With Vaccines Available, Mountain West Reworks Plan for Competition

LAS VEGAS, Nev. – No contest is no longer in the Mountain West vernacular. Not in any sport for the 2021-22 competition season.

If a team cannot compete this season due to COVID-19 issues, they will forfeit the game and further consequences beyond the standings are being discussed. Among those on the table are schools having to reimburse opponents for travel costs which may have been absorbed, even the loss of possible television revenue.

"My biggest fear is complacency with the virus," Mountain West commissioner Craig Thompson said as he addressed the media at the close of the first day of the conference's football media day function. "Last year there was no testing. Last year there was not a choice to be made. This year there is. As a league, we will not mandate vaccinations, but there will be consequences."

As of Wednesday, Thompson said the 11 conference football teams had a combined vaccination rate of 73 percent. Seven teams sit at 88 percent or better. As part of the changes, football teams will no longer have minimum roster requirements, which were in place last year for total roster and even position limits.

The ability to become vaccinated is fueling the conference's change in stance on how missed contests will be handled. Also, the plan is for a full season, not a truncated one, leaving no room to reschedule a missed game.

"All of those things are being discussed," Thompson said. "First of all, we have to finalize that's what we want to do, then we will get into those nuances. Those are the two factors. We don't have any wiggle room, and last year we had no choice, there was no vaccine. This year you have an option, and short of forcing or mandating, which we can't do, that's probably where we're going to come out."

While he stressed he feels vaccinations are necessary, he understands there are some student-athletes who will not take part, noting religious and health reasons, even just not wanting one. The Mountain West paid for testing for student-athletes last year – a multi-million dollar tab -- allowing the majority of scheduled events conference wide to take place. But with vaccinations available, the league will no longer incur the cost, leaving that at the discretion of member universities.

Vaccinated student-athletes will no longer be required to be tested or wear masks during team functions. If a student-athlete is not vaccinated, the conference's health and safety committee is calling for one of two choices: Three antigen tests per week or one PCR test. At Colorado State, Director of Athletics Joe Parker said unvaccinated student-athletes will have to pay for those tests themselves.

Right now, two of the seven states the conference has schools in for football are on the path to require mandatory testing for all students on campus. California has issued the directive, Thompson said, while Colorado is still awaiting FDA approval with the intent to move in that direction.

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