The ACC expects to make a decision “in late July” that will determine how its college football schedule will look, according to a statement from conference commissioner John Swofford released on Friday.
The timetable comes a day after the Big Ten announced it adopted a conference-only model for fall sports this season — the first drastic college football scheduling move by a Power 5 conference in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.
“Over the last few months, our conference has prepared numerous scenarios related to the fall athletics season,” Swofford said in the prepared statement. “The league membership and our medical advisory group will make every effort to be as prepared as possible during these unprecedented times, and we anticipate a decision by our Board of Directors in late July.”
Speculation has run rampant in the past 24 hours over how the other four major conferences might react to the Big Ten’s decision. Multiple SEC sources have told ESPN the conference athletic directors will talk on Monday in a meeting that was scheduled before the Big Ten’s announcement, but that the league also hopes to wait as long as possible before making any major decisions.
Swofford said the ACC will continue to work with the university presidents on forthcoming decisions.
“The health and safety of our student-athletes, coaches and administrators remains the ACC’s top priority,” Swofford said. “As we continue to work on the best possible path forward for the return of competition, we will do so in a way that appropriately coincides with our universities’ academic missions.”