TCU football will be ending its season the same way it began, with a canceled game.
The Mercari Texas Bowl, set for December 31, has been canceled because TCU doesn’t have enough players to reach the Big 12 player threshold.
According to a statement made by Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Jeremiah Donati, “Over the last 24 hours, between a combination of COVID-19 related issues, injuries and other circumstances, we have fallen below the established Big 12 Conference threshold for student-athlete availability that we have abided by all season.”
— Mercari Texas Bowl (@TexasBowl) December 29, 2020
The Big 12 set the threshold at 53 players at the beginning of the 2020 season, according to its website.
This is the second game TCU has had to cancel this season due to COVID-19 complications, with the first being the season opener against SMU.
The Horned Frogs were supposed to face the Arkansas Razorbacks in the bowl game. The Razorbacks’ football coach, Sam Pittman, released a statement writing, “We were excited and wanted to go play TCU in the Texas Bowl, but we certainly understand the issues in the TCU program.” He also noted the Razorback team had no positive tests.
The Texas Bowl is not the only bowl game called off because of COVID-19. The Frisco Bowl, between SMU and UTSA, and the Music City Bowl, between Missouri and Iowa, have also been canceled.
Donati also wrote that “While we have experienced these issues all season, the past 24 hours have been too much to overcome on such short notice for Thursday’s game.”
The global pandemic has caused many events and activities to be canceled this year.
There are now 19.2 million COVID-19 cases in the United States, according to the CDC. Dr. Anthony Fauci has said he believes the worst is still yet to come in regards to COVID-19.
Fauci predicted that in the next few weeks the pandemic may continue to get worse from the holiday season and winter months.
