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Pac-12 follows Big Ten in canceling fall football season

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The Pac-12 became the second Power 5 conference to cancel its fall football season Tuesday after the Big Ten's announcement earlier in the day.

The Pac-12 CEO group voted unanimously to postpone all sport competitions through the end of the 2020 calendar year with an eye toward playing in the spring.

"The health, safety, and well-being of our student-athletes and all those connected to Pac-12 sports has been our No. 1 priority since the start of this current crisis," commissioner Larry Scott said in a statement. "Our student-athletes, fans, staff and all those who love college sports would like to have seen the season played this calendar year as originally planned, and we know how disappointing this is."

"Ultimately, our decision was guided by science and a deep commitment to the health and welfare of student-athletes," Oregon president Michael H. Schill said. "We certainly hope that the Pac-12 will be able to return to competition in the new year."

There are more than six weeks remaining before the Pac-12 was scheduled to play the first matchups of a 10-game, conference-only slate announced July 31.

The conference promised to guarantee all scholarships and said it would strongly encourage the NCAA to grant student-athletes who opt out of competition this academic year an additional year of eligibility.

Not every Power 5 group has pulled the plug on the 2020 campaign. The SEC's medical advisory group gave the conference the green light to prepare for the upcoming season, commissioner Greg Sankey said Tuesday.

The Mountain West reportedly became the second FBS conference to postpone fall sports Monday.

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