BREAKING: Pac-12 To Play 7 Game Football Season

After suspending the 2020 football season due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Pac-12 reversed course today, deciding to hold an abbreviated 7 game season. The decision, first reported by Pete Thamel of Yahoo Sports, was made after a meeting held today among the presidents of the Pac-12 universities.

The games are provisionally set to start the weekend of November 7th. Each team would play a 7 game regular season, and a championship game would be held on December 19th. That would allow the Pac-12 to be considered for the College Football Playoff, though a Pac-12 Champion who played a 7 game season, even an undefeated one, would likely face long odds at being selected.

In an official statement just released, the Pac-12 revealed further details. No fans will be allowed at any games that are held on Pac-12 campuses

The move today follows in the footsteps of the Big 10 Conference, who also suspended their season due to the coronavirus before deciding to resume athletic activities recently. The Big 10 will start its football season on October 24th.

The move also paves the way for the resumption of Winter Sports. The NCAA has announced a November 25th start date for Men’s and Women’s Basketball, and it appears the Pac-12 is ready to go.

Other winter sports, specifically wrestling, gymnastics, swimming and diving, will have their return dates decided on a case by case dates. According to the conference, further details will be released later. Non-football Fall sports who had their championships suspended by the NCAA will still wait until Spring to play. This would presumably include both Men’s and Women’s Soccer.

This news is still breaking, so as soon as more information is available, this story will be updated.

UPDATED: Added information about the basketball season.

UPDATED: Added official Pac-12 statement.