Despite multiple conferences and teams postponing and canceling their fall football seasons because the COVID-19 pandemic, the SEC is among the Power 5 conferences moving forward as planned, more or less. And its first games are currently scheduled for September 26.
However, while the SEC, ACC and Big 12 are carrying on, the Big Ten and Pac-12 postponed their fall seasons with the hope that they’ll be able to bring football back at some point in 2021.
Now, spring football might not be the best idea or actually come to fruition for several reasons, as For The Win previously explained. And Alabama coach Nick Saban shared his perspective on the potential idea while on ESPN’s Get Up on Tuesday.
When asked to weigh in on the significance of the Big Ten and Pac-12 not playing this fall, Saban said:
“I think we all sort of have a group of people that we have a tremendous amount of respect for who are trying to guide us through this, and I’m talking about medical folks. And I think everybody’s circumstance and situation is a little bit different. I actually hate it for the players who won’t get the opportunity to play and compete and create value for themselves.
“Because I think one of the real consequences of this is if you’re a junior or a senior and you have an NFL grade, are you going to play in the spring? Or is that going to become sort of a JV season with a lot of these juniors and seniors opting out? …
“I’m in no way judging what anybody’s trying to do or not do. But our medical experts here thought that we could try to do this [and] create a safe environment and see if we can play. And I think that’s what we’re doing, and I think they’ve done a wonderful job of that.”
Whether it’s specifically to prepare for the NFL combine and draft or for health reasons, several college football players have opted out of the 2020 season already. And with the Big Ten’s and Pac-12’s postponements, players in those conferences are obviously sitting out the fall anyway.
Saban has a point regarding spring football because if a prospect likes his current NFL Draft stock, it’s probably not worth it to continue playing for free and risk an injury. And even if spring football becomes a safe and realistic option for the Big Ten and Pac-12, we could know by the NFL’s January deadline for players to file for early draft eligibility if his “JV season” prediction looks like it’s going to play out.
With a conference-only schedule this year, Alabama’s season begins on the road against Missouri on September 26.
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