Just hours after the Big Ten announced its move to eliminate non-conference games this fall the ACC has announced it will do the same.
This announcement comes a day after it was first reported that UNC had suspended workouts for at least a week due to a ‘cluster’ of COVID-19 cases. UNC tested 429 student athletes, coaches, and staff members and returned 37 positive cases.
Brett McMurphy of Stadium reported the news on Twitter Thursday afternoon.
ACC football also expected to play conference-only games, sources told @Stadium. Last month, ACC commish John Swofford told @Stadium if Power 5 schools played conference-only schedules that ACC would assist Notre Dame with as many games as it needed
— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) July 9, 2020
The announcement allows the season kickoff to be postponed by at least one month to better ensure the safety and wellness of players and coaches.
Also mentioned is the ACC’s decision to assist Notre Dame with as many games as is needed.
How does this affect the SEC?
Notre Dame was scheduled to play Arkansas on September 12th.
UNC was scheduled to play Auburn on September 12th.
Virginia was scheduled to play Georgia on September 7th.
The SEC has not made any announcements regarding a conference only schedule yet. Brandon Marcello of 247Sports tweeted that he was on the phone with an SEC coach who was “shocked” by the announcement out of the Big Ten, and that was before Brett McMurphy released the ACC’s announcement.
I was told Tuesday by an ACC coach there had been murmurs in their program's hallways of an eight-game, conference-only schedule. (FWIW)
An SEC coach called me earlier shocked by Big Ten news, and then ACC news from @Brett_McMurphy
dropped.Things changing fast.
— Brandon Marcello (@bmarcello) July 9, 2020