The Sun Belt Conference football championship game between No. 19 in Louisiana and No. 12 in Coastal Carolina has been canceled due to a positive test of COVID-19 within the Coastal Carolina program, the conference announced Thursday in the evening.
Due to contact tracking, a full group of positions would not be available to play the Chanticleers due to possible exposure, forcing them to cancel Saturday’s game. The conference will recognize Louisiana and Coastal Carolina as co-champions.
“Obviously, we are all devastated by this development and we suffer from student-athletes from both institutions because they will not have the opportunity to compete for the title of a conference,” Coastal Carolina athletic director Matt said in a statement. Hogue. “Adherence to the safety and health protocols of our student-athletes has been and continues to be the number one priority. These protocols and guidelines from our medical team completely govern this decision.”
Coastal Carolina has been one of the stories of the season. They will end the regular season 11-0, including a win over then-undefeated BYU, the first Sun Belt team in history to do so.
Louisiana is 9-1, with its only loss to the Chanticleers on October 14. Louisiana has won the Western Sun Belt Division for the past three seasons, losing each of the first two conference title games against the Appalachian State.
“We’re very disappointed that our student-athletes and staff don’t get a chance to play in what would have been a really exciting championship game for the Sun Belt conference,” said Louisiana athletic director Bryan Maggard. in a statement. “For our football program, fans and alumni, we look forward to knowing our bowl destination this weekend.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.