In a statement, UConn athletic director David Benedict said the decision came after consulting state and public health officials, and speaking with student-athletes. "The safety challenges created by COVID-19 place our football student-athletes at an unacceptable level of risk," he said.Non-conference games against Illinois, Maine and Ole Miss were previously canceled after several NCAA athletic conferences capped the number of non-conference games for the season.The team officially departed the American Athletic Conference on July 1 and must pay an exit fee of $17 million by 2026, reports ESPN.
All of the school's sports will join the Big East, except football, men's and women's ice hockey and rowing."UConn Athletics will be reaching out.