- How The Grinch Stole the Rivalry
- 9-Line Prediction: BYU v. UMass
- 9-Line Prediction: BYU v. UNLV
- 9-Line Prediction: BYU v. Fresno St.
- 9-Line Prediction: BYU v. SJSU
- 9-Line Prediction: BYU v. ECU
- 9-Line Prediction: BYU v. Mississippi State
- 9-Line Prediction: BYU v. Boise State
- 9-Line Prediction: BYU at Utah State
- 9-Line Prediction: BYU v. Wisconsin
- How BYU’s offense & defense have stacked up since 2005
- 9-Line Prediction: BYU v. Utah
- 9-Line Prediction: BYU v. LSU
- 9-Line Prediction: BYU v. Portland State
- By the Numbers: 2017 Season Preview
Scheduling/Practice FAQs
Q: When is a team allowed to begin preseason (fall) practices?
A: There is a difficult and convoluted formula. Simply put, the first game will be the weekend before Labor Day (no earlier than the Thursday before) (17.10.3). The first practice at BYU will be held on Saturday four weeks prior to the opener. In the event of a Thursday opener, BYU could elect to hold the first practice session on the Thursday four weeks prior (17.10.2.1).
Q: How many preseason (fall) practice sessions are allowed?
A: A team is limited to 29 sessions of fall camp practice (17.10.2.1). Each session can be a maximum of 3 hours. Two-a-days (two sessions in a single day) are limited to a total of 5 hours with a minimum of 3 hours recovery time between sessions. A team cannot hold two-a-days on consecutive days (17.10.2.4).
Q: What is the preseason (fall) camp acclimatization period?
A: Every player is required to undergo a 5-day period when he joins the team for practice in the fall. During this period, the player cannot participate in more than one 3-hour session per day. The first two days, the player may only wear a helmet. The next two days, the player can wear a helmet and shoulder pads. The final day, the player can wear full pads. If a player joins camp late, he must undergo the same acclimatization period on his own schedule. In other words, he cannot participate in contact drills until he has completed the acclimatization period (17.10.2.3).
Q: How many bowl practice sessions is a team allowed?
A: Per NCAA rules, there is no limit to the number of sessions a team may hold. The team must only follow the same guideline that applies during the regular season, limiting athletic activities to four hours per day and twenty hours per week (17.1.7.1).
Q: When will the first/last games be played?
A: The first game cannot be played before the weekend preceding Labor Day (no earlier than the Thursday before) (17.10.3). The final regular season game can be played no later than the second Saturday or Sunday in December (17.10.4). A bowl game can be played no later than the second Monday in January (17.10.4.2).
Q: How many regular season games can be played?
A: The NCAA limits the number of games played per season to 12 with the following exceptions: Spring Game, games played in Alaska/Hawaii/foreign country, conference championship games, and bowl games (17.10.5).
Q: What is the structure for spring practices?
A: A team can hold a maximum of 15 practice sessions in a 34 calendar-day period. The first two practice sessions and one other session must be non-contact (helmets only) and teams are allowed a maximum of eight tackling sessions, of which a maximum of three can be scrimmages, defined as 50% or more of the practice session devoted to 11-on-11 work. Players are limited to a maximum of 4 hours per day and 20 hours per week of football-related activities, including any practice time, conditioning, weightlifting, film study, etc. (17.10.6.4).
Source: 2015-16 NCAA Division I Manual
If you have any scheduling or practice format questions you’d like answered, please post a comment below, or email us here.