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College Football and COVID-19: End of July Roundup

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This week has brought plenty of updates as to the status of the upcoming college football season amid a pandemic. Here are a few highlights.

It wasn’t that long ago that we thought we’d have answers regarding the status of the upcoming football season by the time August arrived. With August here, uncertainties seem as abundant as they were months ago. Here’s a snapshot of what’s happened in recent days and weeks and, as a result, what we know about the upcoming season.

Big 12 planned media days … and then canceled them

Most every conference postponed their regularly scheduled media days with the season teetering back and forth. The Big 12 is the first FBS league to set a date for a virtual media day with limited participation. That lasted a few days before it was canceled.

ACC adopts Conference +1 scheduling

The Big Ten and the Pac-12 were the first Power 5 conferences to chop off the nonconference portion of their schedule entirely. The ACC is planning for a hybrid approach, allowing each team to play 10 conference games plus one nonconference opponent. And for the first time in their history, Notre Dame will have an opportunity to compete for a conference championship.

SEC moves to conference-only schedule

Shortly after the ACC decision, the SEC  became the next major domino to fall. That left the Big 12 as the only P5 conference with non-conference games. This decision directly impacts Rice football, which was originally scheduled to play LSU in Houston on September 19.

Opt-outs begin

With most conferences sponsoring some sort of scholarship protection should a player decide not to play this season, we knew opt-outs were going to occur. With prominent NFL players making the decision not to play this week, college players have started to follow suit. The most notable so far is Virginia Tech corner Caleb Farley, projected by some to be a first-round pick.

COVID protocol suspensions at Arizona

For the most part, schools are taking the current health challenges as seriously as possible. Michigan State and Rutgers have quarantined their entire football teams in July. Meanwhile, in Arizona, Kevin Sumlin’s staff has suspended a player for violating safety protocols.

NCAA guidance slim, but fearful

The NCAA has offered little guidance during the past few months, following behind their member institutions and offering vague comments that all precautions must be taken. NCAA President Mark Emmert said this week he was “very concerned” about the status of fall sports.

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The State of College Football: COVID-19 changes are on the way

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The college football world is reeling from a series of announcements this week. What happened? And what’s going to happen next?

On Wednesday afternoon, the Ivy League released a detailed, powerful statement that included this telling line:

“It will not be possible for Ivy League teams to participate in intercollegiate athletics competition prior to the end of the fall semester. ”

No intercollegiate athletics competition means no football. And no football is a very, very uncomfortable notion for many in this country. This piece is not going to get into the politicization of the current environment. There are other forums for that conversation. Instead, let’s address the why and the impacts currently reverberating around college football.

Why did the Ivy League cancel football?

Football is the biggest financial driver in college sports. It’s no secret that the loss of a football season would push just about every athletic department further into the red. Staying in a positive place financially is important, but at what cost?

In this case, “the safety and well-being of students as their highest priority” outweighed the monetary gains that football would have brought. At the FCS level, that’s admittedly a much smaller purse than the upper echelon of the sport. At the end of the day though, this decision forced administrators to weigh the tradeoffs between safety and money. In the Ivy League, safety won out.

The ripple effects continue

Others will follow. We’ve already seen an array of FCS teams cancel games due to COVID-19 concerns. Some lower-level schools in D2, D3 and NAIA have gone so far as to cancel seasons. There will be more news along those lines.

Entering Thursday there were already FBS schools with holes on their schedule because of those canceled games. More than a half dozen programs had halted voluntary workouts because of positive test results, with notable programs like Ohio State and North Carolina suspending activities on Wednesday. Positive test results that were concerning in June will become increasingly more so as the calendar inches closer to September.

The ACC delayed all sports until no sooner than Sept. 1 on Thursday morning. Before the day was through reports surfaced that the Big Ten, ACC and Pac-12 would cancel all non-conference football games. 10 of 14 Conference USA teams will have lost games. Middle Tennessee, Old Dominion and Western Kentucky have already lost two. Marshall’s Week 0 game against East Carolina is scheduled for August 29. Players are scheduled to report for mandatory workouts soon, meaning a decision on whether or not that game (or other non-conference games) will be played at all.

25 percent “and dwindling”

In a statement given to the Denton Record-Chronicle, Conference USA Commissioner Judy MacLeod was noncommittal. “We are continuing to discuss with our membership, but no decisions have been made,” she said. “We are receiving advice from medical experts and examining all options.”

Earlier in the week, a source within the Rice program indicated he would be surprised if they played football this fall. Since then that same source said the likelihood of a fall season being played to be at 25% “and dwindling”. Conference USA coaches have been in constant communication throughout the day. This snowball isn’t slowing down. If anything, it’s escalating.

What’s going to happen next?

It took 72 hours for college basketball to be shut down. The Ivy League’s cancelation went out at 4:45 p.m. on Wednesday. Following that trajectory, we could be looking at a very different college football world by the time the weekend arrives.

But, before we get there, it’s important to note a few things.  First, the SEC indicated they wanted to wait “as long as they can” before making any decisions on their schedule. It’s expected Rice will wait and see what the SEC does before making a decision on the LSU game.

I’d imagine, and this is speculative on my part, that most conferences will operate under the notion that they will be playing football this fall for as long as possible. In the interim, that probably means pushing the season back, canceling non-conference games and assessing what things look like down the road. Playing an October to December scheduled would be preferred to any sort of spring arrangement.

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Conceptually, it’s possible, but I’d be surprised to see any Group of 5 conference able to operate under a different scheduling structure than the Power 5 leagues. If the financial powers of the sport can’t justify the risks, how could a Group of 5 team do so? Even if the logistics work, the risk at this point is hard to sell. If there is football this fall, and that’s getting to seem like a larger and larger if with every passing hour, it’s most likely going to feature a heavily abbreviated schedule.

Given the health risks and dollars potentially at stake, pushing the season back a month, at least, seems like the most likely outcome for the time being. If we get to the end of August and the situation isn’t improved it will be time for another, much more harrowing conversation. Canceling these games is more so about buying time than anything else.

What about football in the spring?

“We’re trying to figure out a way to play a season safely and responsibly,” he said. “But we’re also prepared not to play.” – Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warren

Spring football is a legitimate option, but before consensus shifts there, it’s important to note there is no guarantee the COVID-19 situation will be any better in February than it will be in October. We all hope it will be, but we felt that same hope four months ago. And here we are.

There’s just so much we don’t know. Right now administrators are trying to make the best decisions they can in a time of incredible uncertainty.

Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren was as direct as possible in a statement to Sports Illustrated. “We’re trying to figure out a way to play a season safely and responsibly,” he said. “But we’re also prepared not to play.”

This situation is going to continue to develop. If March was any indication, the world of college athletics as we know it might look very different in the coming days, if not hours. Stay tuned.

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BREAKING: Ivy League to announce cancellation of all fall sports

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The first conference to act in March, the Ivy League made another big move this week, canceling all fall sports. No events will be held until January.

In what could become a pivotal moment in college football history, Jon Rothstein reports the Ivy League will announce the cancel their football season and all fall sports. Additionally, the conference “will not entertain any sports being played until after January 1st.”

In a typical sports calendar, the decisions of a smaller FCS conference might not be national news. The past four months have been anything but typical.

Think back to the morning of March 10. COVID-19 was only beginning to take its place as a ubiquitous facet of the world we know. That’s when the Ivy League canceled its conference basketball tournament. For nearly two days, the public outrage was palpable. But quickly the “overreaction” proved more of a premonition than a knee-jerk decision.

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The NBA shut down less than 36 hours from the Ivy League’s statement to cancel their basketball tournament. The Ivies were again first to cancel their spring sports calendar. An outcry followed, but soon enough ever college governing body had followed suit.

On Wednesday, the Ivies announced a decision that could have far greater ramifications. The Ivy League’s decision to not play football this fall will give other conference justification to follow suit. Don’t be shocked to see other FCS conferences follow suit. The domino effect might not stop there. FBS teams have already seen games canceled.

Per Dana O’Neil, there is a possibility the affected fall sports could be played in the spring. To that end, workouts and fall team activities could be left up to the discretion of individual schools, per Nicole Auerbach.

Everyone wants to play college football this fall, but the proverbial timeline to pull the ripcord is fast approaching. Mandatory workouts begin soon and most universities haven’t announced final decisions as to when (or if) the rest of their student body can return to school. Buckle up. The next few weeks could be bumpy.

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The Roost Podcast | Ep. 31 – DCTF’s Shehan Jeyarajah and the state of college football

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Shehan Jeyarajah from Dave Campbell’s Texas Football sheds some light on the state of college football, offseason storylines and its uncertain future.

The extended offseason interview series continues with a broader lens. After spending a few weeks talking to former Rice athletes, this week’s edition of The Roost Podcast goes bigger picture. The coronavirus pandemic has altered the college football landscape. We talk to Dave Campbell Texas Football insider Shehan Jeyarajah and get his views on that state of college football in Texas.

From rivalry trophies to new coaches, it’s a conversation you don’t want to miss. You can always find previous episodes on the podcast page. For now, give a listen to Episode 31.


Episode 31 Notes

  • Housekeeping — Thanks to everyone who’s left a review or shared your feedback with us. If you like the show or want to get in touch with us, you can leave a comment on the site or give the show a follow on Twitter.
  • Shehan Jeyarajah joins the show — Despite the lack of games to cover, the sports world hasn’t slowed down. Texas college football has had plenty of things to talk about, so we covered the gamut:
    • When will Texas A&M and Texas play again? (It’s been almost a decade.)
    • Reasonable expectations for UTSA’s Jeff Traylor and Baylor’s Dave Aranda
    • Which non-Power 5 programs in Texas have the brightest future?
    • What will college football look like this season? Should games without students a real option?
    • Are the potential changes to the Name, Image and Likeness policies good or bad for college football?

Where can you find us?

Download and subscribe to The Roost Podcast on any of your favorite podcast providers. The show is available on iTunes, GooglePlay, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, TuneIn and PodBean. Please consider leaving a review wherever you listen.

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