It’s the question every college football fan is asking as the clock ticks away towards some type of decision needing to be made on the fate of college football this fall.
And before we even go there, certainly everyone’s priorities are on the state of the world today as it relates to the COVID-19 pandemic currently turning our life upside down as we know it. Health is the paramount concern and anything else is just icing on the cake.
All of that being said, there’s still a pending college football season in the fall that many hope don’t end up on the same shelf as every single spring sport that has been effectively canceled or delayed with no timetable in sight so far.
So will there be a college football season this fall? Might it be delayed or shortened?
ESPN analyst Chris Fowler shared a video to his Instagram account Saturday detailing what he believes are three scenarios that could play out, but there’s one in particular he believes is gaining more and more momentum.
We are 20 Saturdays from scheduled #CFB openers. How likely is an on time season? What other scenarios are being weighed? When will we know more? Many questions. Few answers. But here’s a link to my “informed speculation 🤷🏻♂️ @ESPNCFB @espn #collegefootball https://t.co/RTGmUbV31u
— Chris Fowler (@cbfowler) April 11, 2020
“The first scenario is the season starts on time and the season isn’t altered much,” Fowler said. “Time is running out, though, unless you think 4-6 weeks is a whole lot of time. Because I’m told by the end of May, there has to be clarity and if you are going to have college campuses open — which you will have to bring the players back — that’s about the deadline to get things going on time.”
Fowler then added two more possibilities that he thought were more likely.
“Scenario 2, the season starts late and maybe gets shortened a bit,” Fowler said. “Maybe you get going in November and you go through January and have to reshuffle the Playoff. To me, that sounds problematic. People are worried about a second wave of this virus coming back when the temperatures up north turn colder. You want to start a season then have to shut it down? To me, that would be disastrous.”
Then, he honed in on the scenario he believes makes the most sense and is starting to gain more and more traction — albeit very unconventional. Then again extraordinary times sometimes call for, even necessitate, extraordinary measures.
“Beginning some point in February, getting into March, April, May, maybe have the postseason in June,” Fowler said. “That would have to be reshuffled a bit. It would be bizarre. It would wreak havoc on some other sports in that time of year. But to avoid the financial disaster of having no football in the academic year, I think it might be a fallback position.”
Ohio State is scheduled to begin the season on September 5 against in-state foe Bowling Green. We’ll all just have to be patient to see how this all plays out.
Contact/Follow us @BuckeyesWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Ohio State news, notes and opinion.
We have a forum and message board now. Get in on the conversation about Ohio State athletics by joining the Buckeyes Wire Forum.