Is parity dead? We wont know for sure until later, however COVID-19 has actually made that concern possible.
The SEC will be playing an unmatched 10 conference games, strengthening even further their schedule strength. Will it drive the SECs contenders or cannibalize them? What does an 8-3 SEC champion mean if, state, Cincinnati goes 11-0? We might will discover.
The CFP Selection Committees protocols will have to alter. Whether they tell us or not is another concern.
May as well call it The Asterisk Season. Whatever happens as we get in the very first week of Power Five football, there will be some sort of qualifier connected to it.
Whatever takes place, however it plays out, this season will not be status quo. We reside in a world where a heart condition (myocarditis) has made anyone who has taken an aspirin a medical specialist.
College football in 2020 is at a crossroads of pleasure and detour. Because– as long as it lasts– the season is finally here, pleasure. Because– at any moment– the game could be headed for a blockage … or worse, detour.
We go into the season not understanding at this late date what bowl eligibility even suggests. Such a term may be temporarily outdated, Football Bowl Association executive director Nick Carparelli recently recommended after consulting with the NCAA.
Derek Stingley Jr., CB, LSU: Cover corners have to do with as rare as rational Twitter conversation. LSUs freshman All-American may be the best defender in the nation.
What about the rankings?
Every significant service, significantly the AP Top 25 and Coaches Poll, will include one-third of the getting involved groups. While that truth will contribute some coaches benefit provisions at seasons end, it permits some well-deserved attention for teams that usually would be neglected.
The CBS Sports 130 76, the amended variation of our regular weekly ranking of every FBS group, has currently taken the decreased allocation of active programs into factor to consider. That permitted Tennessee, Iowa State, Virginia Tech, Louisville, Miami (FL), Kentucky, Florida State, Baylor, Pittsburgh and Appalachian State to enter the preseason leading 25 where they otherwise would have been on the cusp.
Will there be frequent video game cancellations?
Well, there will definitely be some since there has already been 3. TCU-SMU, Baylor-Louisiana Tech and Oklahoma State-Tulsa have actually currently been postponed after outbreaks of COVID-19 positives.
Whether video games should be played or not based on offered players actually has actually not yet been fully determined entering Week 2 of the season.
Just the Big 12 has such criteria. Last Friday, it revealed the minimum variety of gamers needed for a video game is 53. That overall includes a minimum of 7 offending linemen, four protective linemen and one quarterback. Groups falling listed below any of those numbers might still choose to play. Otherwise, the video game would be stated a “no contest” if it can not be comprised. Expect some kind of that format to be embraced by other conferences.
Thats why leagues have plugged in several bye weeks in their reconstituted schedules– to develop opportunities to make up video games. Its likewise why the commissioners have firmly insisted because early March that not everyone is going to wind up playing a complete schedule.
There is no chance anticipate whats next with COVID-19. Weve been told to prepare for a second wave in the fall/winter. Football needs to adjust appropriately. That means couple of set rules for players missing out on practice throughout video game week.
” This year, you can throw that out the window,” said Kansas State coach Chris Klieman said. “If a boy can practice a day or 2 and get in all the conferences, its all hands on deck.”
What if choose outs continue into the season?
This might be COVID-19s most significant long lasting effect on the season. Some of the games finest and brightest stars have already selected not to play. The CBS Sports choose out tracker has 83 Power Five players– consisting of numerous in the Big Ten and Pac-12– having decided not to play this season.
UCF (10) and LSU (4) have been particularly hard struck. The Tigers lost All-American receiver JaMarr Chase, contributing to their currently upsetting loss of talent to the NFL and graduation.
Whether this is one-off in the middle of COVID-19 or a trend for the future is yet to be known.
Whats the status of COVID-19 testing?
It is getting much better every day. The ACC, Big 12 and SEC are on board testing 3 times throughout video game weeks with the 3rd quick test coming within 24 hours before kickoff. Duke has announced it will test its players daily.
The Pac-12 last Friday announced a “revolutionary” a collaboration with Quidel that will allow the conference to carry out daily on-site tests with fast results.
All of it will help determine who is healthy enough to play. However until we get rid of the coronavirus in the kind of a vaccine or restorative, were still questioning and roaming.
Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby called wading into the season “a somewhat foggy future for everybody.”
There will be a “right” and a “wrong” … maybe … one day. Just not now. Its too early.
We need to respect the choices of those 54 FBS programs who have pulled out of the fall season. Its too early to claim the Big Ten and Pac-12 decided prematurely (Aug. 11) on postponement. Nobody truly knows.
Exact same for the ACC, Big 12 and SEC. Theyre playing in the fall however not on time and perhaps not at the end if health conditions determine.
” Ultimately, the infection is going to choose,” said Brian Hainline, the NCAAs primary medical officer.
This is another way of saying, “Calm the heck down.” Lets hope this is a one-season blip on the radar. Anything more could be devastating.
Jaylen Waddle, WR, Alabama: This seasons Swiss Army Knife is and NFL-quality receiver who can return punts and kicks.
Trevor Lawrence, QB, Clemson: Motivated by the worst video game of his profession versus LSU in the CFP National Championship, Lawrence goes into as the favorite.
This perilous coronavirus has actually rendered the age-old practice of a game-by-game breakdown of the schedule. Do that at your own danger these days.
A 6-0 team might make the playoff. A 9-2 team may not. Till the CFP informs us it isnt possible, well, it is.
Social justice and gamer empowerment
Last Saturday, Stephen F. Austin gamers kneeled and raised fists before a kickoff throughout their video game with UTEP. The very first sideline image when their game struck the air was the Eastern Kentucky coaching personnel using “Say Their Names” t-shirts on the sideline.
Chuba Hubbard, RB, Oklahoma State: Only one other Cowboy has run for more yards than Hubbards 2,094 last season. That would be Barry Sanders.
Pleasure because– as long as it lasts– the season is lastly here. We have to appreciate the choices of those 54 FBS programs who have decided out of the fall season. The SEC will be playing an extraordinary 10 conference games, bolstering even further their schedule strength. This might be COVID-19s most significant long lasting impact on the season. Some of the games finest and brightest stars have already chosen not to play.
Las Vegas has fallen in love with him as a Heisman prospect. He currently has the finest quarterback coach as his head coach (Lincoln Riley).
Clemson star quarterback Trevor Lawrence has actually been a leader in this location. On Sunday, he tweeted that players on video game days “will use our platform to raise awareness,” wearing shirts, displaying declarations on helmets and playing videos to salute those effect by social injustice.
All of it is going to be a long-lasting, if not irreversible, part of college football. Gamer empowerment is here to remain.
” What the future looks like, I think youre looking at it,” Texas coach Tom Herman stated. “Im pleased for our gamers to lastly feel the liberty to speak whats on their mind and to speak whats on their heart.”
Will there be parity?
With such a fragmented season, the most obvious football concern is whether some team (or more) will break the College Football Playoffs cement ceiling.
Thats the barrier that has actually kept all but 11 teams from betting the championship game in the six-year history of the CFP. Naturally, 3 of those 11 teams– accounting for 7 of the 24 combined spots– are from the SEC.
Alabama has actually played in the five of the six CFPs, lastly missing last season. After missing out on in Year 1, Clemson has actually played in 5 of the last six, winning two.
Will there be two-semester football?
Its an entire brand-new season with 76 groups playing in the fall and 54 others a minimum of planning to offer it a go in spring 2021.
With leagues playing mainly within themselves, it will be harder than ever to compare records. The arguments will be more screeching. As long as we can play football, wont that be wonderful?
As it stands, we can say with some confidence the national champ will come from the ACC, Big 12 or SEC. That is, the fall champion will be the CFP champion. The Heisman Trophy hasnt made up its mind. This is what a fall-only Heisman leading five appears like.
Economically, this was currently going to be a slog. Programs across the country asked coaches to take momentary pay reduces.
For the very first time this year, a college football Saturday will look somewhat recognizable with the ACC and Big 12 saddling up.
” This is our sport. This is our time,” Kansas coach Les Miles stated.
The Asterisk Season continues, though to what ultimate end depends upon who is speaking.
Why would not it be? If all slots are filled, CBS Sports bowls professional Jerry Palm currently has 4 winless groups in bowl video games. Never ever mind whatever a College Football Playoff will appear like.
” Whoever wins this year is going to be the best champion of all-time,” Clemson coach Dabo Swinney stated, sarcastically.
That will at least make it much safer to be a Pac-12 athlete and might accelerate an earlier return to football. Where was the Big Ten on such a partnership?
