The Southeastern Conference (SEC) announced updated fall sports start dates and formats for all 14 institutions in the conference on Thursday.
In July, SEC members announced that all fall sports will be postponed until at least Aug. 31, but Ole Miss cross country, soccer, volleyball, tennis and golf now finally know when their fall seasons will begin.
Cross country season will consist of a minimum of two and a maximum of three events before the SEC Championship in Baton Rouge on Oct. 30. The season starts on Sept. 11 and will continue as previously scheduled until Oct. 23 over a seven-week period. Teams may compete against non-conference schools that adhere to SEC COVID-19 testing protocols.
The SEC soccer season will consist of a conference-only, regular season over an eight-week time frame beginning on Sept. 18. The SEC Championship will be held at Orange Beach, Ala. from November 13-22 where all SEC teams will be guaranteed at least two games in the tournament.
While cross country and soccer begin in September, all volleyball, tennis and golf competitions will begin in October.
SEC volleyball will consist of an eight-match, conference only schedule over six weeks of competition beginning on Oct. 16. Each team will compete against four opponents twice in the same weekend on back-to-back days.
Both SEC soccer and volleyball will have spring seasons with more details on formats depending on final NCAA decisions on how to conduct spring championships for those sports.
For SEC 2020 fall tennis and golf segments, both men’s and women’s teams may compete in up to three team events no earlier than Oct. 1. Teams will be limited to competing against only SEC opponents or non-conference opponents in the same geographical region.
Lastly, fall practice activities and intra-squad games are permitted for baseball and softball, but exhibition games against outside opponents are prohibited during the 2020 fall semester.
