The Mountain West officially became the second Football Bowl Subdivision conference to postpone fall sports on Monday.
Following the lead of the Mid-American Conference, who becomes the first to postpone fall sports on Saturday, the Mountain West announced “the indefinite postponement of all scheduled fall sports contests and MW championship events in response to ongoing challenges with the effective mitigation and management of the COVID-19 virus in conjunction with athletic competition.”
Mountain West football, men's and women's cross country, women's soccer and women's volleyball teams will not compete this fall, with the exception of Air Force, which will be permitted to continue to explore competitions against fellow service academies Army and Navy if conditions allow, according to athletic director Nathan Pine.
Per Monday's announcement, “the Mountain West will begin to explore the feasibility of rescheduling fall sports competition, including the possibility of those sports competing in the spring, and develop options for consideration.”
“Since the start of the pandemic, our membership and staff have been working diligently to prepare for a fall sports season,” Mountain West commissioner Craig Thompson said in a statement. “We were hopeful we could carefully and responsibly conduct competition as originally scheduled with essential protocols in place. However, numerous external factors and unknowns outside our control made this difficult decision necessary. I fully understand the impact of this outcome on our student- athletes, coaches, administrators and staff who work so hard daily to play the sports we all love, and I share in their disappointment. We will continue to navigate this pandemic together, overcome the obstacles and return to intercollegiate athletics at the earliest opportunity.”
With the Mountain West and MAC's announcements, 26 FBS football teams are now sidelined for the fall, also joined by UConn and Old Dominion, who are both FBS independents.
