Well, folks, it’s been a roller coaster week, but we’ve finally got some answers regarding the 2020-2021 football season — and it looks like good news for fans of the game. 🏈
While many of you may have spent the better half of the past 72 hours constantly refreshing sports sites, waiting for an answer to come from the chaos that has become college football, some of you (like Erin here) may be less in-tune to what’s happening in the sports world.
TL;DR: The Southeast will seemingly see football happen this fall.
During various meetings on Tuesday, conferences around the nation made tentative decisions regarding play during the upcoming football season, in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Big 10 was the first of the Power Five conferences to officially announce the cancellation of its fall season, but remains hopeful that football will return in the spring. Pac-12 shortly followed suit. This left Big 12, SEC, and ACC (that’s us) fans anticipating the fate of their fall seasons.
On Tuesday evening, official statements from ACC + SEC officials made it clear that both conferences intend to move forward with football this fall + plan to kick off the season September 12 and 26, respectively. See the ACC statement here and the SEC statement here.
One caveat: during an emergency meeting on Monday, one ACC official said, “I don’t know if there is a drop dead time period [to decide].” Similarly, SEC Commissioner Greg Sanky stated, “We know concerns remain. We have never had a season in a COVID-19 environment. Can we play? I don’t know. We haven’t stopped trying.”
So while the league is planning to have a fall season, things could continue to change in the coming weeks. But for now, here’s what the fall football season is slated to look like for our local teams:
🐺 NC State | Schedule here | The Wolfpack will play its first of 11 games at Virginia Tech, Saturday, September 12. No official decision has been announced by the ACC for the regarding restrictions on in-person attendance at games, however current statewide regulations in NC prohibit public gatherings of more than 25 people, through at least September 8.
👣 University of North Carolina | Schedule here | The Tar Heels will be participating in an 11-game schedule, with the team’s first game slated for Saturday, September 12 at Kenan Stadium.
🔱 Duke University | Schedule here | The Blue Devils will play their first of 11 games at Notre Dame, Saturday, September 12.
