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SEC, ACC Pushing Forward for Time Being Despite Pac-12, Big Ten Decisions

For now, the ACC and SEC are still on for football in 2020.

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Battle lines have been drawn as to whether college football should be played in 2020. Standing at one end is the Big Ten and ACC. Standing at the other is the SEC and the ACC. And, the Big 12 is milling about somewhere in the middle.

The ACC and SEC put out a statements Tuesday afternoon declaring they are holding steady despite the Big Ten and Pac-12 postponing their 2020 football seasons.

“The ACC will continue to make decisions based on medical advice, inclusive of our Medical Advisory Group, local and state health guidelines, and do so in a way that appropriately coincides with our universities’ academic missions.

“The safety of our student-athletes, staff and overall campus communities will always be our top priority, and we are pleased with the protocols being administered on our 15 campuses. We will continue to follow our process that has been in place for months and has served us well.

“We understand the need to stay flexible and be prepared to adjust as medical information and the landscape evolves.” [ACC]

So, that’s not a definitive, “Yes, we are going to play football,” but it is a much more for-fall-football approach than that of the Big Ten and Pac-12 had Tuesday.

Here is the statement SEC commissioner Greg Sankey released shortly after:

“I look forward to learning more about the factors that led the Big Ten and Pac-12 leadership to take these actions today. I remain comfortable with the thorough and deliberate approach that the SEC and our 14 members are taking to support a healthy environment for our student-athletes. We will continue to further refine our policies and protocols for a safe return to sports as we monitor developments around COVID-19 in a continued effort to support, educate and care for our student-athletes every day.” [Sankey]

On July 29, the ACC announced its plan to begin games the week of Sept. 7-12. That plan included the league members playing 10 conference games and one nonconference game while also including independent Notre Dame for the 2020 season.

The SEC announced its decision to go conference-only on July 30, with the league’s opening-week games coming Sept. 26.

This again leaves the Big 12 as the only Power Five conference without a known direction, but that could change shortly. Big 12 presidents and athletic directors are meeting at 5 p.m. Tuesday to discuss where the league stands in relations to sports happening this fall.

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