Memphis-Houston is sixth football game involving an AAC team to be postponed this season

Evan Barnes
Memphis Commercial Appeal

The 2020 college football season was never going to be easy to play amid the COVID-19 pandemic. After two weeks of games, there have been several postponements as well as teams having players sit out possibly due to contact tracing.

Memphis athletic director Laird Veatch said as much in his statement announcing the Tigers' postponed their game Friday with Houston. A season without a pause or change was always going to be unlikely.

So far, six games this season involving seven of the 11 AAC teams have been postponed due to COVID-19 related issues. This doesn't include non-conference games that were canceled due to Power Five schools rearranging their schedules.

Heading into Saturday, only five AAC teams have played this season. Here's a look at the games that have been postponed.

Rice at Houston (Sept. 3)

Rice announced Aug. 10 that it delayed the start of its season until Sept. 26 to better monitor the COVID-19 spread within its county. The game has not been rescheduled and Rice has since seen its Sept. 26 game with Lamar canceled and first two games in October postponed as well.

SMU at TCU  (Sept. 11)

TCU announced a cluster of its players and team support staff tested positive for COVID-19 on Sept. 4. The game has not been rescheduled.

Marshall at East Carolina (Sept. 12)

The game was postponed due to ECU reporting COVID-19 clusters on its campus in August and has yet to be rescheduled.

Tulsa at Oklahoma State (Sept. 12)

The game was postponed due to Tulsa pausing football workouts on Aug. 17 after multiple players tested positive for COVID-19. The game will be played on Saturday

Houston at Memphis (Sept. 18)

A COVID-19 outbreak within the Tigers football program led to both teams mutually agreeing to postpone. The AAC will work with both teams to reschedule and Houston will face Baylor on Saturday to begin its season.

Temple at Navy (Sept. 26)

Temple postponed the game due to COVID-19 restrictions in Philadelphia preventing more than 50 people from gathering. Coach Rod Carey wanted his team to have more time to prepare for the game and be "football safe," so it was pushed back two weeks.

Want to stay informed on the latest Memphis sports news? A Commercial Appeal subscription gets you unlimited access to the best inside information and updates on local sports, and the ability to tap into sports news from throughout the USA TODAY Network's 109 local sites.

You can reach Evan Barnes on Twitter (@Evan_B) or by email at evan.barnes@commercialappeal.com