“The ODAC remains focused on providing meaningful competition for all student-athletes in 2020-21, which includes an intention to sponsor conference competition for fall and winter sports in the spring semester,” the league statement said.

ODAC winter teams will not play in the fall semester, either. There will be no ODAC competition until Jan. 1.

“The conference’s leadership worked extremely hard to explore ways we might have conducted conference championships and competition in the fall,” ODAC commissioner Brad Bankston said in the statement. “Those conversations involved a number of options, but none of them could change the current impact of the virus and its prevalence in our society. A safe return for students and the sustainability of campus life is a priority for all our members. The combination of fall, winter, and spring sports in the second semester is challenging, but the ODAC is committed to providing all student-athletes with a meaningful conference regular season and championship experience in a safe manner.”

Emory & Henry athletic director Anne Crutchfield said she hopes ODAC football can be played in March and April.

Other ODAC schools of note include Roanoke, Ferrum, Hollins and Washington and Lee, although W&L had already announced this month it would not play sports in the fall semester.