By: Dave Collins, Sports Director
Chadron State's football schedule will be trimmed by one game.
The move is a mandate by the NCAA that was put in place by the Division II Presidents Council Tuesday after being recommended by the Division II Management Council last week. It changes the minimum and maximum number of games teams can play this fall.
According to our source Tuesday night the minimum number of football games a school must play to be considered for the postseason is seven, while the maximum is now ten, down from 11.
CSC Athletic Director Joel Smith confirmed the change Wednesday morning and says CSC plans to play the new maximum - ten games - unless budgets get severely cut, in which other games could be in jeopardy.
Chadron State currently has an 11-game football schedule with nine RMAC and two non-conference games - at Missouri S&T in Week 2 and at Western Oregon in November.
As expected, Smith confirmed that one of the two non-conference games will be the first options of games that will be canceled.
The Missouri S&T and Western Oregon games are the two longest road trips, likely bear the heaviest costs to the school, and simply aren't in-conference, which makes them options A and B. Smith says CSC will not drop a conference game before a non-conference opponent.
But, there are still unknowns that could change today's outlook as schools across Division II begin working under the new schedule rule.
The virus has significantly impacted Colorado more than Nebraska and South Dakota among the RMAC landscape. Could the RMAC schedule end up getting re-worked in some fashion?
Smith said the RMAC hasn't had that discussion yet, but "it's probably coming."
So, it's still possible that if the RMAC makes scheduling changes, or if a school has a COVID-19 situation and can't play at some point during the season the Eagles could potentially keep both non-conference games because that RMAC contest would need to be canceled out of necessity.
We'll stay on top of it and let you know how the schedule changes unfold.
For now, sadly we know one thing for sure, COVID-19 is shaving the schedule from 11 to 10 games.