NCAA: No decision on football, fall sports championships until August

On the same day that reports surfaced about the Michigan State football team having to enter quarantine following exposure to individuals who tested positive for the coronavirus, the NCAA announced the body will not cancel college football or other fall sports due to the uncontrolled virus outbreak before the end of July. 

In an official statement, NCAA president Mark Emmert said: 

“Today the Board of Governors and I agreed that we must continue to thoughtfully and aggressively monitor health conditions around the country and the implementation of the COVID-19 guidelines we issued last week. The health and well-being of college athletes is the highest priority in deciding whether to proceed with our 22 NCAA championships beginning in late November. We all remain deeply concerned about the infection trend lines we see. It is clear that the format of our championships will have to change if they are to be conducted in a safe and fair manner. We discussed other complexities in addition to the health and safety impacts, to include team availability, travel limitations and various local and state restrictions. We will continue our discussions in August.”

ESPN's Heather Dinich wrote that the Board of Governors is scheduled to meet again on Aug. 4 but that a decision on sports calendars isn't expected to be made on that date. According to Dinich, Football Oversight Committee chair Shane Lyons said: 

"I still feel that the time in early August is still not the time to make the call that's going to impact something come November, December for the fall championships, which could be far-reaching into FBS football and bowl games and the regular season. Time is an asset, and we need to take advantage of that and not rush to make any decisions until we need more and keep moving forward."

None of the Power Five conferences have suggested canceling football is under consideration despite growing coronavirus cases throughout the country. The Pac-12, Big Ten and Big East all moved to conference-only slates for football and other competitions to limit travel among member programs. 

All indications are the NCAA and the country's largest conferences would delay the start of football seasons and possibly push calendars to spring rather than cancel schedules for the nation's most popular sport.