” The health and wellness of our student-athletes and all those connected to Pac-12 sports continues to be our primary priority,” stated Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott. “Our choices have and will be assisted by science and information, and based upon the patterns and signs over the previous days, it has actually become clear that we need to provide ourselves with maximum versatility to schedule, and to delay any motion to the next phase of return-to-play activities.”
The Alabama-USC game that was to open the 2020 football season is formally canceled.
Since Thursday evening, Alabama athletics director Greg Byrne stated the “present strategy is to play the video game,” but that changed Friday night. The Pac-12 released a statement at 6 p.m. CT that its members would just play conference video games this fall.
The Pac-12 follows the Big Tens choice released Thursday to take the very same course concerning football scheduling in the coronavirus pandemic.
As it now stands, Alabamas first football game on the schedule is Sept. 12 when Georgia State is set up to take a trip to Bryant-Denny Stadium. The first SEC game is set up for Sept. 20 when Georgia is slated to check out Tuscaloosa.
Michael Casagrande is a reporter for the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @ByCasagrande or on Facebook.
Alabama was to be paid $6 million to play the video game in the home arena of the Dallas Cowboys, according to the contract checked in 2018.
Byrne published an instant reaction to the Pac 12 news.
” As Ive said previously, USC Advertisement Mike Bohn and I had several conversations over the last a number of months, and we were both preparation on playing the football video game on September 5 in Arlington,” Byrne stated. “With the Pac-12 ′ s decision to transfer to a conference-only schedule, we will do our finest to change. What that appears like is to be figured out.”
