BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Football teams will get more flexibility when scheduling games, after the Southeastern Conference announced new measures on Friday to allow for more adjustments to game schedules.
Officials said that they will use Dec. 19 as a playing date for football games rescheduled during the 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. They also said they established parameters to allow for the adjustment of game opponents as late as five days before the original game date.
All games planned for Nov. 21 will be played as scheduled, as of Friday. All games scheduled to be played after Nov. 21 will be evaluated weekly in order to find ways to reschedule games that have been postponed during the 2020 season.
Dec. 19 is also the date when the SEC Football Championship Game is scheduled to be played at Atlanta's Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Teams that do not qualify for the championship game may be eligible to play games on Dec. 19 that were rescheduled after Nov. 21, officials said.
Conference officials also said they may change the weekly football schedule up to 9 p.m. on Mondays before games played on Saturdays, in order to maximize the number of games available to be played.
They said they will only reschedule games on a team's original schedule and against opponents that a team has not yet played.