MIAC COVID-19 Competition Plan | MIAC Release

Schedules: Basketball | Hockey | Swimming & Diving | Indoor Track & Field | Wrestling

COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – The Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Presidents' Council announced today (Jan. 13) that it has voted to approve plans for a return to competitive athletics this winter.

The MIAC winter sports of basketball, hockey, indoor track and field, and swimming and diving will be permitted to participate in regular-season competition. 

•    The MIAC will not stage conference playoffs (basketball, hockey) or conference postseason championship meets (swimming and diving, indoor track and field) for winter sports in 2021. Participation in NCAA championship competition (if held), however, will be permitted for qualifying teams and individuals.

•    Spectators will not be allowed at MIAC contests during the winter season. The MIAC released a statement regarding this decision:

"We have a small window for success this winter season. Our COVID Working Group, made up of conference members and medical advisors, supported no spectators for indoor winter sports due to health and safety concerns. This decision, supported by our institutions' athletic directors and presidents, provides our best path forward to successfully and safely conduct winter sports. The decision was not made lightly.  It is critical that we see success in the first few weeks of competition."

•    MIAC basketball and hockey programs begin a seven-game conference schedule on Saturday, Feb. 6. The basketball and hockey schedules will follow a single, round-robin format, in which each participating school will play every team once. The team achieving the best winning percentage, while completing at least 51 percent of the schedule, will earn the MIAC regular-season championship and automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Teams will also have the opportunity to schedule up to four non-conference contests, against MIAC or non-MIAC programs, beginning Jan. 29. 

•    Swimming and diving, indoor track and field and wrestling will be able to participate in regular-season meets at the discretion of each institution, as there is no assigned conference schedule for these sports. 

•    Preliminary schedules, which are subject to change and still a work in progress, are linked above and are located on each team's webpage.

Per the NCAA Division III blanket waiver issued last October, all Division III student-athletes are able to participate in athletics during this academic year without being charged a season of participation or semesters of eligibility.

All MIAC programs in the competition segment will follow the safety guidelines recommended by the NCAA Medical Advisory Board and Minnesota Department of Health. The complete MIAC COVID-19 Competition Plan - which includes specific details regarding resocialization, conference protocols and competition expectations - is available at the top of the page.

The MIAC's planning for fall- and spring-sport competition is on-going, and updated information will be provided as it becomes finalized.