Tag: Bob Bowlsby

Dueling opinions: can sports be played without students attending campuses

NCAA President Mark Emmert and Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby don’t see eye to eye on a return to sports if students aren’t on campus.

With each passing day as we await a return to college athletics, it seems that everyone has provided their take on whether or not a return is likely this fall. Recently NCAA Chief Medical Office Brian Hainline stated that we could have sports in the fall. Also the NCAA released their three phase plan on how sports could return to college campuses.

The NCAA President Mark Emmert recently spoke about the return to sports and it seems he and Big 12 Commissioner aren’t on the same page.

If you don’t have students on campus, you don’t have student-athletes on campus,” he said. “That doesn’t mean it has to be up and running in the full normal model, but you’ve got to treat the health and well-being of the athletes at least as much as the regular students. So if a school doesn’t reopen, then they’re not going to be playing sports. It’s really that simple. – NCAA President Mark Emmert

Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby recently spoke with the Athletic about the situation and he believes that teams can in fact play even if operating online.

So who exactly do you believe? Well if you ask Dan Wolken of USA Today Sports then you should probably be prepared for chaos. Not that we aren’t already under said chaos at this point in time.

It is, fundamentally, a sport run by a committee of bureaucrats with little incentive to do anything but advance whatever is in the perceived competitive and financial interests of their conferences. While the NCAA manages certain elements, like the rules of play and recruiting restrictions, most of the important dynamics for FBS run through the conferences. – Dan Wolken

With teams such as Iowa of the Big Ten Conference and Arkansas of the vaunted Southeastern Conference openly discussing their return to football, it is hard to imagine that football won’t be played in some sort of capacity. Like Dan said, it’s the conferences that run NCAA football. While that might be an opinion, there is little out there that disproves that thought.

Another power five conference school plans a return to football

Latest reports show that the University of Arkansas and Iowa are planning on a return to the practice field. How far away is football?

The COVID-19 situation has put a damper on things from a sports perspective and for good reason. All sports has been cancelled for the time being. A culmination of events led to a worldwide shutdown back on March 12th. The NBA suspended their season, MLB postponed the start of theirs and college athletics cancelled everything. Recent reports involving the NBA and MLB led many to believe that sports could be making a comeback into our lives in the very near future. The big question has been surrounding football.

Recently in the world of football, universities are putting plans in place for a return to the gridiron. The University of Iowa has reportedly planned to return to football practice effective on June 1, 2020. That was the first school to make it aware that football would be returning to the practice field. Now another power five conference school is planning for football to return on September 5th. The Arkansas Razorbacks are making plans to begin practicing mid July.

This is just another step in the direction for football to make a return to college campuses. With two major schools making their plans known, how many more will follow? It is hard to not have some excitement with the news of a Big Ten and Southeast Conference school taking the plunge that will likely create a domino effect across the landscape of college athletics.

The only question now becomes, if and when does the University of Texas and athletic director Chris Del Conte get involved?

Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby worried about disruption of fall, winter sport seasons

The Big 12’s commissioner went on radio for his second public media appearance since the coronavirus pandemic struck college sports in March

The Big 12’s commissioner went on radio for his second public media appearance since the coronavirus pandemic struck college sports in March.

Bob Bowlsby has been innovative in the way he’s talking about the impending future of college football and the other sports. He has been the first to mention a split fall and spring season and the first to publicly display his concern about the repercussions of a second wave of COVID-19 in the falls.

He reiterated some of that during his radio segment on Thursday on College Sports on SiriusXM.

“We will be very, very lucky to start on Labor Day weekend and get through the football season without disruptions,” Bowlsby told hosts Gabe Ikard, Chris Plank and Holly Rowe. “We will be very lucky to get through the postseason and the basketball season without disruptions. We’re going to have a new normal and we’re going to have to have an idea of how we’re going to deal with these things.”

Bowlsby’s line of thinking with a split season make a lot more sense.

When the normal flu and virus season begins, college football will be playing its final games and college basketball will be just getting done with non-conference play. If an interruption occurs, just how much loss could be at hand for everyone involved?

“But we may find ourselves falling back (on the split season idea),” Bowlsby said. “I think with the warmer weather I think we’ll get back to campus and we’ll get to practicing and we’ll start the season. We may not start exactly on time but I think we’ll start the season.

“I worry more about the end of the season and the postseason than I do the beginning parts of the season but I think we’ll figure it out in the near term. If the virus comes roaring back in the traditional flu and virus season in December through March, I wonder if we’re going to get basketball seasons in. I wonder if we’re going to get the CFP playoff in. I wonder if we’re going to get the NCAA Tournament in.”

Oklahoma is still scheduled to begin its football season at home on Sept. 5 against Missouri State.

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Big 12 commissioner expresses concerns over Texas vs. Oklahoma game

Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby was on SiriusXM radio on Thursday discussing how football season could look like in the upcoming 2020 season.

Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby was on SiriusXM radio on Thursday discussing how football season could look like in the upcoming 2020 season. With COVID-19 still ever-present in our world and probably still present come August and September, nobody is quite sure what this fall is going to look like from an athletics standpoint.

Bowlsby said “we will be very, very lucky,” to start the season on time and to complete the entire season “without disruptions.”

At the moment, all but one (Oklahoma State plays Thursday, September 3 against Oregon State) Big 12 team is scheduled to begin their season on September 5 during Labor Day weekend. Each will have non-conference games, with notable games being Texas hosting USF, Baylor playing Ole Miss, West Virginia playing Florida State, and TCU hosting California.

The commissioner made headlines in an earlier April interview, stating they were looking into splitting the season up. Some games could be played in fall while wrapping up the regular season in the spring.

Another concern brought up by Commissioner Bowlsby was the possibility of a neutral site game such as the Texas-Oklahoma matchup held at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas every year.

“When you think about a Petri dish for spreading infection, can you think of one that’s better than the State Fair of Texas,” Bowlsby said. “People are jammed in there and they’re enthusiastic. It’s about a perfect place to transmit any kind of infection.”

While the same could be said about any event with a minimum of 45,000+ people in attendance, the State Fair of Texas would attract more than just football fans if open. People from across the globe travel to attend the State Fair, making it a great place for the coronavirus to spread.

Despite his concerns about completing the season on time, Bowlsby thinks “with the warmer weather,” teams will be able to get back on campus and start practicing to begin the season.

“I worry more about the end of the season and the postseason than I do the beginning parts of the season but I think we’ll figure it out in the near term,” said Bowlsby.

Bowlsby’s claims make it seem as if Texas will play football at some point this fall, either in September or October. The question becomes when, where, and how teams are able to complete their seasons without putting millions of people at risk for the coronavirus.

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Big 12 Commissioner thinking about a split season?

The Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby has had conversations about a split season, just how would that actually play out?

While the 2021 recruiting cycle seems to be in full swing, there is still the unknown of how, when and if there will be a 2020 college football season. Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby has his hands full on that front but there is an idea out there that seems to be a little farfetched but also could be a viable option.

This idea of a split season doesn’t seem like a plausible one with so many logistical matters to attend. Obviously where would the split happen? For the Longhorns, they have South Florida and Texas El-Paso sandwiching a trip to Baton Rouge to take on the LSU Tigers. Following the non-conference schedule the Horns play Kansas State and a trip to Dallas to batter the Sooners in the Red River Rivalry. If it was an even split of the season, it would be cut off before a trip to Lubbock to play the Red Raiders.

That is just one aspect to observe, then there is the recruiting aspect of it. If teams were to split the year and resume in the fall, are the players who sign during the early signing period going to be eligible to play since it would come after the new year for early enrollees? Seems like that would create a competitive disadvantage for some. Players who can’t actually join until the summer after graduation wouldn’t be afforded the same opportunities. Which would also have an impact on their eligibility and create yet another headache itself.

That would likely not be the case but one argument that could be made. This feels like it should be a last ditch effort from the commissioner and the Big 12. With the clock ticking on the upcoming season, this is a situation that will be monitored and it will be updated as more information is released.

Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby floats idea of split fall, spring football season

There has been plenty of talk about when or if the college football season will happen. The Big 12 commissioner posed an out-of-the box idea

Boy, that escalated quickly.

There has been plenty of talk about how the college football season is going to be played. Some have said it can happen in the fall without fans, others say completely in the spring, but many believe a 2020 college football season in some capacity, including Oklahoma’s Lincoln Riley.

“I think it’s impossible to predict when we’ll have a season, but I’m extremely confident that we will have a season at some point,” he said on Apr. 6. “It may look different. The schedule may look different. Fans in the stands may look different. Starting times may be different—we don’t know and we have to be ready to adjust.

“Football is important. It’s important to this country. I think it’s important to just the morale of the country overall, but it’s obviously not the most important thing. I do feel like we live in a great country. I think we’ll find a way to band together to beat this and I do feel like we’ll be playing football here very shortly.”

The ideas for a season took a major turn for the (insert whatever adjective here) on Monday as a story with quotes from Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby hit Twitter.

“I actually think we have a chance to start on time,” he told Seth Davis of The Athletic*. “Whether or not we can get the season done is another matter. When flu season starts again in November and December, you could see that ship sink in a hurry. One of the models we’re looking at is a split season where some games happen in the fall and some happen in the spring.”

Oklahoma is set to begin the season on Sept. 5 against Missouri State. The Sooners first game of Nov. is on Nov. 7 on the road at TCU. That would mean Oklahoma could get through seven games if Bowlsby’s idea comes to fruition.

No official word has been made on the 2020 college football season by anybody yet.

*This quote came from a story behind The Athletic’s paywall. You must subscribe to read the story.

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Matthew McConaughey offers a once in a lifetime experience

Superfan and Minister of Culture Matthew McConaughey is offering up a once in a lifetime experience while raising money for COVID-19 relief.

In an effort to raise money for COVID-19 relief, celebrity and super fan Matthew McConaughey has joined the All-In Campaign. The Minister of Culture wants to give you a VIP experience at Darrell K. Royal-Memorial Stadium. In a sweepstakes like effort to raise money, fans can pay up to $100 for 200 entries into the sweepstakes.

Never done a Texas football game day alongside Matthew McConaughey? It’d be a lot cooler if you did. Join the living legend and University of Texas alum for an unimaginable Longhorn game day experience as you join the Biggest Man on Campus for a Texas football game. The part-time UT professor will hook you up with the best and baddest adventures out there in the world of tailgating before taking advantage of McConaughey’s full VIP status on the field, in the locker room and everywhere you go. You might start off a bit Dazed and Confused when you first get star-struck by the coolest cucumber in Hollywood, but it won’t take long for this Longhorn experience to have you feeling all right, all right, all riiiiight. 100% of the money raised through this Game/Auction will go directly to Feeding America, Meals On Wheels, World Central Kitchen and No Kid Hungry.

If you want to get the full VIP experience with McConaughey hurry up and enter the sweepstakes that includes a one night hotel stay, airfare, a Texas Longhorns gameday package and oh yeah you can hang out with the Minister of Culture on the sidelines at DKR.

Big 12 Commissioner concerned about upcoming season

The Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby is concerned about the upcoming season and when the magical start date is going to come.

In a very fluid situation as is the current climate regarding life, financials and yes sports it has been unprecedented territory. There isn’t much clarity as far as when we can return to some sense of normal life with the concerns surrounding COVID-19. Even the Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby is voicing his concern in his latest conference call.

“Virtually every program is highly reliant on football revenue,” he told ESPN. “We’re making lots of contingency plans, but if you don’t get the anticipated number of games in, you lose the donations, you lose the sponsorships, you lose the gate receipts and you lose the TV. It’s potentially very impactful.”

Bowlsby went on to comment more about the impact on the athletes and sports.

“We don’t know when somebody is going to tell us it’s going to be OK to go back to close contact,” he said. “I suspect that medical experts and scientists are going to be slow to give the green light on that. The magic start date is probably a mirage.

“It may be different in some high-density populations and areas than it is in more remote areas,” he said. “It could be certain parts of the country and not other parts of the country. I don’t think there’s just going to be a day when we turn it all on again. There has to be a reacclimation period because athletes aren’t training at the same level they had been accustomed to.”

Not to sound insensitive to the situation facing every American and everywhere around the globe, this does have a huge financial impact for everyone and especially universities. Bowlsby is right that they need to make contingency plans to try and withstand these times of zero movement. It isn’t just the sports that are having this hit, but the university themselves.

The conference has drastically reduced salaries, schools are closing their campuses, refunding room and board and going to online classes. It is fair to have concerns over the long-term impact during the pandemic and Bowlsby isn’t alone with his thoughts.

Austin Reaves publicly reprimanded by Big 12 for throat slash against TCU

The shot heard ’round the Big 12 just does not want to die.

The shot heard ’round the Big 12 just does not want to die.

The Big 12 Conference came out three days after Austin Reaves nailed a game-winner with 0.5 seconds left to cap off a 19-point comeback road win against TCU.

In the public reprimand, Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby said that “Austin Reaves’ conduct after his game-winning shot last Saturday is contrary to the Conference’s Sportsmanship standards,”

Bowlsby went on to state that he appreciated Reaves’ apology posted Monday morning and that he was grateful to Oklahoma’s administration and coaching staff in their assistance in the matter.

No further punishment is expected to come from the situation and Reaves is fully expected to be on the court with his teammates when the three-seeded Sooners take on six-seed West Virginia in the Big 12 Tournament at 8 p.m. CT on Thursday.

Oklahoma currently sits well inside the bubble after flirting with being left out of the NCAA Tournament for the last two weeks of the regular season. A large reason why the Sooners are in is due to the play of Reaves.

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