Although talks to move fall sports to the spring have been prevalent for months, major plan approval brings the transition one step closer to fruition.
The NCAA Division I Board of Directors approved a plan to conduct fall sports championships in spring 2021. This decision includes the Football Championship Series (FCS), which the University of Idaho joined in 2017.
According to the NCAA, the plan for men’s and women’s cross country, field
hockey, men’s and women’s soccer, women’s volleyball and men’s water polo was developed by the Division I Competition Oversight Committee in conjunction with other sport committees. The plan for the FCS was created by the Division I Football Oversight Committee in conjunction with the FCS committee.
“The plan sent to us by the Division I Council provides the maximum number of opportunities to fall student-athletes to participate in NCAA championships while still being fiscally responsible,” Denise Trauth, acting board member and Texas State president, said in an NCAA press release. “We look forward to the spring, understanding things will look a little different but knowing the competitions will be just as meaningful
as in normal circumstances.”
At the University of Idaho, football, men’s and women’s cross country, women’s soccer and volleyball have been set for spring competition.
Cross country is set to start Jan. 23, soccer starts Feb. 3 and volleyball begins
Jan. 22. Championships for cross country will begin March 15, soccer playoffs will conclude by mid-May and volleyball’s postseason is set to end in the third week of March. All sports will follow an alternate schedule format for regular season and playoff competition. Playoff selections will be revealed two to four weeks before the championships depending on the sport.
According to the NCAA, the board concluded that venues for each postseason must be predetermined and sites for preliminary playoff rounds should be reduced to support health and safety and operational management of the championships this spring.
Practices for all sports will be decided by each school with Sept. 21 as the start date for on-field football practice.
For football, an eight game regular season will be played in a 13 week period with the last regular season game occurring no later than April 17. The FCS football playoff bracket will be cut from 24 teams to 16. 11 teams will earn an automatic playoff berths as their conference’s champions.
Conference championship games can be added and there is still potential bowl game appearances. FCS competition begins at each school’s discretion, football playoffs begin April 18 and will be played through May 15 according to a proposal made by the NCAA Division I Council on Wednesday. The plan will need to be approved by the Division I Board of Directors next week. UI Athletics is currently working on when teams will officially begin practice as opposed to the current off-season workouts.
“At this point, football is moving forward with its off-season (traditional spring ball),” Joe St. Pierre, Director of UI Athletic Communications, said. “Obviously a lot will look very different, and we’re definitely still figuring all that out, but it is nice to see things moving forward. We’re incredibly proud of our protocols and the way the student-athletes and staffs have responded to the adjustments.”
In 2020-21, programs have the choice between “fall ball” or “spring practice” but not both. Programs participating in fall ball cannot have preseason practice or competition before Jan. 1. Programs participating in fall ball during Fall 2020 must follow the spring practice model.
Any midyear enrollees for FCS programs will be prohibited from competition in the spring season. This ruling will apply to FBS programs as well.
Armin Mesinovic can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @arminmesinovic.