NCAA cancels fall championships for 2020, impacting 6 SU teams

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UPDATED: Aug. 19, 2020 at 7:21 p.m.

The NCAA has canceled all of its fall championships, President Mark Emmert announced Thursday.

The announcement, which doesn’t include FBS football, affects six Syracuse sports — men’s and women’s soccer, men’s and women’s cross country, field hockey and volleyball — and marks the third consecutive season to have its championships canceled after the NCAA scraped the winter and spring ones March 12. 

Less than half of NCAA schools intend to participate in sports this fall, which means there can’t be a legitimate championship, Emmert said. Up to this point, the Big Ten, Pac-12, Mountain West and Mid-American conferences were the only FBS conferences to cancel or postpone their fall seasons.

If more than 50% of schools decide to play their seasons in the spring, they could attempt to have a national championship, Emmert said. However, winter and spring championships would take priority, as their championships were canceled last season, he said. Those sports, including basketball and ice hockey, weren’t affected in the NCAA’s latest announcement.

On Wednesday a recommendation to move fall sports championships to the spring was approved by the NCAA Division I Council, according to Pete Thamel of Yahoo Sports.

The College Football Playoff hasn’t been canceled since the organization is not affiliated with the NCAA. Six of the 10 FBS conferences — including the Atlantic Coast Conference — haven’t canceled or postponed fall sports yet, either.