The Pac-12 is expected to finalize a plan for its 2020 college football schedule next week, according to a report from the San Jose Mercury News.
The Mercury News reports that the conference is expected to announce those plans next week as well. The Pac-12 went to a conference-only schedule in response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in the United States.
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According to the report, the final scheduling model will include:
— A 10-game conference schedule, with each Pac-12 school playing its five division opponents and five crossover opponents. The Pac-12 typically uses a nine-game conference schedule.
— A Sept. 19 start date, which would have been Week 3 on the original college football calendar this season. There are two bye weeks built into the schedule in case that date must be pushed back again.
— Flexibility with the Pac-12 championship game, which is scheduled for Friday, Dec. 4. The conference could push that back to the weekend of Dec. 11-12 or Dec. 18-19 if needed.
The Pac-12 model, of course, is subject to change because of COVID-19. California, where USC, UCLA, Stanford and Cal are located, has reported nearly 66,000 new cases in the past seven days, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Arizona, which is home to Arizona and Arizona State, has reported more than 19,000 new cases during that time, the CDC reports.
The structure of the Pac-12 plan, however, is something that the Big Ten — which also adopted a conference-only schedule in 2020 — could follow a similar structure.
