SALT LAKE CITY — There were rumblings all week, but today the Pac-12 CEO Group made it official and announced that the fall season for many Pac-12 sports, including football, will include conference-only games.
The move comes in response to the continuing COVID-19 global pandemic.
“The health and safety of our student-athletes and all those connected to Pac-12 sports continue to be our number one priority,” said Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott in a statement.
“Our decisions have and will be guided by science and data, and based upon the trends and indicators over the past days, it has become clear that we need to provide ourselves with maximum flexibility to schedule, and to delay any movement to the next phase of return-to-play activities.”
Pac-12 football, men’s and women’s soccer, and women’s volleyball will all play on a conference-only schedule.
The Pac-12 Group is also delaying the start of the mandatory athletic activities that athletes must participate in, until “a series of health and safety indicators, which have recently trended in a negative direction, provided sufficient positive data to enable a move to the second phase of return-to-play activities,” Scott said.
The decision is effective immediately and will impact the start dates for the specified sports.
As reported by KSL Sports, Friday’s announcement by the Pac-12 CEO Group means the University of Utah and BYU will not meet on the football field, the first time with no game since 2014.
As part of Pac-12 football, it also means that Utah will not play other non-conference opponents Montana State or Wyoming.