The Southland Conference will cancel fall sports – including football – on Thursday, according to multiple reports. The news was first reported by KPRC's Randy McIlvoy.
However, the cancellation comes with one significant caveat. According to McIlvoy, teams will be allowed to keep scheduled nonconference games if they wish. The conference schedule will move to the spring.
This is significant for Southland programs scheduled to play against FBS opponents. Houston Baptist just scheduled a matchup with Texas Tech last week. The Red Raiders are scheduled to pay HBU $400,000 for the game. Per the Department of Education, that represents nearly 10 percent of the football budget.
Other Southland Conference programs with FBS matchups include Stephen F. Austin (SMU) and Lamar (Rice). UIW has a game scheduled against Baylor, but the Bears have yet to confirm whether the Cardinals will be their lone nonconference opponent.
With the Southland's postponement, every sub-FBS program in the state of Texas will now not play in the fall. The SWAC, Lone Star Conference and American Southwest Conference have confirmed a spring schedule.
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