Tag: Big 10

SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey’s concern for the season is ‘high to very high’

SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey said he is concerned about the prospect of playing football in the fall during an interview on ESPN Radio.

In light of rising COVID-19 cases across the south and decisions made by the Big 10 and PAC 12 over the last several days to move to conference-only football schedules this fall, SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey said he is concerned about the prospect of playing football in the fall during an interview on the ESPN Radio show Marty & McGee on Saturday morning.

“We put a medical advisory group together in early April with the question, ‘What do we have to do to get back to activity?’ and they’ve been a big part of the conversation,” Sankey said. “But the direct reality is not good and the notion that we’ve politicized medical guidance of distancing, and breathing masks, and hand sanitization, ventilation of being outside, being careful where you are in buildings. There’s some very clear advice about — you can’t mitigate and eliminate every risk, but how do you minimize the risk? … We are running out of time to correct and get things right, and as a society we owe it to each other to be as healthy as we can be.”

Sankey pointed out that since what one league does affects every other league, the decisions made by two of the Power Five conferences will impact the SEC’s decision-making. But he also said the league will cater to the individual needs of its member institutions above all else.

“That literally is playing out in front of us every day,” Sankey said. “That’s why I don’t feel any pressure because of somebody else’s decisions. We’re trying to make the right decisions for us, for the Southeastern Conference. It does have an impact because I’ve said publicly we’re all linked nationally, so when other people make decisions, yup, there’s an impact, but also we’re going to look at our situation and make a decision that’s appropriate for the Southeastern Conference and most importantly for the health of our student-athletes.”

“What I’ve tried to do is both keep a focus on what’s ahead but provide reality, which has been I’m going to focus on preparing to play the season as scheduled but acknowledge the circumstances around coronavirus are going to guide us in that decision-making,” Sankey said. “And the reality right now is the trends in our region, in our nation, are not in the positive direction for being able to have normal experiences.”

In the interview, Sankey confirmed that the late July deadline for final decisions regarding the season hasn’t changed and that he believes it beneficial to wait as long as possible before making an informed decision. The other two Power Five conferences, the ACC and Big 12, have both also said that they will wait until the end of the month to make decisions about scheduling.

[lawrence-related id=18186,18167,18142,18120,18106]

Top 3 possible changes to Alabama’s 2020 schedule

Plenty of changes have been made to the 2020 College Football landscape. here are three possible outcomes for Alabama’s football schedule.

With the Coronavirus pandemic not going anywhere anytime soon in the United States, collegiate athletics continue to be altered as the health and safety of all parties involved are kept in mind by the NCAA, athletic conferences and individual programs.

The Ivy League was the first to announce a major change. They will be suspending all fall sports, and may allow them to return in the spring season. Shortly after their decision became public, the BIG 10 announced their fall sports will be played, but only with an intra-conference schedule. The PAC 12 followed by also cancelling any inter-conference play for fall sports.

The ACC, BIG 12 and SEC have yet to announce their plans for the upcoming season. However, even if they decide not to follow in the footsteps of the Ivy League or the first two Power five conferences to make drastic schedule changes, their seasons have already been affected.

Nick Saban and the Alabama Crimson Tide were set to take on USC to kick off the 2020 college football season in Dallas, Texas. Those plans have since dissolved due to USC now forced to play a conference-only schedule for the upcoming season.

Alabama athletics director Greg Byrne released a statement about the game’s cancellation, but did not offer any insight as to what the future holds for the Crimson Tide’s schedule.

So what will Alabama football’s 2020 season look like? Here are some possibilities:

3. The SEC makes a deal with another conference

Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports

This may seem like an idea not worth entertaining. However, the goal of stopping inter-conference play is to minimize the spread of the Coronavirus in the case of a potential outbreak. This way, each conference can be seen as ‘under quarantine,’ an outbreak would be held within the conference and doesn’t hinder all programs across the country.

If the SEC is opposed to cutting non-conference play and refuses to cut down to 10 games like the BIG 10 and PAC 12, then perhaps they can make a deal with another conference to fill in the gaps caused by non-conference game cancellations.

For example, an agreement between the SEC and the BIG 12 could bring some interesting matchups.

A season where Alabama plays their eight scheduled conference games for 2020 and then fills in the remaining four games with teams within the BIG 12. Fans would definitely be interested in seeing the Crimson Tide face off against other high-profile teams such as Baylor, Oklahoma, TCU and Texas .

This would certainly be a unique concept that allows for inter-conference play and a potential ‘conference vs. conference’ season.

Pages: Page 1, Page 2, Page 3

Expect the SEC and other collegiate conferences to follow the Big 10’s lead

Any reasonable person has known for some time that if college football happens this fall it will look drastically different than ever before

Any reasonable person has known for some time now that should a college football season occur this fall, it will look drastically different than any other season we’ve ever seen. The only question was, how so?

The first domino in answering that question fell Thursday afternoon, as the Big 10 announced that it would be scrapping all scheduled nonconference games and moving to a conference-only football schedule.

Not only does this alter the schedules of Big 10 teams, but also every team that was scheduled to play a Big 10 team in non-conference play. As a result, it’s just a matter of time until the rest of the FBS makes the same call.

The PAC 12 has been reportedly considering doing the same for months now, and according to Stadium’s Brett McMurphy, the ACC is likely to move to a conference-only schedule, as well.

SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey said that the league will wait as long as possible to make final decisions but that it will also discuss the possibility of eliminating nonconference games.

These are important first steps from the Power Five, which until now hasn’t taken nearly as proactive a course as, for instance, the NBA has. But this also feels like an abrupt turn in strategy.

Just weeks ago, Ohio State Athletic Director Gene Smith suggested that they could put 40-50,000 fans in the stadium. On Thursday, his tone changed drastically.

“I am very concerned,” Smith said, when asked about playing fall sports in general. “I used to be cautiously optimistic, but I’m not even there now. When you look at our trajectory with the virus, we are either the worst country or one of the worst. We wanted September available to use to provide flexibility and control to handle disruptions.”

The Big 10’s announcement was less of a proactive step than it was a scramble. College football waited too long to take concrete steps to ensure the season could be conducted safely, and now the entire season is jeopardized.

[lawrence-related id=17447]

Most, if not all, Power Five leagues will do the same thing the Big 10 did. Most Group of Five leagues will, as well. But it’s not going to save the season.

Moving to a conference-only schedule is the last gasp from college sports administrators realizing the error of their ways. Because, though clearly a step in the right direction, nixing nonconference games isn’t the answer.

Sure, it keeps programs’ travel generally region-locked, but at this point, with over 3 million confirmed COVID-19 cases in the United States, spreading the disease to new places isn’t really the concern. The concern is keeping the thousands of players, coaches and personnel safe while somehow limiting collateral in the travel process. A conference-only schedule doesn’t begin to solve all of these problems.

There’s only one answer: delaying the season.

Right now, college football is setting itself up for a disaster. Administrators are either too stubborn or too invested to see the writing on the wall, and they’re going to create a massive headache for themselves.

Barring something unforeseen changing in the next month and a half, outbreaks will be an inevitability this fall. When that happens, the season will be stopped and either canceled or postponed.

Assuming this is the case, college football has two options: Delay the start of the season with the hope that a more normal season is possible later on, or devise a complicated plan for a fall start that will more likely than not fail, resulting in a delayed season anyway but with the added hurdle of dealing with a restart instead of just a delayed start.

The former option is, in my opinion, clearly superior. But it seems that those in power are more interested in the latter. When that comes to pass, the months wasted arguing about precisely how many fans can safely be shoved into metal bleachers will be all the more damning.

[lawrence-related id=17685,17201,16160,13722]

Gators News: July 10, 2020

Another week is almost in the books on this Friday and what a week it was for North American sports — particularly in the collegiate realm.

Another week is almost in the books on this Friday and what a week it was for North American sports — particularly in the collegiate realm.

Here is a quick breakdown of the latest voices from USA TODAY Sports on what has transpired over the past 48 hours.

Here is the rest of the news from the Gator Nation.

Around the Swamp

It’s great to be a Florida Gator!

[lawrence-related id=18099,17974,17782,17754]

Big Ten opts for conference-only football schedule this coming fall

The decision by the Big Ten is expected to create a domino effect throughout the college football landscape as others are assured to follow.

The Big Ten athletic conference announced on Thursday that its member schools will play a conference-only schedule for the upcoming 2020 football season.

Word of the decision leaked earlier in the day when The Athletic’s college football senior writer Nicole Auerbach revealed the news on Twitter. USA TODAY Sports later corroborated the report with multiple people who have intimate knowledge of the decision.

The full press release from the conference is included below.

We are facing uncertain and unprecedented times, and the health, safety and wellness of our student-athletes, coaches, game officials, and others associated with our sports programs and campuses remain our number one priority.

To that end, the Big Ten Conference announced today that if the Conference is able to participate in fall sports (men’s and women’s cross country, field hockey, football, men’s and women’s soccer, and women’s volleyball) based on medical advice, it will move to Conference-only schedules in those sports. Details for these sports will be released at a later date, while decisions on sports not listed above will continue to be evaluated. By limiting competition to other Big Ten institutions, the Conference will have the greatest flexibility to adjust its own operations throughout the season and make quick decisions in real-time based on the most current evolving medical advice and the fluid nature of the pandemic.

This decision was made following many thoughtful conversations over several months between the Big Ten Council of Presidents and Chancellors, Directors of Athletics, Conference Office staff, and medical experts including the Big Ten Task Force for Emerging Infectious Diseases and the Big Ten Sports Medicine Committee.

In addition, the Conference announced that summer athletic activities will continue to be voluntary in all sports currently permitted to engage in such activities. Furthermore, Big Ten student-athletes who choose not to participate in intercollegiate athletics at any time during the summer and/or the 2020-21 academic year due to concerns about COVID-19 will continue to have their scholarship honored by their institution and will remain in good standing with their team.

While Big Ten member institutions continue to rely on the most up-to-date medical information to establish the best protocols for voluntary workouts on their campuses, in compliance with local and state regulations, the Conference is working with the Big Ten Task Force for Emerging Infectious Diseases and the Big Ten Sports Medicine Committee to finalize Conference-wide protocols.

As we continue to focus on how to play this season in a safe and responsible way, based on the best advice of medical experts, we are also prepared not to play in order to ensure the health, safety and wellness of our student-athletes should the circumstances so dictate.

The absence of non-conference opponents on a Power Five league schedule could have a big impact on smaller programs that rely on “guarantee games” at major schools for a big part of the athletic budget. It is unclear whether those contracts would call for a penalty payment.

The decision by the Big Ten is expected to create a domino effect throughout the college football landscape, as other conferences are almost assured to follow in the conference’s footsteps. The first league expected to follow suit is the Pac-12, which Auerbach reported in a later tweet is expected to move to a conference-only schedule in the coming days. Stadium Network college football insider Brett McMurphy also reported that the ACC is also strongly considering the change.

At best, the 2020 season will be a shadow of the sport that brings college communities together every fall. However, the most likely outcome at this point is that fans will be lucky if any sports are played at all.

[lawrence-related id=17685,18120,18106,18105]

Paul Finebaum shares his opinion on if college football will be played

ESPB;s Paul Finebaum shares his thoughts on the current state of college football and if games should be played in the Fall of 2020.

The Coronavirus pandemic cut the 2019-2020 college basketball postseason short, cancelling all of ‘March Madness,’ it also ended all 2020 Spring collegiate sports. Now, as the 2020 college football season approaches, questions are arising as to how, or if, it will be played.

The Ivy League is reportedly considering to move their football season to the Spring of 2021. This change in season would allow more time to pass in hopes that the pandemic subsides or a vaccine is created.

ESPN’s Paul Finebaum spoke with Scott Fowler of the Charlotte Observer and shared his own opinion on what the NCAA should do.

Finebaum spoke about what the ‘best case scenario’ is for college football in the Fall of 2020.

“I think probably the best case is to put off any important decisions for three to four weeks,” said Finebaum. “… I think they’ll keep pushing, keep moving the invisible deadline to where, if the country is still in a freefall in a couple of weeks, then I don’t think they’ll have much choice but to then say, ‘We can’t do it at all’ or ‘We’re going to pause here and give it a few more weeks and maybe start in mid-September or late September.’

If you’re the SEC, ACC, Big Ten — maybe you just play conference games. I think the non-conference games are in serious jeopardy.”

The “invisible date” Finebaum references is crucial. The refusal to set a date for a decision allows the NCAA more time to evaluate the current state of the pandemic, as well as potentially prepare for preventive measures if they decide to go through with the season.

2020 SEC Media Days has also been cancelled and set for rescheduling, but an official date has not been announced.

He was also asked about the likelihood of games being played in the Fall.

“I think the likelihood of college football is slipping away by the day. … It’s remarkable to think from holiday to holiday — Memorial Day to the Fourth of July — what has happened. I would say on Memorial Day it was a slam dunk. It was going to happen,” says Finebaum. “There could be some complications. As we hit the next big holiday of the year, which is the last holiday before Labor Day, it seems like everything has gone the wrong way.

And when I say that, it’s not even the complications within the sport, which are massive … It’s just the (COVID-19) spikes around the country are happening at probably the worst possible time to safely execute college football.”

Finebaum stated there there is a “less than 50 percent chance” football is played in 2020.

Roll Tide Wire will continue to keep you updated as more information becomes available regarding college football being played in the Fall of 2020.