Western Kentucky has lost its homecoming football game.

The Hilltoppers will no longer be playing Old Dominion on Oct. 31 at Houchens-Smith Stadium. The Monarchs canceled their fall athletic season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the school announced in a news release Monday.

“We concluded that the season – including travel and competition – posed too great a risk for our student-athletes,” ODU President John R. Broderick said in the release.

“I know many on and off campus will be disappointed, but we must prioritize the health and safety of our student-athletes, as well as our coaches, staff and fans.”

WKU declined comment immediately following ODU’s announcement.

ODU’s decision was made by athletic director Wood Selig, coaches, medical and public health experts and state and local officials, according to the release. Selig he is hopeful fall sports can be played in the spring, “but first and foremost it has to be safe for everyone involved and would also require NCAA approval.”

The Monarchs are the first Conference USA school to announce the cancellation of fall sports, and are the 14th FBS school to announce it won’t play. The University of Connecticut announced Wednesday it would cancel all football competition for the 2020-21 school year, and the Mid-American Conference announced Saturday the postponement of all scheduled fall contests, as well as the MAC championships.

“As we continue to navigate these uncertain times, our staff will continue to find creative and safe ways to develop our players,” ODU football coach Ricky Rahne said in the release. “The health and safety of our players will remain a priority for our football program and our University.”

Monday’s announcement is just the latest in a long line of changes in WKU’s football schedule.

C-USA announced Friday it still planned for member schools to play eight conference games as originally scheduled, and allowed for up to four nonconference games as decided by each school. The C-USA championship is still scheduled for Dec. 5, but could be moved to a later date depending on the need to potentially reschedule regular-season games.

On Thursday, it was announced WKU would open the season at Louisville on Sept. 12. The game was originally scheduled for Sept. 26, but uncertainty followed after the ACC’s July 19 announcement that it would change its football scheduling model to play 11 games, with 10 conference games and one nonconference.

The new ACC guidelines left open the possibility the Louisville-WKU game could still be played, as it stated all nonconference game opponents would be selected by the respective school and must be played in the home state of the ACC institution, and all nonconference opponents must meet the medical protocol requirements as agreed upon by the ACC. Louisville was also originally scheduled to host Murray State on Sept. 19 and Kentucky on Nov. 28, but a potential Governor’s Cup meeting between the Cardinals and Wildcats was eliminated July 30 when the SEC announced it would play a 10-game conference-only schedule, with Sept. 26 the new date for season openers.

The Hilltoppers were scheduled to host UT Chattanooga to open the season, but both schools announced last week that game would be delayed to a date to be determined. The game was scheduled for Sept. 3 – two days earlier than its original date.

WKU was also scheduled to play a nonconference game at Indiana on Sept. 12, but the Big Ten announced July 9 it would play conference-only schedules if fall sports were to take place. The game would have been the first in a three-game series and WKU was contracted to receive $550,000 from the meeting. In a July 16 Zoom conference, Stewart said Indiana athletics director Scott Dolson called him following the Big Ten’s announcement, and that the two planned to discuss details of the cancellation at a later time.

The Hilltoppers still have a Sept. 19 nonconference game versus Liberty on the schedule as well, and are scheduled to open the C-USA portion of the schedule Oct. 3 at Middle Tennessee.{&end}