Term-in-ology. College athletics is not immune to industry acronyms or opaque concepts that can throw off the scent. With that in mind, Term-in-ology seeks each week to educate our readers on key NCAA definitions, terms of art, and policies and procedures encapsulating modern-day college athletics. If you are connected in any way to higher education, the business of education, or simply a college sports fan---this weekly morsel can help you decode college sports.
College Football's First Practice & Contest Dates
The most popular question virtually circling college campuses is, of course, “When will campus reopen?” A parallel question being asked daily in the college sports community is “When will college football start up?”, which is to be expected given college football’s importance to the Division I athletics economic engine.
Per NCAA rules, a Division I institution's football team shall not commence official preseason football practice sessions for the varsity, junior varsity or freshman teams before 29 days prior its first scheduled intercollegiate game. Before its first scheduled intercollegiate game, an institution may not engage in more than 25 on-field practices.
To calculate the first practice, we need to know that a Division I FBS or FCS football team’s first game of the season cannot occur prior to the Thursday preceding Labor Day.
For this fall, the Thursday before Labor Day is September 3, 2020.
As with many NCAA rules, there are legislated carve-outs, such as permitting Division I teams that play a regular-season game in Hawaii to play their first home or away game on the Saturday prior to Thursday before Labor Day. This “Week 0” scheduling flexibility helps decompress the football team’s composite schedule to accommodate travel demands associated with heading to the Big Island during the season. Waivers to football’s first contest date rule are also approved periodically to accommodate unique situations such as playing in Dublin, Ireland.
The weeks between football’s first permissible practice date and first permissible competition are themselves also regulated by the NCAA -- everything from the frequency of practice, use of football equipment, and other acclimatization principles. Those details can be explored another day.
As coaches, athletics directors, university presidents, and pundits continue to speculate on when college football will truly begin in light of the pandemic, it is helpful to understand when college football’s pre-season would normally begin.
Athletics Veritas is presented for information purposes only and should not be considered advice or counsel on NCAA compliance matters. For guidance on NCAA rules and processes, always consult your university’s athletics compliance office, conference office, and/or the NCAA.
