Football teams at Kentucky’s smaller colleges left in the lurch amid pandemic

While it appears the four biggest programs in Kentucky will at least have an opportunity to play a fall football season, athletes at smaller state schools face a disappointing present and an uncertain future.

Schools across the country competing in conferences outside the Power Five in the Football Bowl Subdivision along with programs in the Football Championship Subdivision and smaller conferences routinely operate on tight budgets in “normal” times, and the coronavirus pandemic has only served to exacerbate those financial difficulties.

As a result, universities throughout America — including many which compete in Division I — have eliminated various athletics programs altogether. In Kentucky, many schools have made the decision to forego fall football rather than deal with the ever-changing logistics and financial burdens that would come with staging a season amid the pandemic.

Here’s a rundown of how football programs at Kentucky’s smaller schools have been affected:

▪ The Pioneer League, of which Morehead State is part, canceled its fall football season, meaning the Eagles will not play this year.

▪ Like EKU, Murray State is a member of the Ohio Valley Conference, meaning the Racers could conceivably play four non-conference games this fall and attempt to play a conference schedule in the spring; alternatively, the Racers could opt to follow EKU’s lead and pursue a full non-conference schedule in the fall and opt out of a spring OVC season.

But as of press time, Murray State had not announced plans to play any games in the fall or spring.

▪ The Southern Athletic Association suspended all athletic competition until at least Jan. 1, meaning Centre College will not play football this fall. Kentucky State, which was set to debut a new playing surface, will not play this year because of the decision by the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference to cancel fall sports.

▪ The Great Midwest Athletic Conference, which includes Kentucky Wesleyan, postponed its conference season until spring.

▪ Eight Kentucky programs were affected by the NAIA decision related to fall sports. The Mid-South Conference elected to let its three independent divisions decide for themselves whether or not to delay football altogether or play division-only schedules in the fall and two of the three — the Appalachian and Bluegrass — elected to postpone.

That means the following programs will not play divisional schedules this fall: Campbellsville, Cumberlands, Georgetown, Lindsay Wilson, Pikeville, Thomas More, Kentucky Christian and Union.

The NAIA left open the possibility that schools could schedule non-conference opponents in the fall, but as of press time none of those eight Kentucky programs had done so.

Josh Sullivan

Lexington Herald-Leader

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Josh Sullivan has worked at the Herald-Leader for more than 10 years in multiple capacities, including as a news assistant, page designer, copy editor and sports reporter. He is a graduate of the University of Kentucky and a Lexington native. Support my work with a digital subscription