TCU soccer, volleyball shift focus to Big 12 titles with no NCAA championships
The TCU women’s soccer program is one of 20 programs in the country to play in the last four NCAA tournaments.
Credit coach Eric Bell for turning the Horned Frogs into a perennial contender. Unfortunately, they won’t be able to try and make it five straight this fall.
The NCAA canceled fall championships on Thursday, citing a number of conferences and schools shutting down fall sports amid the coronavirus pandemic. The NCAA stated it would need at least 50% participation to go forward with the championships.
“It stinks,” Bell said. “That’s what we’re trying to do — compete for a national championship and make a run in the tournament. It’s not the most fun news to hear, but we’ve got a resilient group. We’re moving on and competing for a Big 12 championship.”
That sentiment was shared by TCU volleyball coach Jill Kramer. Kramer, like Bell, hoped that the NCAA would find a way to host the championships.
Instead, the mindset has now shifted toward a conference championship being the ultimate prize for those sports for now.
“I’m disappointed for our student athletes that the opportunity for a national title isn’t going to be available this fall,” Kramer said. “It is unfortunate that enough teams weren’t able to play and allow for the NCAA tournament to take place. But we are excited for the other possibility of the 2020 season, and we’ll continue to work hard to capture our primary goal of winning a Big 12 championship.”
In announcing the decision to cancel fall championships, NCAA president Mark Emmert told the organization’s website that you can’t have a legitimate championship with less than half the schools competing in a sport. The NCAA’s decision does not impact FBS football bowl games or the College Football Playoff, which are run by the conferences. The SEC, Big 12 and ACC are among the Power Five conferences still going forward with fall sports, including football.
A day before Emmert’s announcement, Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby stated his stance that he’d prefer some sort of postseason for fall sports such as soccer and volleyball.
“I think they deserve to have a postseason opportunity,” Bowlsby said on Wednesday. “We would probably try and think innovatively if they looked like they were going to lose that postseason opportunity. … I think it’s my obligation, along with our athletic directors and others, to try and do what we can to optimize the experience that our young people have and that certainly includes a postseason.”
It’s unclear if the Big 12 will conduct a postseason tournament for volleyball and women’s soccer, or simply crown regular-season champions.
The possibility of postponing those sports to spring is an option, too, depending on what the NCAA says on how it’ll go about possible spring championships in those sports. At the end of the day, they will want to make an informed decision. For now, it’s going ahead with a fall season.
The Big 12’s volleyball schedule is a conference-only format with 16 games. (Oklahoma State does not participate in volleyball.) Games are expected to start in October.
The soccer schedule will be conference-only as well with nine games. It’s unclear when the soccer season would begin, although Bell said his team would be ready for whatever date. TCU’s soccer team returned to campus on July 19 and started practice Aug. 4.
As far as Bell and Kramer are concerned, playing a fall season even without an NCAA championship is the preferred route.
“There aren’t any guarantees that we’ll be able to play in the spring,” Bell said. “If they have a spring season, that’s a bonus, but we need to do what we can to play in the fall.”
Both coaches went on to say their respective student-athletes have embraced practicing and training under new COVID-19 protocols. No players have expressed concern of contracting the virus by participating in sports, or opting out for the season yet.
The university has set up a number of preventative measures such as requiring face coverings and socially distancing drills as much as possible.
“There’s no high-fives or anything like that, so it’s really different, but they still enjoy being in the gym and scrimmaging,” Kramer said. “We’re doing all of our team meetings outside. There’s been 100% buy-in with everything we’ve done.”
This story was originally published August 14, 2020 at 6:16 PM.
