NCAA President: "We cannot have fall champ"

by J.R. Eskilson

August 13, 2020

NCAA President Mark Emmert said in a statement on Thursday that “we cannot, at this point, have fall NCAA championships.” Emmert cited the amount of programs participating as a reason after a few Power 5 conferences canceled fall seasons earlier this week.

The NCAA Board of Govenors had established the standard of at least half of the programs participating in order to have a legitimate championship. Men’s soccer dipped under that figure earlier this week, and women’s soccer will likely get there soon.

“Sadly that is going to be the case this fall, full stop,” Emmert said. “That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t and can’t turn to winter and spring and say how can we create a legitimate championship for all those students.”

Emmert also said that from his discussions with conferences that many are hopeful to compete for the fall championships in the spring and use the fall as a time to train and stay healthy. He did say that winter and spring sports would have the priority though after those sports lost their championships last season.

“If we modify the model, which we need to anyway, shrink the bracket sizes and use predetermined sites, there is a way to do it,” Emmert said as a glimmer of hope for college soccer championship in the spring.

"We cannot, at this point, have fall NCAA championships."

NCAA President Mark Emmert discusses the latest developments in fall sports and looks ahead to winter and spring championships.

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— Inside the NCAA (@InsidetheNCAA) August 13, 2020