As their Power 5 brethren scrap their original schedules and draw up new ones in order to retrofit their season for the times, the American is... going forward as scheduled.
The American Athletic Conference announced Wednesday, by unanimous approval by the AAC Board of Directors after consultation with the league's COVID-19 Medical Advisory Group, it has approved an 8-game conference schedule plus "up to" four non-conference games.
The "up to" is in quotes because many games have been canceled by other conferences, both above and below the AAC's spot on the food chain.
"The health and safety of our student-athletes is our top priority as we face the challenges of the current global pandemic," said commissioner Mike Aresco. "With the guidance and advice of our Medical Advisory Group, which has done an outstanding job developing health and safety protocols, we have developed a collaborative and comprehensive plan that will allow us safely and reasonably to play our fall sports. Our plan provides us with the flexibility to adapt to potential disruptions to our schedules. I want to thank our board of directors, our Medical Advisory Group, athletic directors, senior woman administrators and conference office staff for their thoughtful input and approach to what is one of the most challenging situations we will face."
Conference games will begin the weekend of Sept. 19, and teams have permission to reschedule canceled non-conference games, so long as the opponent agrees to meet the American's testing protocol.
Speaking of that, the American has met or exceeded the efforts many Power 5 schools have undergone to keep their athletes safe. Tulane, for instance, is spending $100,000 a month testing athletes twice a week.
The conference title game will be held anywhere from Dec. 5 to Dec. 19, with a decision to be made no sooner than Nov. 1.
As always, stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.