Sankey said there are “18-20” situations out there for squeezing in the season. College leaders are prepared to play without fans, perhaps without students on school.
A late start is possible. As is two-semester football. Could we see the Rose Bowl on Memorial Day?
We already know the 10 FBS conferences want to move forward without universal involvement. Within those conferences, all the teams might not play or some might be required to play a minimal schedule.
We are 53 days away from Week 0. Aug. 29 remains in 7 1/2 weeks. Needed summertime exercises could begin for some teams as quickly as today. For those starting Labor Day weekend in the conventional Week 1, preseason camp starts in less than a month, on or about Aug. 7.
All of a sudden, time has gone from ally to an unblocked blitzing linebacker.
July is likely the month well understand whether there will be some type of a season this fall. SEC commissioner Greg Sankey recently said it is “most likely a late-July time period” for a decision.
Texas at LSU during Mardi Gras? “College GameDay” in the snow? Spring football during what should be spring practice?
Without that last resort, college sports gets in some sort of nuclear winter season. Without football income, specific schools would drop much more sports and possibly stop playing football completely.
Football supplies 80% of the income for the typical FBS spending plan. Provided the growing and alarming college budget crisis already in play, perhaps schools themselves would fold.
Iowa State AD Jamie Pollard called the prospect of no football “an ice age. I dont know how any of us, how the current NCAA model, could endure if were not playing any football games.”.
Well likely know quickly whether to buy parkas. Whether the NBA, MLB and NHL are able to introduce in some kind by the end of the month will be an essential indication.
By then, college football will have the ability to identify how the pros manage playing real games amid the coronavirus. Already, the sport will need to decide whether its even safe for players to practice while swapping sweat and making physical contact.
Unlike the pros, college players cant negotiate their working conditions. Theyre not compensated. Its worth asking: What exactly is it about this desperation to play that is tethered to education?
The road ahead has plenty of switchbacks. The commissioners and athletic directors desperation for getting a piece of the television rights profits is obvious. Thats a big factor theyre prepared to play in the spring.
Its not just the pandemic. Theyll have do it amidst an ongoing social justice awakening, record joblessness and a decreasing economy.
COVID-19 cases have risen in a minimum of 36 states. Not remarkably, there continues to be a lack of agreement to willfully embrace mask using across the country.
At least six FBS programs– including last seasons championship finalists (LSU, Clemson)– have closed down exercises due to favorable outbreaks. On the other hand, there is still no consistent testing procedure. Perhaps more worrying: Almost half of the 130 FBS schools arent revealing varieties of favorable tests.
Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott said Friday the 2020 season “is a lot more perilous than it was a few weeks back” if the coronavirus isnt slowed.
The Ivy League will reveal its fall sports prepare on Wednesday. Forbes Magazine reported there is a 98% chance football will be relocated to the spring.
Division II Morehouse College has canceled its season. At least 3 Division III schools have done the exact same.
4 video games featuring historically-black university programs (HBCUs) have been canceled.
The FCS Patriot League is making “rare exceptions” for overnight road trips. That could affect numerous nonconference video games for FBS teams..
2 video games involving FBS programs– Navy vs. Lafayette on Sept. 12 and Western Michigan vs. Colgate on Sept. 4– have already been canceled. (WMU has given that found Stony Brook as a replacement.).
You see where this is trending. Time is suddenly the opponent.
Spring football in 2021 is ending up being most likely by the minute, but even that has its problems.
College football does not provide itself to being a movable banquet on the calendar.
Essentially, the reverse of avoiding COVID-19.
If that cant occur, the season will not start on time, if at all.
” At some point, were really going to have to get out and practice football,” Riley stated.
Weve said it before: Riley has been a sage through these troubled times. He has believed deeply about a spring season.
” I believe the individuals who say its not workable, in my viewpoint, just do not want to think about it,” Riley said. “I think it would be wrong of us to take any potential alternative off the table. Spring is very doable.”.
All of it must be considered when restarting football. The players wish to play, too, but with newfound leverage. Players from Oklahoma State to Illinois have revealed theyre going to have a voice in the uneasy attempt to mine a few of that television profits.
” How can a group loaded with 100+ trainee athletes totally function during a pandemic,” Illinois linebacker Milo Eifler tweeted. “My colleagues and I wish to play. Schools around the country are revealing blatant neglect for student athletes.”.
Gamers definitely can not be viewed as human shields or mercenaries to get at that money.
College footballs most significant ally throughout the coronavirus pandemic had actually been time. COVID-19 struck in the offseason.
Spring practice was affected, sure, but there was still five months till the start of the season. Plenty of time, they said, to determine testing. Similarly, lots of time to get gamers back on campus and to consider what a 2020 season would look like.
The video games stakeholders had the time to figure all of it out. Thats not the case anymore.
Time? College football is lacking it, a minimum of if it plans to kick off the 2020 season as scheduled.
Spring football during what should be spring practice?
” At some point, were actually going to have to get out and practice football,” Riley said. As is two-semester football. All of it must be taken into account when rebooting football.
If the season has actually to be pressed back a couple of months, the NFL is supposedly unenthusiastic in accommodating college football by postponing its 2021 draft. That might indicate certain senior citizens and draft-eligible juniors may not wind up playing a final year of college ball, which would plainly affect the national championship race.
Weve heard reports from some our countrys medical leaders. Theres possibly an opportunity for a vaccine by late this year or early next year.
” To me, it ends up being, do you believe [spring football is] manageable? I personally do.”.
Penn State athletic director Sandy Barbour recently called a spring season “a last resort.” That was always the case. College football does not lend itself to being a movable feast on the calendar.
” Were not simply throwing them out there and hoping,” Riley said.
Mix that believed in with a huge concern of college health experts: Players will actually hide COVID-19 signs to remain on the field..
It is not likely stars such as Trevor Lawrence would even play in the spring. For the forecasted No. 1 total choice, there wouldnt be much of a choice between risking a season- or career-ending injury vs. a $40 million income, particularly if the 2021 NFL Draft takes place during a spring season instead of after it.
Then there would the uneasy television renegotiations. The rights holders didnt pay leading dollar so college football would go head-to-head with significant professional sports in the spring.
Fall Saturdays are taken for college football, not Easter weekend.
There is another student-athlete well-being concern. How odd would it be, two years after commemorating college footballs 150th anniversary, for stakeholders to insert 2 seasons into college footballs 152nd season in 2021.
The challenges continue to accumulate. The stakeholders seem prepared to take them on one at a time.
There is hope screening will become more frequent. There is optimism outbreaks can be contained with thousands upon thousands of students returning to school next month.
There is the belief a spring season will be constantly exist as a last hope.
Next Sunday marks 4 months considering that the sports world closed down. When it will open up fully once again is a mystery.
There is one certainty: College football is lacking time.
