Another ominous sign that the NCAA cross country season will not happen in 2020 occurred on Wednesday as the University of Wisconsin announced that the Nuttycombe Invitational has been canceled.

2020 Under Armour Nuttycombe Invitational has been cancelled. pic.twitter.com/bMglAnormN

— Wisconsin Track & Field (@BadgerTrackXC) July 15, 2020

“[O]ur meet has grown to be the premier non-championship cross country meet in the nation. We expect to resume hosting this great meet in 2021,” Wisconsin director of cross country and track and field Mick Byrne said in a statement.

While the news isn’t exactly a shock in the wake of the Big Ten announcing last week that they would only compete in-conference this fall, the official elimination of Nuttycombe removes a significant NCAA qualifying component from the schedule. Without it, the cross country season is altered beyond recognition as teams from deep regions rely on points scored at Wisco to secure a spot at nationals.

The meet’s counterpart on the schedule, Pre-Nationals, has yet to be canceled, but one has to wonder how it could be expected to absorb Wisco’s entry list, particularly during a pandemic.

The entire point may soon be moot, however, as momentum is clearly building towards there being no fall sports in 2020.