Tag: Big Ten decision

SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey shares thoughts on 2020 college football season

SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey shares his thoughts on the 2020 college football season on the Dan Patrick Show.

With COVID-19 threatening the fate of college football, SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey took to the Dan Patrick Show Tuesday morning to share his thoughts on the SEC’s 2020 football season.

“We have a start date… I’d be encouraged by that. … We have a schedule… I’d be encouraged by that. … We’re still here today. On Sunday, if I read social media I would have thought (it was over),” Sankey said on the show.

Sankey was asked about his feelings in regards to how likely SEC football will be played in the fall.

“It is a roller coaster ride,” said Sankey. “Today is probably better. We have made decisions to avoid some of the time pressures that I sense others are feeling.”

With the Big Ten postponing all fall sports (including football), other conferences have now felt heavy pressure to follow suit.  Sankey explained how the SEC has been preparing for their season differently than other Power 5 conferences.

“We’ve not had our players in helmets and pads for full practices,” he said. “We’ve spread our pre-season preparation out. We have moved our kickoff back to allow universities to get back to kind of a normal fall semester order, and some time to have things settle out.”

On the matter of possibly adopting a non-SEC team into the SEC for the season, Sankey replied: “…that’s not quite practical.”

“I felt good on Friday, and then a little tumult over the weekend,” said Sankey on his outlook for the season. “We are going to keep working to see if we can provide opportunities for student-athletes to compete.”

“Every day we learn a little bit more. It is not simply going to be a guiding moment if another conference makes a decision, but a piece of information a lot this journey.”

Sankey said it could be possible, but is unlikely the SEC would play on their own in 2020.

“I don’t think that is the right direction really. Could we? Certainly … We could, if that were the circumstance, operate on our own. I am not sure that’s the wisest direction.”

There is a lot up in the air surrounding this decision, as more and more will unravel in the coming weeks.  From the looks of it, Sankey and the SEC leaders will do everything in their power to have football in 2020, but nothing is guaranteed.

SEC, Georgia still optimistic on playing football in 2020

The Southeastern Conference is still optimistic on playing football in 2020, following the news of the Big Ten suspending all fall sports.

According to the Detroit Free Press, the Big Ten elected to cancel all fall sports in 2020, that including the college football season.

The Big Ten has voted to cancel the 2020 college football season in a historic move that stems from concerns related to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, multiple people with knowledge of the decision confirmed to the Free Press.

The sources requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly on the decision. A formal announcement is expected to Tuesday, the sources said.

The presidents voted, 12-2, Sunday to end the fall sports in the conference.

ESPN college football insider Kirk Herbstreit cleared up reports coming out Monday by saying the conference will be delaying the season start, not cancelling it completely.

With news of a Power 5 conference halting the start of the 2020 season, it has felt as though the remaining four (SEC, ACC, PAC-12, Big 12) would soon follow.  Now, that might not be the case.

SEC leaders, who like the Big Ten leaders also met over a digital conference call on Monday, seemed to have a more positive outlook on the season starting up.

Commissioner of the SEC, Greg Sankey, released an optimistic statement via Twitter on Monday saying: “Can we play? I don’t know. We haven’t stopped trying.”

“I’ll just say I think Greg Sankey’s comment is spot on,” Georgia athletic director Greg McGarity said Monday. “His statement says it all, and I certainly stand by it. It summarizes where we all stand.”

Georgia athletic employees made their return to the offices this Monday, still set for the delayed 10-game start date of September 26th.  Reports seem as though the ACC and SEC will work together in doing everything in their power to have a season in 2020.  A number of the two conferences biggest stars, including Clemson’s quarterback Trevor Lawrence, took to their platforms saying they want to play.

Lawrence hit on the fact that America is already not following COVID-19 guidelines, as well as many student athletes “coming from situations that are not good for them/their future and having to go back to that.”

“…Medical care and expenses will be placed on the families if they were to contract COVID-19.” said Lawrence. “…Football is a safe haven for so many people.”

The University of Georgia is set to return to in-person instruction starting August 20th.  Nothing is set in stone for the remaining Power 5 conferences, but there will be a lot of news released in the upcoming weeks regarding the fate of the 2020 college football season.

Big Ten announces teams will play conference-only games for fall of 2020

The Big Ten Conference has announced that all fall sports will be comprised of conference-only matchups for the 2020 season due to COVID-19.

The Big Ten Conference announced that their schools will participate in conference-only games for all sports this fall.  The decision came Thursday, one day after the Ivy League cancelled all fall sports for the 2020 season.

This decision by the Big Ten is based on the uncertainties that are presented by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, reaching new highs in the United States.

“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,” the conference released in a statement this Thursday.

Big Ten fall sports include football, men’s and women’s soccer, men’s and women’s cross country, field hockey, and women’s volleyball.  The decision was made based on medical advice.

This now begs the question of what other conferences will do to take action in securing their athletes safety.  The Big 12, Pac-12, ACC and SEC have a spotlight on themselves following a bold move by the Big Ten.

SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said that the SEC “will continue to meet regularly with our campus leaders in the coming weeks, guided by medical advisors, to make the important decisions necessary to determine the best path forward related to SEC fall sports.”

“We recognize the challenges ahead and know the well-being of our student-athletes, coaches, staff and fans must remain at the forefront of those decisions,” Sankey also stated.

Since fall college athletes return to team activities on June 1st, there have been COVID-19 cases popping up in a number of schools including Ohio State, Clemson, LSU and Texas.  Ohio State suspended practices and team activities on Wednesday as a safety precaution.

The Big Ten’s statement included that the conference is “also prepared not to play in order to ensure the health, safety and wellness of our student-athletes should the circumstances so dictate.”

Georgia football’s non-conference games scheduled this season include Virginia, East Tennessee State, Louisiana Monroe and of course, Georgia Tech.  Should the SEC move to conference-only games, the Dawgs’ schedule will only get tougher, potentially adding matchups such as LSU, Ole Miss, Texas A&M, Arkansas and Mississippi State.