More details, including Mountain West scheduling, are expected in the coming daysGETTY IMAGES
The fall football season "was restored" for the Mountain West Conference on Thursday evening, when the conference’s BOD "voted to approve an eight-game, conference-only schedule that will kick off Oct. 24," according to Kirk Kenney of the SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE. The MWC indicated that "more details will be forthcoming Friday." In addition, conference officials will be "holding news conferences Friday." While COVID-19 cases have continued, the "possibility of rapid-result testing and eased practice restrictions opened the door to playing in the fall." This means that nine of the 10 FBS conferences will be playing in the fall, with the Mid-American Conference set to vote Friday on "whether to join everyone else." Completing the season by Dec. 19 "would make the conferences eligible for members to be considered for the College Football Playoff." The CFP participants, as well as potential bowl matchups, are to be announced Dec. 20. Although revised schedules for Mountain West teams "have not been revealed, it would be reasonable for them to play the same eight teams on their original schedules" (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 9/25).
ADDING TO THE FRENZY: In Honolulu, Ferd Lewis writes it "took 45 days for the Mountain West Conference to resuscitate its 2020 football season and that might turn out to be the easiest part of this whole enterprise." Nearly 20% of scheduled CFB games have "either been canceled or postponed before this week," and that is "prior to teams from the Big Ten, Pac-12 and Mountain West conferences even taking the field." Now, here "comes the MWC with teams spread across eight states, four time zones and a couple of quarantines ready to join the scrum" (HONOLULU STAR-ADVERTISER, 9/25).
UNLV IN SEARCH OF HOME: In Las Vegas, Sam Gordon reports there was "no word where UNLV would play its home games -- Allegiant Stadium, Sam Boyd Stadium or elsewhere." But UNLV AD Desiree Reed-Francois in a statement said that the program is "working with state and local officials to explore the possibility of limited fans" (LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL, 9/25).
