The American Athletic Conference announced its plan for the upcoming fall sports season on Wednesday after delaying fall Olympic sports last month. 

The plan will use regular-season conference play in football, men’s and women’s soccer, volleyball, with conference championships in each of those sports. Schools in the AAC will still be able to schedule non-conference games as well but only at their own discretion. 

“The health and safety of our student-athletes is our top priority as we face the challenges of the current global pandemic,” American Athletic Conference Commissioner Mike Aresco said in the release. “With the guidance and advice of our Medical Advisory Group, which has done an outstanding job developing health and safety protocols, we have developed a collaborative and comprehensive plan that will allow us safely and reasonably to play our fall sports. Our plan provides us with the flexibility to adapt to potential disruptions to our schedules.”

For Wichita State, this plan will only affect volleyball and cross country. 

In cross country, the universities in the AAC will be allowed to schedule regular season competitions after September 1. Currently, the AAC Cross Country Championships are set for October 31 at Mile Creek in Augusta, Kansas. 

For the volleyball program, there will be a two-division format in which they will play the opponents in the same division twice at the same site. WSU will be a part of the west division, along with Houston, Memphis, SMU, Tulane and Tulsa. 

Conference play will be underway during the weekend of Sept. 24-27 and will conclude the weekend of Nov. 12-15. There will still be three weekends available for non-conference play after Sept. 1. The AAC Volleyball Championship will be held Nov. 21-22, with the top two teams in each division qualifying for the championship. 

Sports such as baseball, softball, men’s and women’s golf, men’s and women’s tennis will be announced at a later date. Decisions on modifications for winters sports, including basketball, will also be made at a later date.