Northern Colorado’s football team has become the fifth Big Sky Conference program to opt out of the Football Championship Subdivision’s spring season, the school announced Thursday.
The Bears join Montana, Montana State, Portland State and Sacramento State as teams that will forgo the season.
The University of Idaho was scheduled to open its six-game season hosting Northern Colorado on Feb. 27 at the Kibbie Dome. The Vandals also were set to play the Grizzlies and Vikings.
As of now, the Big Sky still plans to restructure the schedules, field enough teams for a season and award a championship. But the prospects of that happening seem to grow more uncertain each week.
UNC cited health and safety concerns ahead of a fall 2021 season, and difficulties with staffing football events as other sports are running in conjunction. The Bears plan to play a modified, nonconference schedule late in the spring, and treat it like a traditional spring camp.
“This is the difficult, but right decision for us,” first-year UNC coach Ed McCaffrey said in a news release. “Our players and staff worked over the past months to build a great culture and team that is ready to compete for championships. But the health and safety of our players take precedence over everything else.”
