Houston and Memphis‘ American Athletic Conference opener, scheduled for Sept. 18, has been postponed, the league announced Saturday.
The decision was made a day after Memphis paused football activities because of issues related to COVID-19. The Tigers halted because a “significant number of individuals” inside the program were placed into quarantine due to coronavirus protocols.
The game’s makeup date is to be determined, the AAC said.
Houston will replace the void in its schedule with a game against Baylor on Sept. 19, it was announced. The Bears lost their originally scheduled season opener — which was to be played Sept. 12 vs. Louisiana Tech — because of a COVID-19 outbreak on the Bulldogs’ roster.
Baylor will host the game against Houston at McLane Stadium in Waco, Texas. The teams have agreed on the contest, but are still in the process of finalizing the details. Baylor did not have a game scheduled for the weekend of Sept. 19 and begins conference play on Sept. 26.
Memphis did not specify how many positive cases it has inside the program, saying only “a number of individuals connected with the Tigers football program tested positive.” Those positive tests, along with contact tracing protocols, put a “significant number of individuals” into quarantine, per Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines.
“The positive tests and subsequent contact tracing indicate that the majority of cases have been linked to social events outside of official football activities,” the school said.
ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg contributed to this report.