August 5, 2020 –
The American announced its plan and timeline for fall sports today. The plan was unanimously approved by the Board of Directors.
The American will have intra-conference competition in the regular season for football, men’s and women’s soccer, and women’s volleyball. There will be a conference championship for the fall sports listed above and for men’s and women’s cross country. Other than football and cross country the number of conference tournament qualifying teams will be reduced to four. Schools will be able to schedule non-conference games at their discretion, but under guidelines and protocols set by the Medical Advisory Group. The group will guide a safe return to play. As the situation evolves the league will provide updates.
Temple competes in the American in the fall sports listed above. The Field Hockey program is a member of the Big East who announced there will be league competition only.
In football conference competition will begin on September 19. Each team will play eight conference games on the originally scheduled dates. Non-conference games will be scheduled by the schools and must meet guidelines and protocols currently in place. The conference championship will be decided in early December at the stadium of the regular season champion at a date to be determined. Temple has potentially lost two games up to this time as the game against Miami still in question and Rutgers who will play only conference games as per the Big Ten plan.
For the fall sports the Owls are exploring all opportunities especially in football. No final decisions have been reached. At this time and according to to the plan the Cherry and White will host; USF on October 17th, SMU on November 5th, then ECU on the 21st, and Cincinnati one week later.
Cross Country will have cross country meets at the discretion of the schools. The championship meet will be on October 31 in Augusta, Kansas.
Men’s Soccer will play a 10-game double-round robin schedule of league games. The sport will begin on September 5th and games on Saturday unless a home date conflict with football exists. Those games may be moved to another day. Matches during the week against non-conference foes may be scheduled provided the opponent meets standards and testing set by the Medical Advisory Group, and will have no need for air travel and a hotel stay. Four teams will play in the Championship in mid-November and will be at the site of the top-seed based on conference record.
Women’s Soccer has nine teams and will play an eight-game single-round robin schedule on Saturdays starting on September 6th. Non-conference games may be played during the week if the opponent meets the same standards and travel restrictions as men’s soccer. The conference title will be decided on November 6th and 8th at the site of the top-seed. If the facility is unavailable, the next highest seed will host the games.
Volleyball will split in to two divisions. Each team will play their division opponent twice at the same site. Games will begin during the weekend starting on September 24th and are to be played on Thursday – Sunday. Three weekends are available for non-conference play after September 1st. The championship will take place on November 21 – 22 at the Fifth-Third Arena on the campus of the University of Cincinnati with the division titlists competing. Temple will compete in the East Division along with UCF, Cincinnati, East Carolina, and USF. Houston, Memphis, SMU, Tulane, and Tulsa will be in the West Division.
The American announced that decisions for the winter sports will be made at a later date.
Written By: Glenn Papazian
Contact: Glenn@PhillyCollegeSports.com
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