After a wild week across college athletics due to ongoing concerns regarding COVID-19, the Atlantic Coast Conference announced on Friday that they plan to have a decision on fall sports scheduling by the end of July.

“The health and safety of our student-athletes, coaches and administrators remains the ACC’s top priority. As we continue to work on the best possible path forward for the return of competition, we will do so in a way that appropriately coincides with our universities’ academic missions,” ACC commissioner John Swofford said. 

“Over the last few months, our conference has prepared numerous scenarios related to the fall athletics season. The league membership and our medical advisory group will make every effort to be as prepared as possible during these unprecedented times, and we anticipate a decision by our Board of Directors in late July.”

Swofford’s announcement comes on the heels of a week that saw the Ivy League completely postpone fall sports until further notice, while the Big Ten announced plans to move to a conference-only schedule for sporting events this fall.

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to challenge day-to-day life of millions of people across the globe. While college athletics, and football especially, is just a minuscule part of the overall equation, it remains a significant part of life in the United States. No matter what happens this fall, we can certainly all but guarantee that things will be a bit different than they’ve been in years past.

The hope remains that a proven vaccine and treatment emerge quickly to help bring things back to normal across society, but until then, we’ll continue to live on-guard with hope for a solution sooner rather than later.