NCAA issues one-year waiver that requires schools to only play half of required games

The waiver affects all non-football fall sports

On Monday, the NCAA announced that a one-year waiver is being issued for all non-football fall sports. The waiver reduces the required number of games by 50 percent.

The sports that can take advantage of this new waiver are men's and women's cross country, field hockey, men's and women's soccer, men's water polo, and women's volleyball. The waiver was created in order for teams to avoid having to schedule additional games following non-conference contests being canceled across many major conferences.

"In the current environment where some conferences have eliminated nonconference competition for fall sports, the change allows teams that continue to play the opportunity to avoid scheduling additional games near the end of a season that could put student-athletes, coaches and staff in at-risk positions with additional travel and exposure," the NCAA said in a statement.

The Division I Competition Oversight Committee made the final decision on this waiver being put in motion. The committee also announced that they're doing away with a memorandum that requires teams to have a .500 record or better in order to qualify for at-large bids for NCAA tournaments.

Several conferences have elected to do away with the non-conference portions of their schedules. The Big East, Big Ten, and Pac 12 have already announced that they're canceling their non-conference games. In addition, the Ivy League has canceled fall sports completely while the ACC won't hold any fall Olympic sports until at least Sept. 1.