Stanford has cut 11 athletic programs amid ongoing chaos surrounding the coronavirus pandemic.
The university stated the following in part in a Wednesday release:
Stanford will discontinue 11 of our varsity sports programs at the conclusion of the 2020-21 academic year: men’s and women’s fencing, field hockey, lightweight rowing, men’s rowing, co-ed and women’s sailing, squash, synchronized swimming, men’s volleyball and wrestling. All of these teams will have the opportunity to compete in their upcoming 2020-21 seasons, should the circumstances surrounding COVID-19 allow it, before they are discontinued at the varsity level.
Another one bites the dust, folks. I’ve honestly lost count of how many schools have cut programs during the pandemic. (RELATED: David Hookstead Is The True King In The North When It Comes To College Football)
Given the fact there’s major uncertainty around the two sports that make money, football and men’s basketball, athletic departments around America are tightening up their belts.
Now, Stanford, which is a Power Five program, just sliced out 11 teams!
You know things are bad when a Power Five program takes all programs, puts them on the chopping block, and eliminates them.
Again, nobody has any idea what will happen with football in the fall. If there’s no football because of coronavirus, then there’s no money.
If there’s no money, then you don’t get to have stuff like fencing. That might sound harsh, but that’s just the reality of the situation. Football controls everything in college sports.
Hopefully, more Power Five programs don’t do the same, but I’m not ruling anything out at this point.