The Coastal Carolina Chanticleers are one of the best stories in college football this season. Head coach Jamey Chadwell and his team finished the regular season with a spotless 11-0 record, and that undefeated mark includes a memorable win over a previously unbeaten BYU team. As a reward for their play, Coastal Carolina was scheduled to square off against the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns in the Sun Belt Championship Game on Saturday afternoon but, with an announcement from the conference on Thursday, that is longer the case.
As part of the announcement, it was revealed that an “entire position group” would be ruled out for the game due to contact tracing from COVID-19 and, as such, the face-off is canceled.
“We are very disappointed that the championship game cannot be played, but we are so proud of all of the players and staff members and their hard work during this truly challenging season,” Sun Belt Commissioner Keith Gill said in a release. “We will honor both teams as 2020 Sun Belt Conference Co-Champions.”
While unfortunate, this result seems oddly fitting for what has been a troubled college football season, and the odds were that a significant game would be affected on championship weekend. Still, it is brutal for both Coastal Carolina and Louisiana to not be able to finish off the season in a showcase game and, hopefully, the two teams can take the field again in the setting of a bowl game in the near future.