The sports world continues to be put on hold as the United States and the rest of the world combats the spread of the coronavirus. On Tuesday, the SEC made another big announcement regarding spring activities.
SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey and the SEC offices announced that all athletic competitions for the remainder of the 2019-20 academic year will be canceled due to the coronavirus. That includes all spring football games, pro days, regular season match-ups in spring sports, and conference championships.
“This is a difficult day for all of us, and I am especially disappointed for our student-athletes,” Sankey said in the league’s release. “The health and well-being of our entire conference community is an ongoing priority for the SEC as we continue to monitor developments and information about the COVID-19 virus.”
Other team activities, such as team and individual practices, remain suspended through April 15th, though it would appear those will eventually be canceled as well.
Last week, Tennessee announced that the 2020 Orange & White Game was postponed, as was their Pro Day for their NFL Draft prospects. The Orange & White Game was scheduled for April 18th in Neyland Stadium originally, but that got postponed amid all the cancellations.
Now, there will be no annual spring game for Tennessee football.
The University of Tennessee announced on Monday of this week that the remainder of this academic semester would be held off campus, as UT will be holding online-only classes for the remainder of the spring semester once spring break finishes after this week. The university also announced that graduation ceremonies in May are canceled.
Tuesday’s cancellations from the SEC brings the end to Tennessee’s spring sports such as baseball, softball, tennis, and golf. The baseball and softball Vols see their seasons end before conference play started.
This year will mark the first time since 1960 that Tennessee hasn’t held an annual spring game in football. While there’s still a possibility the Vols could end up practicing after April 15th, that seems less and less likely.
Tennessee practiced on Tuesday of last week for the first day of spring practices, and they practiced again on Thursday with no media allowed to watch due to the coronavirus. UT is on spring break now, and the football team was set to have this week off anyway. Now, unless something changes drastically a month from now, the football team won’t have a chance to practice more this spring.
