MEAC 3rd conference to postpone fall season … The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference has become the 3rd league to suspend all fall sports, including football, indefinitely because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The MEAC reportedly hasn’t ruled out playing football and other sports in the spring and will continue to discuss the options. The MEAC is the third conference to postpone its fall football schedule, joining the Ivy and Patriot Leagues that made similar announcements earlier this month. All three are FCS programs with the MEAC schools including North Carolina A&T, Bethune Cookman, Florida A&M, Delaware State, Howard, Morgan State, Norfolk State, North Carolina Central and South Carolina State. So far, though, all FBS conferences are still a go for this fall, although both the Big Ten and Pac XII have already indicated that they will play only conference games this fall. And Ohio State, which had put a hold on off-season workouts, has reversed course and will again allow players to workout on campus. At the same time, though, Miami has halted off-season workouts. And NCAA commissioner Mark Emmert did not sound at all confident that fall sports will be able to proceed in a statement released earlier today. According to Emmert, the fall schedule will only be able to go forward if there is a way to conduct them safely, that is, if COVID-19 rates are manageable. Said Emmert: “Today, sadly, the data points in the wrong direction. If there is to be college sports in the fall, we need to get a much better handle on the pandemic.” And with the U.S. currently recording up to 70,000 new cases on a daily basis – and apparently climbing – its not even close with just a few weeks to spare. Stay tuned!
