Earlier today, the BIG East announced that fall sports schedules for member institutions will "not include any non-conference competition." Sports impacted by the decision include men's and women's cross country, men's and women's soccer, volleyball and field hockey.
No decision has been made regarding the status of conference championships. Winter and spring sports in the conference remain unaffected at this time.
The BIG East noted that the conference will "continue to monitor COVID-19 conditions across the country and in BIG EAST communities and will provide further updates on dates and formats as appropriate."
The BIG East has been home to programs such as Villanova and Georgetown -- two of the top distance squads in the Mid-Atlantic region over the last few years. The Butler men and women have also proven to be a consistently competitive program in the often-loaded Great Lakes region during cross country.
The BIG East now joins the BIG 10 and PAC-12* as major conferences that are adopting a conference-only schedule for fall sports this year.
*Cross country was not mentioned as a sport that was impacted by the PAC-12's decision to adopt a conference-only schedule for this fall.