College football: MAC becomes first FBS conference to postpone fall season

The SEC, Big Ten and ACC are currently moving forward with plans to play college football in just four weeks, but on Saturday, the MAC became the first FBS conference to postpone the fall season, citing concerns over the coronavirus pandemic.

In a statement released Saturday morning, the Mid-American Conference announced that all fall sports have been postponed, with plans to schedule spring seasons in 2021.

“The Council of Presidents unanimously voted to take this action with the health and safety of its student-athletes, coaches and communities as its top priority. It is the intention of the membership to provide competitive opportunities for the student-athletes in these sports during the spring semester of 2021.”

The MAC will rightfully receive praise for a safety-first approach, and postponing the season could very well prove to be the right move, but there was also a significant financial component to this decision. With Power 5 conferences mostly eliminating out-of-conference games, MAC programs lost a major source of funding, with several schools out millions of dollars they would have received for playing games against Power 5 schools. With no fans being allowed at games, and with programs expected to cover the cost of comprehensive COVID-19 protocols, there’s simply no way for many programs to cover the cost of operating.

Will other conferences follow the MAC’s lead and postpone sports until the spring? According to multiple reports, it’s possible we could see Power 5 conferences taking similar actions.