Things will look very different for John Carroll’s fall athletic teams when they take the field in the spring.  

After the Ohio Athletic Conference’s postponement of sports until Jan 1, 2021, due to COVID-19, the OAC unveiled the outlook for fall sports in the spring of 2021.

Starting off with football, the OAC is breaking up the conference into two divisions: East and West. 

John Carroll is a member of the East Division, as is arch-rival Mount Union as well as Baldwin Wallace, Marietta and Muskingum. The West is made up of Capital, Heidelberg, Ohio Northern, Otterbein and Wilmington.

The format for the games consists of every team playing each other in its respective division. The games for the Blue and Gold are scheduled to begin on Friday, March 12 at 7 p.m. The season will last for five weeks, and each team will have two home games, two away games and a bye week. 

On Friday, April 16, the highest-ranked teams of each division will compete for the OAC Championship. The East Division will host the No. 1, No. 3 and No. 5 games, while the West Division will host No. 2 and No. 4. 

John Carroll’s men’s and women’s soccer teams will play a round-robin format beginning on Sunday, March 14. The men’s and women’s teams will play at opposite venues every Sunday and Thursday. 

The OAC championship for soccer will take place on Sunday, April 18 with the top seed hosting the second seed. The rest of the conference will play that weekend with the third seed hosting the fourth seed and so on, in order for all teams to play 10 matches in the season. 

Like soccer, the Blue Streaks volleyball team will compete in a round-robin format. The season for JCU volleyball kicks off on Friday, March 12. Until April 9, JCU will compete in a doubleheader every Tuesday and Friday night at 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. 

The top four teams will earn a spot in the OAC’s Final Four, held on Tuesday, April 13. The highest seed remaining will host their opponent on Friday, April 16 for the OAC Championship. 

As for the plan regarding winter and spring sports, the OAC is currently waiting for direction from the NCAA on dates for them to compete. 

“We are doing all that we can to plan for a season for our teams this winter and spring,” said Michelle Morgan, head athletic director of John Carroll. “The OAC is waiting to see what decisions are made at the national level in regards to winter and spring championships before we can effectively move forward with a comprehensive schedule and plan.”