The UCF football team was scheduled to face Florida A&M on Nov. 7 this upcoming season, but that game has been canceled due to a larger decision from the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference.
The Council of Presidents and Chancellors of the MEAC, the conference which FAMU competes in, announced Thursday that the league will suspend all 2020 fall sports competitions, including football, as a result of the continuing COVID-19 pandemic. The Council took this action “out of a concern for the safety as well as the physical and mental health of our student-athletes, coaches, administrators, support staff, faculty, and fans,” according to the press release.
“We have been made aware of the MEAC decision relative to fall sports,” UCF AD Danny White said in a statement. “We will monitor the landscape and consult the American Athletic Conference regarding scheduling plans for the 2020 football season.”
The game against FAMU no longer appears on UCF’s schedule according to the athletics department website. UCF isn’t the only American Athletic Conference team to be impacted by this decision. Elsewhere in the conference, the South Florida Bulls lose their season opener against Bethune-Cookman. East Carolina’s game on Sep. 19 against Norfolk State is also affected by Thursday’s news.
#MEACNews @MEACSports Suspends Fall Sports Season Due to COVID-19 #IBackTheMEACAt50 #IBackTheMEAC https://t.co/81mgiTzrZA
While the MEAC has suspended fall sports, there’s been no decision that the conference might move the football season to the 2021 spring, the conference said. The MEAC is still planning to proceed with winter sports competitions as scheduled, “unless health and medical professionals advise otherwise,” according to the press release. The news was first reported by HBCUSports.com Publisher Kenn Rashad and later confirmed by The Athletic’s Nicole Auerbach prior to the official release from the MEAC.
So far, two Power Five conferences, the Big Ten and the PAC-12 have shared that they will go to all-conference schedules for the fall football season. While UCF is not scheduled to face any teams from those two conferences this fall, more dominoes could fall around the Power Five that could impact UCF.
According to Stadium’s Brett McMurphy, ACC football teams will play conference-only games amid the coronavirus pandemic, but the conference has not officially announced any decision regarding the fall season. Instead, the ACC shared a decision will come by the end of July.
The Knights are scheduled to face North Carolina in their season-opener in Orlando then travel to Georgia Tech in week three.
It’s unclear if UCF will attempt to fill the space of FAMU on its football schedule. This fall’s match would have marked the third all-time meeting between the two institutions. In 2019, UCF opened the regular season with a 62-0 route over the Rattlers.
“Obviously this is an arduous decision because everyone wants to have a fall season for student-athletes, fans and others,” said MEAC Commissioner Dr. Dennis Thomas. “Part of our responsibility is to ensure the mental and physical health and safety of our student-athletes, coaches, and staff is paramount. It is imperative that everyone recognize that is our first and foremost responsibility.”
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