If it happens, it’s going to be fun, it’s going to be weird, and it’s going to be awesome … if they actually play college football in 2020.
Do you realize what we might be in for if this college football season gets played?
No, really. Are you able to fully grasp what it might mean if this thing set in motion by the Big Ten actually works?
[jwplayer z06Wb7Fe]
I’m a world-half-sucks sort of person who believes the beautiful music I’m hearing is coming from the piano about to fall on my head, but I’m allowing myself this one shining moment – I’m taking that phrase back from the dopiest lyrics of any song this side of “We Built This City” – to believe that maybe, potentially, possibly, we’re in for something incredible.
Of course I’m well aware that 1) sports don’t matter and 2) I’m about to get fired up about Christmas presents under the tree that might never be opened, but …
Enough non-stop news – at least for a bit.
Enough 30 for 30s that remind me that I had a lot of fun in the 1990s.
Enough Netflix. Enough HBO Max. Enough whatever the Peacock thing is going to be with all those shows on regular TV that I wouldn’t watch on a dare.
[lawrence-related id=515929]
We all need sports. Good sports, and not the I’m-watching-because-it’s-on sort of thing.
Start with what a baseball season should be – a perfectly-sized 60 games.
Once the whining stops about the food and hotels, the NBA season is going to be non-stop fantastic.
The PGA Championship will get August going, and the Indy 500 and tennis version of the US Open will end the month.
The golf US Open will be in September, The Masters will be played in November, and NFL training camps are right around the corner.
And college football is coming.
Again, understand what’s about to happen.
Maybe this will signal a shift in the business model, and maybe this is when the conferences ditch the NCAA and live life on their own for good – that’s all for another day.
If what the Big Ten is proposing is a go, we’re going to get ten games per team of Big Ten on Big Ten action with no FCS, no cupcakes, no waste.
[lawrence-related id=515894]
Bring that to the rest of the Power Five, too.
Once the other conferences kick it in, a ten-game all-SEC schedule? No mid-November games against Wofford, or UT Martin, or Alabama A&M, or Vanderbilt? Oh, wait … but to borrow the league’s phrase, it really will mean more.
The Big 12 already plays a full nine-game all-conference schedule, but the ACC keeping things in house with Notre Dame playing even more games within its friends-with-benefits structure? Absolutely.
Back in May, the Pac-12 threw around the idea of playing an 11-game all conference slate. Cool. Keep it out of the dark.
This all goes for the Group of Five conferences, too.
If you’re an investor, you want MAC football every Tuesday, and maybe Friday night Mountain West, and an all-American Athletic Conference schedule with shootout after shootout. It’s not an ideal situation for the other leagues – to be way understated – but for one year the on-field product would be a whole lot of fun.
The College Football Playoff types have already said it’s business as usual, but this time around the committee would have to work at it to come up with the true four best teams. It can’t just pick the four brand name Power Five champions, lather, rinse, and repeat – it’s probably going to have to dive into game after game along the way.
It’s not going to be for forever.
The 2020 college football season is almost certainly going to be a one-off to buy time to get to 2021. But if this works, and if the powers-that-be – if for their own self-interest, if nothing else – can really and truly make sure everyone is safe, this is about to be the most fun season ever, and …
Yeah, I know.
I’m well aware that we’re all probably going back to binging Cornhole tournaments again.
Aw crap. I looked up. It’s a Steinway.
[protected-iframe id=”361699434b6d70baf15f631ed2408ac1-97672683-92922408″ info=”https://www.googletagservices.com/tag/js/gpt.js” ]