The NCAA canceled all of its Division I fall championships on Thursday, except FBS football, which it does not govern. The league is looking into moving the championships to the winter or spring, according to a press release.
The announcement affects men’s and women’s cross country, field hockey, Football Championship Subdivision, men’s and women’s soccer, women’s volleyball and men’s water polo. NCAA Divisions II and III previously canceled their respective fall championships on Aug. 5.
“We cannot now, at this point, have fall NCAA championships, because there’s not enough school participating,” NCAA President Mark Emmert said in a release from the league. “The Board of Governors also said, ‘Look, if you don’t have half of the schools playing a sport, you can’t have a legitimate championship.’ So we can’t in any Division I NCAA championship sport, which is everything other than FBS football, that goes on in the fall. Sadly, tragically, that’s going to be the case this fall, full-stop.
“But that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t and can’t turn toward winter and spring and, create a legitimate championship for all those students.”
Emmert also said his highest priority is ensuring the winter and spring sports can have their respective championships since those games were canceled at the beginning of the pandemic.
On Tuesday, the Big 10 and Pac-12 postponed their fall sports until the spring.
The College Football Playoff National Championship is scheduled for Jan. 11. 2021.