ACC rules teams must forfeit if they can't play a game because of covid-19 complications

The ACC is getting tough on its schools that can’t field a team because of covid-related absences among players.

The league announced Thursday that teams unable to play a game because of an excessive number of covid-19 absences will be forced to forfeit. The forfeiting team will be given a loss while the other team will be credited with a victory. If neither team has enough players, both forfeit.

That is a significant shift from last season when the ACC reconfigured each team’s schedule, rescheduled games in the wake of covid complications, eliminated its two divisions and invited Notre Dame as a one-year member.

That ruling falls in place with the four remaining Power 5 conferences and applies to ACC football, field hockey, men’s and women’s soccer and volleyball.

The ACC also updated its testing guidelines.

Fully vaccinated individuals won’t be subject to testing, but those who are unvaccinated on a team with a vaccination rate of less than 85% must be tested at least three times a week with a PCR test.

Unvaccinated individuals on a team with a vaccination rate of 85% or higher must be tested once a week.

Six ACC universities — Boston College, Duke, Syracuse, Virginia, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest — are requiring vaccinations for students unless they have a religious or medical exemption.

Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi estimated his team’s vaccination rate at 94% at the outset of training camp two weeks ago.

“The ACC’s Medical Advisory Group continues its tireless efforts to deliver meaningful protocols that will provide a healthy and safe environment for our student-athletes and teams,” ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips said in a statement. “As a conference, we are extremely proud of the significant progress and overall high rates of vaccination among student-athletes, coaches and staff. The continued resilience, commitment and sacrifice by our student-athletes is inspiring, and we look forward to watching them compete at the highest level.”