Notre Dame Athletic Director Jack Swarbrick met with ESPN yesterday and has some very interesting comments as to what the college football season should entail in the 2020 season. Swarbrick’s thoughts make plenty of sense as he told Heather Dinich that he doesn’t “anticipate a 12-game schedule. I’d like to start a little later. The value of starting later is you really get to see how your university has done.”
By pushing back the season, which in essence has already been done by the Big Ten and PAC-12 due to canceling non-conference games, it gives school a better chance to get a grasp on their return of students and how to deal with COVID-19. The rest of the Power 5 conferences have yet to make their decisions regarding non-conference scheduling but buying time as the country deals with a national pandemic is a smart move. We all want to see college football this fall, and this could help the situation.
The other impactful statement made by Swarbrick was the fact that he would like to see “somewhere between 8 and 10 (games), but whatever is right for the health and safety of the players.” If his earlier comments are heard and used, pushing back the season makes an 8-game schedule more realistic. The Big Ten initially has leaned towards a 10-game conference only season, but a final decision hasn’t been made. Going back to Swarbrick’s idea of having a delayed season, 8 games is a good number.
Swarbrick brought some very good ideas to light and hopefully they don’t fall on deaf ears to the NCAA. Having an 8-game season is better than nothing but it would make the Irish most likely join the ACC for a season. With 6 of their currently scheduled games against ACC competition, the move makes sense, but that is still up in the air. We will find out what the 2020 college football season will look like by the end of the month and hopefully it all works out and a season is played.