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Mountain West Conference Suspends Spring Athletic Events Indefinitely

The coronavirus’s impact on the American sports landscape finally reaches the Mountain West.

The conference moves quickly to stay safe.

UPDATE: The Mountain West has firmed up its stance on spring athletics. All competitions and championships are now outright canceled.

https://twitter.com/MountainWest/status/1238253720007303170?s=20

Yesterday, the coronavirus made its biggest mark on American pop culture to date, touching everything from Tom Hanks to the NBA. Today, the Mountain West Conference made a move to be proactive that reflects many of the decisions being made elsewhere on the sports landscape.

As of today, all MWC sporting events have been postponed. In a press release put out by associate commissioner Javan Hedlund, exceptions will be made for those teams who are currently on the road, but it touches a number of sports like baseball and softball.

https://twitter.com/MountainWest/status/1238163276829274113?s=20

This decision by the conference also exempts teams who have qualified for an NCAA championship like Utah State and San Diego State men’s basketball or Boise State women’s basketball. However, other projected top seeds like Duke have preemptively tapped the brakes on participating in the men’s tourney, putting an on-time presentation in doubt:

https://twitter.com/DukeATHLETICS/status/1238160286189629440?s=20

The statement also leaves the status of Mountain West football’s spring games and recruiting processes at the discretion of each university. Nearly every Mountain West program has now issued a formal and unified response to COVID-19, with some like New Mexico taking steps to close practices and Pro Day to the public at present, presumably with an eye on periodic reassessment before the spring game on April 4:

https://twitter.com/UNMLoboFB/status/1238105606629642240?s=20

Others like Fresno State have not made a formal decision about the forthcoming spring game just yet, but they have followed the lead of other programs like Michigan in temporarily suspending both spring practices and recruiting activities:

https://twitter.com/rkuwada/status/1238196636255318016?s=20

https://twitter.com/DogWiredDudes/status/1238194503917244416?s=20

We will keep you updated on any further coronavirus-related developments.

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