Big East Announces Fall Sports Won't Be Played in 2020, Could Be Moved to Spring

The Big East announced Wednesday that it was joining the Big Ten and Pac-12 in canceling its fall sports season, with the possibility of playing those sports in the spring.

Affected sports will include men's and women's soccer, men's and women's cross country, volleyball and field hockey. Spring sports which have some fall competitions, including baseball, softball, men's and women's golf, men's and women's lacrosse and men's and women's tennis, were also canceled.

Fall athletes will be allowed to practice and attend team meetings, however. 

Big East commissioner Val Ackerman made the following statement:

"This very difficult decision came after an exhaustive review by our presidents and athletics directors and followed consideration of NCAA guidance, COVID-19 case counts and trend lines nationally and in Big East communities, and the many unknowns surrounding testing availability, turnaround time and travel restrictions in our 11 locales. We take pride in the high-level competition and experiences we provide to our fall sports student-athletes, and we share their deep disappointment that this will not be a normal year. Our plans for men's and women's basketball and other sports are unaffected at this time."

Big East schools include Butler, Connecticut, Creighton, DePaul, Georgetown, Marquette, Providence, St. John's, Seton Hall, Villanova and Xavier. 

All eyes will now turn to how the basketball season. The Big East remains one of the premier conferences in college basketball, and with uncertainty about the status of the COVID-19 pandemic come the fall and winter, the beginning of the college basketball season could also be in jeopardy. 

Both the men's and women's NCAA basketball tournaments were canceled last year. A shortened or canceled season to follow would be a major blow to those programs, players and fans. But for the time being, those seasons are set to proceed as scheduled.