Four major Kentucky universities learn fate of their 2020 fall sports seasons
The Ohio Valley Conference has postponed most competition for the upcoming fall sports season to the spring because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
That decision, made Friday by a vote of league presidents, affects two Kentucky athletics programs that compete in football at the Division I level: Eastern Kentucky University and Murray State University.
The OVC, like many Football Championship Subdivision conferences that have canceled their league schedules this fall, is permitting league members to play non-conference games at their own discretion in the fall. EKU and MSU each currently have three non-conference opponents on their schedules. Eastern is set to host Western Carolina on Sept. 3 before visiting West Virginia (Sept. 12) and Youngstown State (Sept. 19). Murray State’s three remaining opponents are: at Georgia State (Sept. 3), versus Tarleton State at home (Sept. 12) and at Louisville (Sept. 19).
All other OVC fall sports are postponed until at least the spring.
The Pioneer Football League, another Football Championship Subdivision conference and of whom Morehead State is a member, postponed its fall competition earlier this month. The Eagles will not play football this fall.
The Southland Conference and Southern Conference both also made decisions to postpone intraconference play to the spring on Thursday. Those two and the OVC were the last remaining FCS conferences to make a decision regarding fall play.
Northern Kentucky University, a member of the Horizon League, learned Thursday that its fall sports season will be postponed to the spring. The Atlantic Sun Conference, of which Bellarmine is a member, announced Friday morning that it is postponing its fall season to spring. Neither of those schools play football.
At least four EKU football players have departed from the team in the last week, citing concerns over the program’s handling of COVID-19 protocols and testing.
This story was originally published August 14, 2020 at 6:13 PM.
