The Mountain West is zeroing in on a possible late October start to its football season, according to The Associated Press.
Mountain West university presidents moved up a scheduled Friday meeting to Thursday, a person with knowledge of the meeting told The Associated Press. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the league is not making its move toward a possible return to fall sports public.
It was unclear whether the Mountain West presidents would vote Thursday on any proposals, the person said.
Mountain West athletic directors are aiming for an Oct. 24 or Oct. 31 start for the football season. The conference is close to an agreement that will provide its 12 schools with the capacity to perform daily COVID-19 antigen tests on its athletes, the person said.
Mountain West commissioner Craig Thompson told AP last week the conference would not move forward on a fall football season without its schools having the ability to test daily.
The Mountain West postponed its fall sports season on Aug. 10 because of the coronavirus pandemic, the day before the Big Ten and Pac-12 did the same.
The Pac-12’s CEO Group of presidents and chancellors is also meeting Thursday and is expected to make a decision on whether the conference can start its football season as soon as Halloween weekend. The Pac-12 announced early this month it had acquired daily COVID-19 testing for its members.
The Big Ten announced last week it will kick off its football season the weekend of Oct. 24. The conference plans to start testing its fall sport athletes daily on Sept. 30.
The conferences that are currently staging fall football seasons have been testing athletes at least three times per week, but not daily.
