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FOOTBALL Conference USA examining all options as leagues begin cancelling nonconference games

". . . examining all options . . ."

Those with the bucks are the ones with the options. C-USA schools, not so much.
 
Without non conference pay games, and no ticket sales, there is very little reason for G5 schools to take the health risk and play this fall.

I legitimately think the best case scenario, at this point, is the CUSA and Sun Belt come to some sort of scheduling agreement to limit travel, and schedule a 8-10 game season in the spring.
 
Without non conference pay games, and no ticket sales, there is very little reason for G5 schools to take the health risk and play this fall.

I legitimately think the best case scenario, at this point, is the CUSA and Sun Belt come to some sort of scheduling agreement to limit travel, and schedule a 8-10 game season in the spring.
What a reasonable solution (maybe throw in a couple regional FCS teams as well), which means not going to happen
 
They can play extra conference games to fill the void. And find some regional FCS teams as well. Playing in the spring for the D1 schools would put the nail in the coffin and force many to drop football or drop a division.
 
They can play extra conference games to fill the void. And find some regional FCS teams as well. Playing in the spring for the D1 schools would put the nail in the coffin and force many to drop football or drop a division.
I really don’t think there’s any way we’re playing this fall, given the trajectory of positive cases currently and the little appetite by the powers that be to shut down again.
 
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There will be ripples throughout the landscape. UMass is getting 1.9m for playing Auburn. That is nearly 20% of their 10m athletic budget. Kent State has or had 3 P5 games for 5m total. Their budget is 30m. Again over 15%.

It won't be easy to come back from that even with reduced travel and a regional smaller schedule. A lot of programs are going to go under.
 
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I see a few possibilities for MT this season :

1) Duke / VaTech game is replaced by $$$ games against SEC opponents
2) CUSA, Sun-Belt, and G5 independents (Liberty, NMSU, etc) work together to schedule regional opponents (UAB vs Troy, Charlotte vs Coastal Carolina, Liberty vs ODU, etc)
3) All conferences go to conference only
4) Season is postponed until spring or cancelled entirely. This is the "nuclear winter" option and won't be exercised unless absolutely necessary.
 
It's going to be interesting what gets decided in August. If numbers keep rising, The season probably won't happen. If P5 bails first, G5's and FCS may do a proximty play at your own risk thing. The P5's dropping OOC games is almost an excuse to form their own league and cut G5's out. I don't see the benefit other than delaying the season a bit. Until we have a vaccine or drinkable Lysol, it doesn't matter when or who they play. It's all a moot point.
 
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It's going to be interesting what gets decided in August. If numbers keep rising, The season probably won't happen. If P5 bails first, G5's and FCS may do a proximty play at your own risk thing. The P5's dropping OOC games is almost an excuse to form their own league and cut G5's out. I don't see the benefit other than delaying the season a bit. Until we have a vaccine or drinkable Lysol, it doesn't matter when or who they play. It's all a moot point.

ding ding, just the precursor to the P5 split. D2 is voting this week for spring ball starting at the end of Jan. with playoffs starting in April. FCS is trying to hang on to fall ball, but may follow suit
 
wsmv.com:

Local Athletic Directors discuss their approach to fall sports

excerpts:

...The Big Ten and PAC 12 conferences have already committed to conference-only games.

Conference USA is still making up its mind. MT has two ACC football opponents—Duke and Virginia Tech—in the first three weeks of its season and continues to build contingency plans.

MT Athletics Director Chris Massaro says, “We're gonna be loose on that. Might be able to fill holes with local teams who've had games canceled. We've told our commissioner we want to play at least six conference games to crown division champs. But also, we might be able to fill some holes with teams who've also had games canceled.” .....



...MT started formal workouts this week.

Massaro says, “It’s my job is to get everyone to the starting line. I don’t know where that starting line is. I hope that we’re gonna walk a little slowly at first rather than saying hey, we’re gonna eliminate everything.” .....
 
ACC is going to a 10+1 schedule with 10 conference games and 1 OOC. SEC is leaning to conference only schedule. It makes me wonder if G5 schools may fill in the +1 for the ACC
 
ACC is going to a 10+1 schedule with 10 conference games and 1 OOC. SEC is leaning to conference only schedule. It makes me wonder if G5 schools may fill in the +1 for the ACC

ACC also says the OOC is up to the schools, but must be played in the school’s home state. So we could go to Duke or to Virginia Tech, but zero chance of them coming to Floyd.
 
dnj

ACC decision means MT football unlikely to play Duke, Virginia Tech in 2020

...MT's season opener at Duke on Sept. 5 was part of a home-and-home series with both sides getting $100,000 in return for hosting the other. Duke beat MT 41-18 last season at Floyd Stadium.

The game with Virginia Tech on Sept. 19 is also part of a home-and-home series.

MT was scheduled to pay the Hokies $200,000 in return for coming to Murfreesboro this year while Virginia Tech would pay MT $500,000 for the game next year in Blacksburg......
 
roanoke.com:

Virginia Tech football: ACC overhauls 2020 football schedule in wake of COVID-19

...Virginia Tech's original 2020 schedule included nonconference home games with Liberty, North Alabama and Penn State, with a road game at Middle Tennessee. The Penn State game was canceled in early July when the Big Ten announced it was moving to a conference-only schedule for the 2020 season.

Middle Tennessee was scheduled to play at Duke on Sept. 5 in the season-opener and host Tech on Sept. 19. Neither school gave the Blue Raiders any advanced notice of the ACC's decision on Wednesday.

While the timing of the announcement came as a surprise, the school had been planning for the possibility of losing the games in recent months given the “unprecedented” nature of the situation.....
 
wralsportsfan.com:

New ACC slates for all three Triangle schools include interesting tweaks

...Duke, meanwhile, didn't have a Power 5 opponent among its non-conference foes — Notre Dame was considered one of them at the time. Duke was scheduled to play Elon, but that's not likely as Elon is an FCS team. So it'll be either Middle Tennessee or Charlotte, unless Duke can find a new opponent.

The Blue Devils' ACC slate changes quite a bit as well. Duke will keep its road games game at Notre Dame, at NC State and at Georgia Tech, but will go to Virginia instead of hosting the Cavaliers and will not play at Miami, instead playing at Syracuse for its fifth road game.

Duke will keep home games with North Carolina, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest, but will add Boston College and Florida State.....
 
My other alumni school plays in MVFC (same as Indiana State) and they too are heading toward conference only games or some type of conference/regional teams only structure.
 
wait until the P5 schools find that increasing the number of conference games saves them paying millions of dollars to G5 schools for a beatdown. We may see all the P5 conferences adopt 10 game conference schedules.

On the plus side, schools like vandy may never see another bowl game or winning season.
 
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SEC Adopts Conference-Only Schedule With Sept. 26 Start

...The league will kick off the season Sept. 26, three weeks later than the scheduled Labor Day weekend start. While the SEC’s divisional structure is expected to remain the same—winners of two seven-team divisions playing in a Dec. 19 championship game—league teams will play two more opponents from their opposite division. A normal SEC schedule includes eight conference games—six against inner-division teams, one against a permanent team from the opposite division and one against a rotating team from the opposite division.

The decision Thursday was not a surprise. SI reported the potential plan in a story Wednesday. However, many believed the ACC’s announcement Wednesday regarding its scheduling model could impact the SEC’s plan to move to a conference-only schedule. The ACC announced an 11-game schedule with 10 conference games and an option for one non-conference game that must be played in that ACC team’s home state. It left the door open for four traditional SEC-ACC rivalry games, including Georgia-Georgia Tech, Florida-Florida State, Kentucky-Louisville and South Carolina-Clemson.....
 
wait until the P5 schools find that increasing the number of conference games saves them paying millions of dollars to G5 schools for a beatdown. We may see all the P5 conferences adopt 10 game conference schedules.

On the plus side, schools like vandy may never see another bowl game or winning season.

Yes, and that will decrease guarantee game money....
 
UConn’s football schedule further eroded by COVID-driven cancellations; game at Ole Miss is off, games at Virginia and North Carolina in doubt

...The SEC’s decision this week to go to a conference-only, 10-game schedule means the Huskies’ game at Mississippi, scheduled for Oct. 24 at Oxford, Miss., is now off....

IIRC, this is the game that was MT's game at ole miss. A deal was made where UConn got the game but MT was still supposed to receive the originally contracted pay day and for MT the road game at uconn. replaced ole miss This raises the question. Since the $ec is not playing any out of conference games, does this mean our expected check from ole miss for the game at uconn is not going to happen and what does that mean for MT going to UConn. Is that game now off without the Ole Miss money.???
 
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IIRC, this is the game that was MT's game at ole miss. A deal was made where UConn got the game but MT was still supposed to receive the originally contracted pay day and for MT the road game at uconn. replaced ole miss This raises the question. Since the $ec is not playing any out of conference games, does this mean our expected check from ole miss for the game at uconn is not going to happen and what does that mean for MT going to UConn. Is that game now off without the Ole Miss money.???

How much money can Ole Miss save without playing a non-conference football schedule?


...Things are a little more complicated for Ole Miss' scheduled game against UConn. That's because UConn is not scheduled to make any payment from that game. Middle Tennessee State is.

As scheduled, Ole Miss was originally supposed to play Middle Tennessee instead of UConn in 2020. That plan changed last October when UConn swooped in. Now Ole Miss is scheduled to play UConn but pay Middle Tennessee $1.5 million. Meanwhile, UConn agreed to play Middle Tennessee as well this season and make nothing off the game against Ole Miss.

The "force majeure" clause in this contract is written differently than in the other two. This contract doesn't explicitly list the SEC as a governing body with the authority to cancel the game. That said, it does include the phrase "act of God" as an acceptable reason for cancelation that would "relieve both parties from their obligations."

Of course, that clause applies to the Ole Miss-UConn game. There isn't explicitly any language in the contract about whether a cancelation between Ole Miss and UConn will have any bearing on if Ole Miss has to pay Middle Tennessee. On top of that, the game between Middle Tennessee and UConn scheduled for Nov. 21 hasn't been canceled yet.

The Clarion Ledger asked Ole Miss athletic director Keith Carter about this topic in June and at the time he said he wasn't clear on how these contract agreements would be interpreted in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

"That's all up for interpretation," Carter said. "Not just with the way that one is written but really with all of our guarantee games. What do those look like? What do the contracts look like? I know there's a Force Majeure in there but I'm not exactly sure how that exactly shakes out, if those contracts are payable or if we have a way on that if there's not a non-conference season."

Additionally, Ole Miss is scheduled to play Middle Tennessee again in 2024. According to contracts obtained by the Clarion Ledger, that game is scheduled to net MTSU another $1.6 million.

Carter has not replied to the Clarion Ledger's interview request since the SEC made its announcement Thursday.....
 
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