a road -- yet. It did, however, outline some significant changes. The specifics are below. Keep in mind, that while it was announced as a four-year plan, it will also "be evaluated as the economic situation stabilizes and improves.
CLEVELAND, Ohio – As a result of the financial crisis brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic and disruption to the economy, the Mid-American Conference (MAC) established a working group to explore efficiencies in sports operations across its 24 sponsored sports. The focus was on reducing costs in alignment with institutional mandates, consistent with institutional priorities and principles of equity and diversity.
Every student-athlete will compete for a conference championship and earn an opportunity for participation in NCAA postseason competition. MAC member institutions will continue to operate consistent with NCAA Division I FBS regulations.
The plan covers four years and will be evaluated as the economic situation stabilizes and improves. The changes affect scheduling formats, post-season championship formats, and the elimination of post-season championships in select sports. Additionally, reductions will be made in championship operational expenditures.
Conference champions will be determined by the regular season in the following sports -- field hockey, men’s soccer, women’s soccer, men’s tennis, women’s tennis, women’s lacrosse, softball and baseball.
There will be alternations in formats for nine other championships – volleyball (four-team), men’s basketball (eight-team), women’s basketball (eight-team), men’s swimming & diving (three-day), women’s swimming & diving (three-day), men’s indoor and outdoor track & field (two-day), women’s indoor and outdoor track & field (two-day), men’s golf (two-day) and women’s golf (two-day).
The MAC eliminated the opening round campus-site games for the men’s and women’s basketball tournaments and will play 20-game conference schedules beginning with the 2020-21 academic year. Baseball and softball will move to 30-game regular-season schedules.