Not long after NCAA Division III officials decided to cancel their fall championships, another group of athletes at smaller schools across the country had their hopes of a fall national title smashed as well. The Division II Presidents Council decided Wednesday due to the operational, logistical and financial challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic to cancel the seven fall 2020 championships. The championships will not be delayed until spring.
The decision game after the NCAA Board of Governors directed each division to make a decision on its fall sport championships by August 21. Both Division II and Division III waited no where near that long to make their decisions. As of Wednesday, 11 of the 23 Division II conferences had already announced they will not compete during the traditional fall season.
The Division II Presidents Council, in wake of the Board of Governor’s requirements to proceed with fall championships, determined that it was not feasible to hold fall championships as planned or to postpone them to the spring while prioritizing the health and well-being of student-athletes.
Sandra Jordan, chancellor of South Carolina Aiken and chair of the council stated “after reviewing and discussing the Board of Governors’ directives, the Division II Presidents Council made the difficult decision that holding fall championships in any capacity was not a viable or fiscally responsible option for Division II.”
Back in July, the Division II Administrative Committee approved waivers to allow Division II student-athletes to retain the use of a season of competition if their team completes 50% or less of the sport’s Bylaw 17 maximum contests/dates of competition for the 2020-21 academic year.
While the championships have been canceled, Division II schools and conferences can still choose to play part or all of their regular season in the fall semester if they follow the requirements set forth by the Board of Governors.
