Oklahoma won’t be playing Tennessee in football this fall as the Southeastern Conference decided to play only conference opponents in response to the Chinese coronavirus pandemic.
The Big 12 voted to play nine conference games plus only one nonconference game.
After moving OU’s nonconference game with Missouri State up a week to August 29, OU is not scheduled to play a game for 28 days between Missouri State and Army on September 26. And the Army away game is in serious jeopardy because Army plays in New York State where Gov. Andrew Cuomo has placed restrictions on travelers from Oklahoma.
OU must drop Missouri State or Army. Oklahoma State must drop Tulsa or Western Illinois. Oklahoma State has already lost a home nonconference game with Oregon State because the Pac-12 Conference is playing only conference opponents.
No decisions have been announced by OU or OSU about crowd sizes or health precautions.
The Big 12 canceled its virtual media day.
“I would like to salute the work of our university presidents and chancellors, athletics directors, coaches, medical advisors and administrators who have worked tirelessly and collaboratively during these extraordinary times,” Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby said in a statement. “We believe this change provides the best opportunity going forward. However, we will undoubtedly need to be flexible as we progress through the season in order to combat the challenges that lie ahead.”
The SEC will play 10 conference foes instead of the normal eight. The SEC will keep its division format and Tennessee’s two league additions have not been announced. The SEC has moved back its title game to December 19 – two weeks later than usual – in Atlanta.
That means no OU-Tennessee rematch, no Clemson-South Carolina Game, no Florida-Florida State game, no LSU-Texas rematch, no Georgia-Georgia Tech and no Kentucky-Louisville contest.
Texas is planning on having a half-empty stadium for football games this fall due to concerns over the coronavirus.
Athletic director Chris Del Conte emailed season-ticket holders telling them the school will try to follow state guidelines on social distancing. Texas still plans to open the season Sept. 5 at home against South Florida.
The Texas stadium holds about 100,000. Officials said there is enough capacity to accommodate all season ticket holders even though some renovation work is underway.
The Texas State Fair, which is always underway during October, has been canceled. OU and Texas play annually in the Cotton Bowl Stadium and that game might be moved.
The American Athletic Conference has not announced plans, so Tulsa is up in the air.
The Atlantic Coast Conference football teams will play 10 conference games – including Notre Dame – and one nonconference game this fall.
Notre Dame plays all of its other sports in the ACC and has ongoing scheduling with that conference in football. The ACC will have no divisions this year and the two teams with the highest winning percentages in league play will meet in the ACC Championship game. Notre Dame will now play Clemson, Louisville, Florida State, North Carolina, Syracuse and Boston College.
But there no guarantee that the ACC will begin play as scheduled on the weekend of September 12. ACC teams will be required to play their one nonconference games from within their state. That might stop the Notre Dame game at Navy.
The NCAA has extended the sideline area for college football teams by 20 yards this season in response to the coronavirus pandemic. And only one team captain will take part in the pregame coin toss. Currently, the team sideline area runs from on 25-yard line to the other 25-yard line. That has been stretched from the 15-yard line to the other 15-yard line. Before, four team captains were allowed to take part in the coin toss.