Mountain West football will return this fall for a truncated 8-game season
COLORADO SPRINGS, CO. – It was announced in a brief statement on Thursday night that Mountain West football will be returning this fall for a shortened season.
The conference announced that there will be an 8-game season for all 12 teams.
Games will kick off the week of October 24th, but will be subject to approval from state, county and local officials.
Teams will have three weeks to prepare for the season prior to game week.
The conference championship game will be held on Dec. 19. A complete schedule will be released shortly.
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Another statement released on Friday, detailed testing protocols and stadium capacities.
“The Mountain West has partnered with Quest Diagnostics to implement testing protocols across all member institutions. The agreement with Quest delivers frequent testing with rapid results, providing a major step forward for sport competition to resume. The Mountain West will require all football student-athletes, coaches, trainers and other individuals that are on the field to undergo testing three times per week. Test results must be completed and recorded prior to each game. Student-athletes who test positive for the coronavirus through point of contact (POC) testing would require a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test to confirm the result of the POC test.
“The health and well-being of our student-athletes continue to guide all decisions,” said Dr. Mary Papazian, San José State University President and Chair of the MW Board of Directors. “The availability of rapid testing addresses one of the main concerns that was expressed by our Board, the MW Health and Safety Advisory Committee, as well as by student-athletes and coaches. Our student-athletes have voiced their desire to compete, and it is the Board’s shared opinion that football can be conducted with appropriate mitigation. We continue to learn more about the virus each day and will continue to monitor the pandemic moving forward. We will be ready to change course if necessary should new information come forth, or we feel an appropriate environment cannot be sustained on our campuses.”
The MW is in the process of finalizing thresholds for competition interruption, monitoring test results, and other health and safety protocols that are consistent with NCAA resocialization guidelines.
“This is a great opportunity to get our student-athletes back on the field of competition in a cautious and regulated fashion,” commented MW Commissioner Craig Thompson. “We appreciate the efforts our Board, Directors of Athletics, Health and Safety Advisory Committee and Conference staff have put into developing the necessary parameters for our students-athletes to return to competition. The rapid testing element was critical for us to provide an effective solution for our athletes, coaches, officials and event staff.”
Stadium capacities will be determined by each member institution in accordance with state, county and local health ordinances in consultation with government officials.”
