STANFORD, Calif. - The Pac-12 CEO Group announced today the decision to start the 2020 football season, with Conference-only competition beginning Friday, Nov. 6.
Additionally, the Pac-12 CEO Group approved a Nov. 25 start date for the men's basketball and women's basketball seasons, in accordance with the NCAA Division I Council's Sept. 16 decision to allow competition to begin nationally on that date.
In an open letter to the Stanford community, President Marc Tessier-Lavigne explained the University's position.
"I want to thank President Tessier-Lavigne and Provost Drell for their extremely thoughtful leadership throughout this process," said Jaquish & Kenninger Director of Athletics Bernard Muir. "We are eager for all of our student-athletes to have the opportunity to play this season, assuming it can be done safely and with the appropriate public health authority approvals. To that end, we have been in touch with Santa Clara County and look forward to continuing to work with them to create a path for our student-athletes to train and compete. As we continue those conversations, the health and safety of our students, faculty, staff, coaches and community remains our top priority."
Today's decision was made after further consultation with the Pac-12 COVID-19 Medical Advisory Committee, with the medical situation as the driving consideration. The Pac-12's COVID-19 Medical Advisory Committee has been evaluating the issues and recently reported improvements in three areas since the conference's previous decision to delay competition: first, prevalence of COVID-19 in the community; second, the availability of daily testing; and third, increased insight into potential cardiac effects of COVID-19 infection and new protocols for monitoring and managing them.
The revised football schedule features a seven-game conference season, with three home games, three road games and an additional game for teams not participating in the Pac-12 Football Championship Game, scheduled to be played Dec. 18.
Complete schedules for football, men's basketball and women's basketball, along with other details surrounding competitions are expected to be announced at a later date.
Per Conference policy, no fans will be permitted at any sporting competition taking place on Pac-12 campuses. The decision to not allow fans at competitions will be revisited based upon health and safety considerations in January 2021.