The 2020 College Football season isn’t in peril… at least not yet

The 2020 College Football season isn’t in peril… at least not yet

As rumors and headlines swirl about the potential for a canceled College Football season, there still remains hope that somehow, someway, the season will be played this coming fall.

Earlier this week, the Big Ten went rogue by announcing its decision to cancel all non-conference games and said that if it is able to play fall sports, they will only be played in-conference.

Though many College Football analysts later reported that the other Power-5 conferences were expected to make the same decision, nothing has been set in stone as of yet. As a matter of fact, there has been talk about the ACC and SEC attempting to try and work out a way to keep their in-state rivalries, which include Clemson-South Carolina, Florida State-Florida, Louisville-Kentucky and Georgia Tech-Georgia.

We’re less than 50 days out from the originally-planned start to the 2020 College Football season and the alarms are sounding. Many have said that the Big Ten going to a ‘conference-only schedule‘ is simply a way of cushioning the blow when the season is completely canceled.

While there’s certainly nothing given at this point, we here at Rubbing the Rock have remained positive that somehow, someway a season would be played and that’s still the expectation.

Here’s a little positivity for you in the midst of what seems like a constant swirl of bad news.

College Football can still happen, but we are running out of time

There’s no doubt that the rising case figures in the U.S. are something to keep your eye on. If we can’t begin to get that caseload down it’s going to be tough to have a season.

That being said, things like the death-rate continue to drop and we’re continuing to make positive developments medically when it comes to combating the virus.

As far as College Football itself is concerned, there is reason to take the Big Ten’s announcement positively.

First of all, it means we now have more time to develop a plan. We don’t have to start on time to have a College Football season. If conferences do move to play mostly-conference games and only games in their geographic region outside of the conference, we can increase flexibility and allow for the season to start a few weeks later, giving the decision-makers more time to get things in place.

Moving the season back a few weeks wouldn’t be the worst sacrifice in the world for games to be played.

There’s also an economic factor driving CFB that can’t be understated. Even a limited-capacity game will drive much more revenue for local businesses and the university than simply not playing games at all.

We should all be encouraged by the fact that the powers-that-be, at least for the most part, want to play the season. They are trying to make ends meet and are going to try their best to play if we can do so safely.

Another positive development is the fact that other sports are resuming play. This is key for College Football’s return. If we see the MLB and NBA get back to playing and we see NFL players begin to report training camps- all of which is scheduled to happen later this month- that will only help increase the likelihood that we find a way to play, even if that means the schedule is changed and potentially even shortened as a result.

It is time for Conference Commissioners, along with the NCAA and University Presidents to come together. They’ve got to begin to iron out plans and work together to create uniformity, at least when it comes to protocols.

The CFB season isn’t in peril yet, but things like the decision-makers’ ability to come up with uniform protocols and a clear-cut plan,  and other sports starting back up and having success will both play a major role in determining the actual viability of the season.