‘Our schools will face a number of challenges.’ Mid-South revises football schedule.

The Mid-South Conference has announced its revised 2020 football schedule, which features a delayed start and only nine games for each team because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Mid-South season will get underway Sept. 12 and run through Nov. 14. Originally, Mid-South play was scheduled to begin Aug. 29. Each team normally plays 10 games.

Eight colleges from Kentucky play in the 22-member Mid-South: Campbellsville, Cumberlands, Georgetown, Kentucky Christian, Lindsey Wilson, Pikeville, Thomas More and Union.

Coronavirus guidelines for all NAIA schools were put in place last week. Mid-South Conference Commissioner Eric Ward said a contingency plan for football was arrived at ahead of other sports because football includes the most athletes and the most procedural complexity in preparing for the start of the season.

“Our schools will face a number of challenges this fall, and the revised football schedule will make some of those challenges easier for our members to address,” Ward said.

Ward said the schedule was shortened and started later than normal for two reasons. One, to give coaches more time to get athletes re-acclimated after a long period without supervised workouts, and two, to reduce travel costs for schools under financial pressure because of the pandemic.

Teams will play primarily within their divisions in 2020, with some teams playing two games against the same opponent. For instance, Georgetown College will play Pikeville and Thomas More both at home and on the road. Only one of the games in each home-and-home series will be counted toward the division standings.

Ward thanked the league’s coaches and athletic directors for working together to find solutions.

“Making decisions in a crisis situation with 22 member-institutions can be like trying to turn a battleship in a bathtub,” Ward said. “Instead we found that our athletic directors and coaches were all eager and willing to work together to find a solution to the challenges that we all will face in getting our teams back on the field and keeping them on the field this fall.”

Click here to view the revised 2020 schedule.