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Mid-American Conference considering fall restart
Nicholas Piotrowicz and David Briggs
The Blade
Sep 17, 2020
11:33 AM
BOWLING GREEN — There is a growing sentiment among Mid-American Conference administrators and coaches the league should play a fall football season or not play at all, according to league sources.
The MAC, which postponed its football season Aug. 8 due to the coronavirus pandemic, initially aimed to play all of its fall sports, including football, during the spring semester.
The MAC reaffirmed its delay plans with a short statement Wednesday from commissioner Jon Steinbrecher, who said, "Currently there are no plans to play a fall season in any sport."
In the past two days, however, tides have turned in college football.
Citing expansions in rapid testing, the Big Ten — which also postponed its season — reversed course and announced plans to start football games in October.
Similar to players in the Big Ten, MAC players have started their own campaign to play a fall season. The measure was supported by Buffalo running back Jaret Patterson, Bowling Green quarterback Matt McDonald, and endorsed by players at Toledo, Western Michigan, and Northern Illinois, among a host of others.
According to sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, MAC directors of athletics met virtually Wednesday, and the tone of meetings has changed drastically since university presidents voted 12-0 to postpone the season last month.
The MAC has considered a number of ideas for the season, including playing a schedule that begins in February, but there is a renewed push to play in the fall.
According to a MAC source, the proposed fall schedule would be six or eight games beginning Oct. 24, with no fans allowed and a championship game still at Ford Field in Detroit, its normal home.
After the Big Ten resumed, the Pac-12 jump started its efforts, and the Mountain West Conference has discussed a return, a MAC source said, "The optics of being the only league not playing would be incredibly negative."
Testing for coronavirus — and the additional funding it requires — is the main hang-up, though multiple sources said the league would not necessarily mandate daily testing to return. The MAC’s current protocol tests athletes multiple times per week, even though they are not in season.
Most MAC schools have similar academic calendars due to the pandemic. At or before exam week, students at 10 schools will return home for Thanksgiving, at which point schools will end the fall semester or hold the remaining time remotely before resuming spring semesters in January. The remaining two, Northern Illinois and Eastern Michigan, end fall semester classes on Dec. 5 and Dec. 11, respectively.
The break would allow campuses six or more weeks without the full student body on campus — which some coaches and administrators believe will provide the best window for playing a season.
MAC presidents will meet again Saturday to discuss the proposal, according to sources.