The Southland Conference has revealed its plans to resume football in the spring after postponing all fall sports because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The league released a revised regular-season schedule Tuesday for its seven members that elected to not play any games this fall. Those teams -- Lamar, McNeese State, Nicholls State, Northwestern (La.) State, Sam Houston State, Southeastern Louisiana and Incarnate Word -- will each play six conference games beginning Feb. 20 and ending April 10.
The NCAA also is allowing teams to play a maximum of eight games over a 13-week span that starts Jan. 23, which will enable some to play nonconference games.
The Southland Conference board of directors agreed to postpone fall sports Aug. 12 but left open the opportunity for its schools to play out-of-conference games in the fall.
University of Central Arkansas Coach Nathan Brown, whose Bears are one of four teams from the Southland that chose to play football in the fall, said he hopes the altered schedules work out well but noted he's happy his team is playing right now.
"I hope it's a success," he said about the Southland's spring schedule. "At the end of the day, I hope those teams are able to get their seasons in. We made the commitment early on that we were going to play in the fall, and I think it has its benefits to our program.
"But I hope the best for the Southland Conference."
The Southland teams that'll begin play in February are eligible for a conference title, with the winner receiving an automatic bid to the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs that begin with first-round games April 24. The field, which is being reduced from 24 teams to 16, will include 11 automatic qualifiers and five at-large berths.