OZARKSFIRST

(Stats Perform) - Forget the rivalries, FCS schools and conferences are primed to come together and initiate steps toward having a spring season.

The list of conferences that won't have a fall season due to the COVID-19 pandemic is growing, with the Big Sky and Pioneer League announcing their intentions on Friday and raising a list that includes the CAA, Ivy, MEAC, Northeast, Patriot and SWAC to eight. The Missouri Valley is allowing only nonconference games, which means the Big South, Ohio Valley, Southern and Southland are the only conferences still determining their direction. Preseason practices are underway, so it would seem wise to expediate a resolution to what's been an agonizing, dragged-out process.

The schools and conferences that move forward with a fall season have the right to do if they continue to meet various COVID-19 protocols. Key leaders in the sport, though, have said they expect there will be interruptions to the season due to coronavirus.