ACC Stays the Course on Football, Even as NCAA Cancels Fall Championships

On a day in which the NCAA canceled its fall championships, the ACC's presidents met without making any changes to the league's plan to play the football season -- which isn't under the NCAA's jurisdiction -- as scheduled

A meeting of the ACC's presidents came and went quietly Thursday with no major announcements, meaning that the league still plans on playing its football schedule as planned.

According to a source close to the situation, the meeting lasted about an hour. Among the subjects discussed were the findings of the league's Medical Advisory Board. 

Even as the ACC remained on course to play an 11-game season beginning on Sept 12, there were ominous signs at three different conference schools.  

Pittsburgh canceled its practice Thursday after multiple displayed COVID-19 symptoms. Syracuse also didn't practice after players expressed their desire for more routine testing to be performed. 

At at Florida State, several players took to social media to criticize the Seminoles' lack of transparency in coronavirus testing. 

"Let's use the fall to focus on the physical and mental health, the academic success of our student-athletes."

-- NCAA President Mark Emmert pic.twitter.com/X1zpx1oMqj

— NCAA News (@NCAA_PR) August 14, 2020

While all that was going on, the NCAA -- which doesn't have any jurisdiction over FBS football -- formally canceled all other fall championships, effectively wiping out soccer, volleyball and cross country seasons, as well as FCS football. 

“We cannot now, at this point, have fall NCAA championships because there’s not enough schools participating,” NCAA president Mark Emmert said in a video posted on social media. “The Board of Governors said, ‘If you don’t have half of the schools playing a sport, you can’t have a legitimate championship.’…sadly, tragically, that’s going to be the case this fall, full stop.” 

Emmert said that the NCAA will attempt to figure out a way for fall sports to be played in the spring. Fall sport athletes will continue to be able to train and practice during the time when they'd normally be playing their seasons.

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