The top football conference in college athletics will play an abridged schedule this year.
Chancellors and presidents in the Southeastern Conference announced on Thursday a 10-game, conference-only schedule with the hope of minimizing the spread of the coronavirus and allowing for a full season.
“This new plan for a football schedule is consistent with the educational goals of our universities to allow for the safe and orderly return to campus of their student populations and to provide a healthy learning environment during these unique circumstances presented by the COVID-19 virus,” SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey wrote in a press release. “This new schedule supports the safety measures that are being taken by each of our institutions to ensure the health of our campus communities.”
The conference-only schedule, agreed upon by all 14 SEC presidents during a virtual meeting, follows the blueprint outlined by four of the other major college football conferences that announced similar plans to play in-conference schedules earlier in the week.
The scheduling shift will adversely affect in-state rivalry games played across conferences such as Florida versus Florida State and Georgia versus Georgia Tech.
