The Mountain West Conference has postponed their fall sports, including football, indefinitely, the league announced on Monday.
The postponement of Mountain West sports this fall includes football, men’s and women’s cross country, women’s soccer, and women’s volleyball (with the exception of the unique circumstances involved with the military service academies). The league previously canceled other fall sports last week.
“Nothing is more important than the health and well-being of our students, student-athletes, coaches, faculty, staff and overall communities,” said Dr. Mary Papazian, President at San José State University and Chair of the MW Board of Directors. “Through the hard work of many over the past several months, the Conference made every effort to create an opportunity for our student-athletes to compete, and we empathize with the disappointment this creates for everyone associated with our programs. The best interests of our students and student-athletes remain our focus and we will persist in our efforts to forge a viable and responsible path forward.”
According to the release, the Mountain West will explore the possibility of playing fall sports in the spring.
The Mountain West is the second Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) conference to postpone or cancel their fall season. The Mid-American Conference (MAC) announced their postponement on Saturday.
“Since the start of the pandemic, our membership and staff have been working diligently to prepare for a fall sports season,” said MW Commissioner Craig Thompson. “We were hopeful we could carefully and responsibly conduct competition as originally scheduled with essential protocols in place. However, numerous external factors and unknowns outside our control made this difficult decision necessary. I fully understand the impact of this outcome on our student- athletes, coaches, administrators and staff who work so hard daily to play the sports we all love, and I share in their disappointment. We will continue to navigate this pandemic together, overcome the obstacles and return to intercollegiate athletics at the earliest opportunity.”
Nine conferences in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) have previously announced the cancellation of fall football, with a few planning to play next spring. Thode conferences include the Ivy League, Patriot League, Mid-Eastern Athletic Association (MEAC), Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC), Colonial Athletic Association (CAA), Northeast Conference (NEC), Pioneer Football League (PFL), Big Sky Conference, and Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC).
Mountain West football members include Air Force, Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, Hawaii, Nevada, New Mexico, San Diego State, San Jose State, UNLV, Utah State, and Wyoming.
Below are the non-conference games canceled as a result of the Mountain West’s decision. Games previously canceled by other conference are not listed.
- Duquesne at Air Force (Sept. 5)
- Georgia Southern at Boise State (Sept. 5)
- Boise State at Marshall (Sept. 25)
- BYU at Boise State (Nov. 6)
- UMass at New Mexico (Oct. 3)
- New Mexico at New Mexico State
- Utah State at BYU (Oct. 2)
- Wyoming at Louisiana (Sept. 12)
- New Mexico State at Fresno State (Oct. 17)
- Robert Morris at Hawaii (Sept. 26)
- New Mexico State at Hawaii (Oct. 10)
- UTEP at Nevada (Sept. 12)
- Nevada at USF (Sept. 19)
- San Diego State at BYU (Nov. 14)
- UNLV at Arizona State (Sept. 11)
- Iowa State at UNLV (Sept. 18)