Lincoln Riley: “We’ll play in the parking lot if that’s where they want us to play”

College football has been one of the main discussions during the shutdown. Lincoln Riley says he’s okay with playing games without fans.

One of the major topics of conversation since the coronavirus shut down sports is what is going to happen when sports return in whatever capacity.

There is still no timeline on when locker rooms can be full, media can begin in-person coverage or when stadiums can be packed with 100,000 or more fans again.

Oklahoma athletic director Joe Castiglione has talked about the prospect of a season in the spring. Head football coach Lincoln Riley has expressed confidence that a 2020 season will happen in some sort of way.

When asked on Friday if he would play games without fans, Riley said he’d be ready to step right outside the stadium if they needed to.

“We’ll play in the parking if that’s where they want us to play,” Riley told ESPNU Radio on SiriusXM. “Of course we’d love to play in front of fans. Both our own and some of our favorite games are getting on the road and all the hostility and all that comes with road atmospheres. So you certainly hope we can do it with the fans whenever that may be, but if it comes down to playing or playing a season based on not having fans on the stands, that’s okay.”

“We definitely want to play whenever it is. Whether it’s early, late—doesn’t matter. But do I think if there is an opportunity, no matter where it’s at in the calendar, I do believe if there is an opportunity to play in front of our fans and everybody else be able to play in front of their fans, I’d think we’d be crazy not to take a strong look at it.”

The Big 12 is currently not allowing in-person contact at all for its respective schools through May 31. The University of Oklahoma has canceled in-person classes for its summer session through Aug. 1.

Oklahoma is scheduled to currently kickoff the 2020 season on Sept. 5 against Missouri State.

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