The SEC took a COVID shot to the chin Monday as announcement after announcement were made aroudn the league about its football programs.
One coach tested positive, a team paused workouts and a game has been postponed after an avalanche of pandemic news spread through the Power 5 conference.
“Those are the realities we have dealt with,” SEC commissioner Greg Sankey told “The Paul Finebaum Show” on Monday. “The hold-your-breath moments, generally pointing to Friday, but given our testing cycle – on Sunday, on Tuesday, on Friday. Those realties play out through the week. Today, it just happened to play out on a more public way than they might on a normally quiet, peaceful week, which are few of those in this environment.”
Sankey added the SEC and its 14 athletic directors will discuss the possibility of playing makeup games – not involving division champions – on Dec. 19, if necessary.
The SEC previously set a minimum threshold of 53 available scholarship athletes in order to compete.
Players who test positive for COVID-19 must quarantine for 10 days. Players who are considered high-risk because of contact with a suspected positive must quarantine for 14 days.
Here’s what we know:
Mississippi State-Auburn
AL.com first reported Auburn’s game with Mississippi State, set for Saturday, has been postponed due to a Mississippi State COVID-19 outbreak, the SEC announced Monday. The game has been tentatively rescheduled for Dec. 12.
“Based on positive tests and those considered as close contacts, along with non-COVID injuries, we do not have the minimum number of scholarship student-athletes available for Saturday’s game against Auburn,” MSU director of athletics John Cohen said in a statement. “While we are disappointed that Saturday’s game has been postponed, our priority is the health, safety and well-being of our student-athletes and staff. We will continue to follow all established protocols and evaluate the most responsible path to return to the field.”
Texas A&M-Tennessee
Jimbo Fisher announced, as of Monday, his Texas A&M Aggies are still set to play at Tennessee on Saturday, but the program has paused in-person football activities and has canceled Monday’s practice due to COVID-19.
The team will conduct meetings via video conference on Monday in place of practice. Texas A&M (5-1) plays at Tennessee on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. on ESPN. He said the team was undergoing additional testing and contact tracing on Monday to see if the coronavirus had spread.
“We’re trying to prevent that,” he said. “We’re doing everything from a safety issue with our players and our staff to keep them as safe as possible.”
Fisher said he hoped his team could return to campus on Tuesday. He was also confident on Monday that his team would be able to play on Saturday at Tennessee (2-4), but said he wouldn’t know for sure until they had completed testing and contact tracing.
LSU-Alabama
LSU coach Ed Orgeron announced Monday the Tigers are dealing with some COVID issues and didn’t rule out that the game against the No. 1 Alabama Crimson Tide may have to be postponed or canceled.
Orgeron said the plans were to play the game Saturday, and, while Orgeron didn’t get into specifics in terms of exact players, he did acknowledge some starters are currently out.
While Orgeron stressed he wanted to be cautious about answering medical questions and didn’t want to get into the number of players affected by the team’s latest outbreak, he noted that the problem went beyond the number of positive COVID-19 tests. The number of related quarantines due to possible exposure also have thinned his roster in recent days, he said.
Orgeron did say starting quarterback Myles Brennan will not be able to play because of an abdomen injury which has sidelined the quarterback for two games and might lead to a decision to shut Brennan down for the rest of the season.
Orgeron would not specify whether Brennan’s top two backups — freshmen TJ Finley and Max Johnson — were affected by COVID-19 testing or quarantines, or whether their availability was in doubt.
Arkansas-Florida
Arkansas announced Monday that football coach Sam Pittman has tested positive for COVID-19 ahead of Saturday’s showdown with Florida.
Pittman’s Sunday PCR test was positive. The school announced the coach is not symptomatic and was re-tested Monday morning. He has self-isolated as the Razorbacks await the results of Monday’s test.
Associate head coach and defensive coordinator Barry Odom will serve as the team’s interim head coach in coach Pittman’s absense.
The Razorbacks are off to a 3-3 start in Pittman’s first year – a significant jump from last year’s 2-10 campaign. Arkansas has won two of three and is coming off a 24-13 victory over Tennessee.
Mark Heim is a sports reporter for The Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Mark_Heim.
