ACC to make teams forfeit if they can't play due to COVID-19

Add the Atlantic Coast Conference to the list of NCAA governing bodies threatening to make football teams and other athletic programs forfeit during upcoming seasons if they're unable to compete because of COVID-19 issues and/or concerns. 

"If a 2021 ACC game cannot be played on its originally scheduled date by a team unable to play due to an insufficient number of available players related to COVID-19, that team shall be deemed to have forfeited, with a loss assigned to the team unable to play and a win assigned to its scheduled opponent, with both the loss and win, respectively, applied to the conference standings," the ACC explained in an official statement released Thursday. 

The conference added that in a situation where both teams involved in a matchup can't play because of coronavirus-related setbacks, both will be charged with forfeits and losses in the conference standings. 

Such games were ruled "no contests" during the 2020 college football seasons before safe vaccines were available to all adults in the United States. 

The SEC, Pac-12 and Big 12 have announced similar policies for fall seasons. According to Chris Basnett of the Lincoln Journal Star, the Big Ten still hadn't finalized its COVID-19 protocols as of Thursday afternoon.