Mountain West says no football in the fall

FILE - In this March 11, 2020, file photo, Southeastern Conference Commissioner Greg Sankey announces that fans will not be allowed in the arena to watch NCAA college basketball games in the SEC tournament in Nashville, Tenn. After the Power Five conference commissioners met Sunday, Aug. 9, 2020, to discuss mounting concern about whether a college football season can be played in a pandemic, players took to social media to urge leaders to let them play. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey, File)
FILE - In this March 11, 2020, file photo, Southeastern Conference Commissioner Greg Sankey announces that fans will not be allowed in the arena to watch NCAA college basketball games in the SEC tournament in Nashville, Tenn. After the Power Five conference commissioners met Sunday, Aug. 9, 2020, to discuss mounting concern about whether a college football season can be played in a pandemic, players took to social media to urge leaders to let them play. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey, File)

The Mountain West became the second conference in the NCAA's Football Bowl Subdivison to call off its season Monday, joining the Mid-American Conference in giving up hope on playing any sports in the first semester.

Back east, Old Dominion canceled fall sports, too, becoming the first school in college football's highest tier to break from its league; the rest of Conference USA is going forward with plans to play.

A Big Ten spokesman said no votes on fall sports had been taken by its presidents and chancellors as of Monday afternoon. The conference's athletic directors were scheduled to meet later in the day, but it's the university presidents who will have the final say on whether football is played. In the Pac-12, presidents were scheduled to meet today, a person familiar with the meeting told AP on condition of anonymity because the meeting was not being made public.

"The student-athletes have been working too hard for their season to be canceled," President Donald Trump tweeted Monday.

That didn't help the Mountain West, which announced all fall sports including football were postponed. But Air Force will be permitted the opportunity to play the other service academies, Army and Navy.

Old Dominion dropped out earlier in the day. The Virginia school, a relative newcomer to major college football, canceled fall sports less than a week after Conference USA set out a plan to play a football season.

"We concluded that the season -- including travel and competition -- posed too great a risk for our student-athletes," ODU President John Broderick said.

Dr. Amesh Adalja, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins University Center for Health Security, said the window for a college football season is closing.

"Because of the fact that we cannot solve these simple problems in a larger community of testing, tracing and isolating," Adalja said. "If we can't solve those problems there, it's going to be very hard to do that in a college campus atmosphere."

FILE - In this Dec. 7, 2019, file photo, Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields (1) runs with the ball against Wisconsin during the first half of the Big Ten championship NCAA college football game, in Indianapolis. After the Power Five conference commissioners met Sunday, Aug. 9, 2020, to discuss mounting concern about whether a college football season can be played in a pandemic, players took to social media to urge leaders to let them play. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy, File)
FILE - In this Dec. 7, 2019, file photo, Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields (1) runs with the ball against Wisconsin during the first half of the Big Ten championship NCAA college football game, in Indianapolis. After the Power Five conference commissioners met Sunday, Aug. 9, 2020, to discuss mounting concern about whether a college football season can be played in a pandemic, players took to social media to urge leaders to let them play. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy, File)
FILE - In this June 4, 2019, file photo,  Minnesota Vikings chief operating officer Kevin Warren talks to reporters after being named Big Ten Conference Commissioner during a news conference in Rosemont, Ill. After the Power Five conference commissioners met Sunday, Aug. 9, 2020, to discuss mounting concern about whether a college football season can be played in a pandemic, players took to social media to urge leaders to let them play.(AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast, File)
FILE - In this June 4, 2019, file photo, Minnesota Vikings chief operating officer Kevin Warren talks to reporters after being named Big Ten Conference Commissioner during a news conference in Rosemont, Ill. After the Power Five conference commissioners met Sunday, Aug. 9, 2020, to discuss mounting concern about whether a college football season can be played in a pandemic, players took to social media to urge leaders to let them play.(AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast, File)
FILE - In this Oct. 8, 2019, file photo, Commissioner Larry Scott speaks during the Pac-12 NCAA college basketball media day in San Francisco. After the Power Five conference commissioners met Sunday, Aug. 9, 2020, to discuss mounting concern about whether a college football season can be played in a pandemic, players took to social media to urge leaders to let them play. (AP Photo/D. Ross Cameron, File)
FILE - In this Oct. 8, 2019, file photo, Commissioner Larry Scott speaks during the Pac-12 NCAA college basketball media day in San Francisco. After the Power Five conference commissioners met Sunday, Aug. 9, 2020, to discuss mounting concern about whether a college football season can be played in a pandemic, players took to social media to urge leaders to let them play. (AP Photo/D. Ross Cameron, File)

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