Pac-12 football to be played in the fall of 2020 was on, then off and now is potentially back on again.

On Thursday, the Pac-12 entered an agreement with the Quidel Corporation, the leader in rapid-fire coronavirus testing, to provide timely, daily testing to athletes in close-contact sports.

“I’m really pleased to be able to announce this research partnership that has enormous potential not only to help safeguard our student-athletes but also to point the way to a COVID contained future for our society at large,” said Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott on a Zoom call Thursday with media members. “The Pac-12 conference has entered into an agreement with diagnostic test leader Quidel Corporation that allow us to implement daily testing for Covid-19 with student-athletes across all of our campuses in all close contact sports. This agreement is a major step toward the safe return of sports competition in the Pac-12.”

Doug Bryant, the CEO of Quidel, praised both the Pac-12 and his company for being able to reach this agreement quickly.

“It’s really nice to see all of this come together,” Bryant stated. “And it came together quite quickly. And again, the speed and agility of both organizations. The ability to do all this in such short order, I think is really impressive. It will be the largest asymptomatic study. This is why we’re also particularly interested. We think that the results of all of this is going to inform better protocols for determining how we do this moving forward, and at the end of the day, I think it could be extremely helpful in bringing the economy back.”

Scott and Bryant both said Quidel Corporation’s test would be available to Pac-12 athletes by the end of September. Scott said the test turns around results quickly and is “highly accurate.” He said the tests could be conducted in athletic facilities and the results will appear in just 15 minutes.

Thursday’s news provided some hope that the Pac-12 may be able to reverse its August decision that said no sports competitions for the conference before Jan. 1. Scott said he hopes the conference can play football before January.

“Some of it’s still outside our control in terms of public health authorities being comfortable with the kind of contact required for football practice and training camp,” Scott explained. “As you know, we’ve been really clear and open and transparent. We’re going to need a full six weeks in the sport of football to feel safe and to mitigate the possibility of injuries. This testing piece is a big step forward, and I’m hopeful … that does open up possibilities to start competition before Jan. 1, but that decision has not been taken yet.”

Obviously, myocarditis, the heart condition linked to the coronavirus, is still a major question associated with playing sports. It was reported Thursday that initial data showed 1/3 of Big Ten athletes to test positive for Covid-19 showed signs of heart muscle inflammation.

Dr. Kim Harmon, section head of sports medicine for The University of Washington who was also on Thursday’s Zoom call, said myocarditis is stopped when the coronavirus is not spread. She said this testing breakthrough could help stop the potential spread of Covid-19 from athlete-to-athlete, which would keep athletes from myocarditis as well.

“We don’t know how much of a concern myocarditis is in terms of how many athletes get it, Harmon said. “But that’s why we want to make sure that we can have a reasonable assurance that our athletes aren’t going to spread it when they’re playing sports. And that’s why the testing can really help us be able to feel good about putting our athletes on the field.”

Football is not the only sport affected by the testing agreement between the Pac-12 and the Quidel Corporation. Pac-12 basketball, originally postponed to after the new year as well, could start play sometime between Nov. 25 and Dec. 4.

Scott said when the original decision was made in August to postpone fall sports to the spring semester; he did not think there would be the testing capability agreed upon on Thursday until “late November.” He said with the NCAA considering a later start date for basketball and the rapid-testing being available sooner, rather than later, it is not out of the question for basketball to begin play during the fall semester.

“Thanks to this groundbreaking research partnership with Quidel, we will have access to the daily testing come early October once we receive the materials,” Scott said. “And the NCAA, as you know, is in the process of reconsidering the start date for basketball. Considering later dates. We’ve certainly encouraged that. We’ve pushed for that strongly. Our current position is we’re not starting competition before Jan. 1. But I’m pleased. This is a major new development. And we will wait to see what the NCAA decides in terms of hopefully, a later start date that allows us to participate.”