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Another one bites the dust: Big South delays fall sports
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Another one bites the dust: Big South delays fall sports

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (BVM) — Out of 13 FCS conferences, only four were still considering fall sports. That number has dwindled down to three, as the Big South recently announced their plans to delay the start of the fall season. This is disheartening news for a conference where so many schools were hoping for a regularly-scheduled season. 

This will affect sports like football, volleyball, men’s and women’s cross country and soccer. People within the conference are hoping that a spring start will be reasonable, considering COVID-19. 

Although the conference schedules will get a late start, one thing the Big South has allowed is for football teams to play FBS games in the fall. The conference voted to permit their football teams to play four non-conference games during the fall, if they so choose.

One school that will be making the most of this opportunity is Charleston Southern University. The Buccaneers were committed to playing football this fall, regardless of the decisions made by other conferences. Right now they already have three non-conference games scheduled against The Citadel, Furman and Mercer. They plan on reserving their fourth non-conference game for a Power 5 school. 

Athletic director Jeff Barber is currently in talks with 16 schools to fill this slot.

“As long as it’s safe, as long as it won’t be dangerous for student-athletes, we will play some of those games.” Barber said.

Another school, the University of North Alabama, plans on playing FBS games as well. They have a premier matchup with Brigham Young University slated for the fall.

However, the remainder of the Big South’s fall sports teams will have to wait until the spring to get in any official competition. While the conference held out as long as they could hoping for an improvement in the COVID-19 pandemic, they ultimately found it unsafe to give the all-clear with the season fast approaching. 

Big South commissioner Kyle Kallander expressed his sorrows in a statement

“We are all broken-hearted that we will not be able to provide competitive opportunities for Big South student-athletes this fall,” Kallander said. “However, the path forward must protect the health and safety of our student-athletes, and some of the current trends and unknowns with COVID-19 have made that a huge challenge. 

While fall sports teams now await the arrival of spring, they are still approved to take part in team activities. Each university and team will make their own decisions on whether to partake in these, and they will have to adhere to local regulations and procedures regarding COVID-19.